Editing The Terminal Man

{{Short description|1972 novel by Michael Crichton}}
{{about|the novel|the film of the same name|The Terminal Man (film)|the biography of Mehran Karimi Nasseri|Mehran Karimi Nasseri|the concept articulated and named by [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]|Last man}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name          = The Terminal Man
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = Big-terminalman.jpg
| caption       = First edition cover
| author        = [[Michael Crichton]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = [[Paul Bacon (designer)|Paul Bacon]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/boydehaas/5283430616/in/photostream/|title=Crichton 1972|date=December 23, 2010|via=Flickr|author=Boy de Haas}}</ref>
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        = 
| genre         = [[Science fiction]]
| publisher     = [[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]]
| release_date  = April 12, 1972
| media_type    = Print (hardcover)
| pages         = 247 
| isbn          = 0-394-44768-9
| dewey         = 813/.5/4
| congress      = PZ4.C9178 Te PS3553.R48
| oclc          = 213300
| preceded_by   = [[The Andromeda Strain]]
| followed_by   = [[The Great Train Robbery (novel)|The Great Train Robbery]]
}}

'''''The Terminal Man''''' is a novel by American writer [[Michael Crichton]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/30/archives/the-terminal-man-by-michael-crichton-247-pp-new-york-alfred-a-knopf.html|title=In Harry's temporal lobe, a deadly storm|first=Theodore|last=Sturgeon|date=April 30, 1972|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-crichton/terminal-man/|title=TERMINAL MAN &#124; Kirkus Reviews|via=www.kirkusreviews.com}}</ref> It is his second novel under his own name and his twelfth overall, and is about the dangers of [[Brainwashing|mind control]]. It was published in April 1972, and also serialized in ''[[Playboy]]'' in March, April, and May 1972. In 1974, it was made into a [[The Terminal Man (film)|film of the same name]].

==Plot summary==
The events in the novel take place between March 9 and March 13, 1971. Harold Franklin "Harry" Benson, a computer scientist in his mid-thirties, is described as suffering from "[[temporal lobe epilepsy|psychomotor epilepsy]]"<ref>This was changed to Acute Disinhibitory Lesion (ADL) syndrome in subsequent reprints.</ref> following a car crash two years earlier. He often has [[seizures]] followed by [[retrograde amnesia|blackouts]], and then wakes up hours later with no knowledge of what he has done. During these seizures, he severely beats two people; the day before his admission, he was arrested after attacking a third. He is a prime candidate for an operation to implant an electronic "[[neurostimulator|brain pacemaker]]" in the [[amygdala]] region of his brain in order to control the seizures, which will be performed in the Neuro-Psychiatric Service (NPS) of University Hospital. Two NPS surgeons, John Ellis and Robert Morris, are to perform the unprecedented surgery.

The ramifications of the procedure are questioned by the NPS's staff [[psychiatrist]], Janet Ross, and later by her former teacher, Manon, an [[emeritus professor]]. Manon raises concerns that Benson is [[psychosis|psychotic]] and predicts that the crimes he commits during the blackouts will not be curtailed. Ellis admits that what they are doing is not a cure for Benson's [[personality disorder]], but will simply [[Deep brain stimulation|stimulate the brain]] preventatively when a computer senses an oncoming seizure. Ellis argues he is not convinced that not operating will do Benson any favors; Benson's condition threatens Benson's life and those of others, has already undermined Benson's legal status three times, and is worsening. Despite the concerns voiced, the team decides to go ahead with the operation.

Forty [[electrode]]s are implanted into Benson's brain, controlled by a small computer that is powered by a [[plutonium]] power pack in his shoulder. Benson must wear a [[dog tag]] with instructions to call University Hospital if he is injured, as his power pack may emit radiation. During the procedure, the implant deviates slightly from its planned path, but this is corrected. While he is recovering, a woman identifying herself as Angela Black gives Morris a black wig for Benson following the surgery, whose head was shaved prior to the operation. Morris refuses a man who volunteers to have electrodes put into his brain to stimulate pleasure unchecked, because he realizes that people like Benson could potentially become addicts; he recalls a Norwegian man with [[schizophrenia]] who was allowed to stimulate himself as much as desired, to the extent that the man caused himself brain damage. Roger A. McPherson, the head of the NPS, interviews Benson and realizes Manon and Ross were right about his psychosis, ordering nurses to administer [[thorazine]] to Benson.

After resting for a day, Benson goes through "interfacing". The electrodes are activated one by one to test which ones would stop a seizure. Each electrode produces different results; one stimulates a sexual pleasure. Gerhard, one of the technicians administering the test, shows his findings to Ross, who discovers that the seizures are becoming more frequent. She explains that Benson is learning to initiate seizures voluntarily because the result of these seizures is a shock of pleasure, which leads to him having more frequent seizures. Ross further discovers that, due to a clerical error by the nurses, Benson has not been receiving thorazine. She then finds out that Benson, using the wig and disguising himself as an orderly, has evaded the police officer assigned to guard him and escaped from the hospital.

Ross goes to Benson's house, where she finds two girls who say he has a gun and possesses blueprints for the basement of the hospital, where the computer mainframe is located. Morris meets Benson's boss, who tells him that Benson disliked University Hospital because of its ultra-modern computer system, an upgraded [[IBM System/360]]. After Benson's dogtag is found at the murder scene of Angela Black, Ross is questioned by police. Benson confronts Ross in her house and attacks her upon having a seizure. Just before losing consciousness, Ross manages to turn on her microwave oven, the radiation of which affects the power pack in Benson's shoulder and forces him to flee. Morris uses a book of matches found on Angela's body to track Benson to an airport hotel. Finding a mechanic who has been beaten by Benson, Morris is attacked and injured as well.

Back at the hospital, Ross receives a phone call from Benson, which is traced to somewhere inside the building. The hospital's computers begin to malfunction, as if somebody were disturbing the mainframe. Ross and Anders go down into the basement, where Anders exchanges fire with and injures Benson before becoming lost in the maze of corridors. Benson goes back to the computer room and finds Ross. Ross picks up Benson's gun and, after an internal struggle, shoots and kills Benson unintentionally.

==Background==
At one stage it was known as ''The Sympathetic Man''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Hollywood Today: Mike Crichton, a Skyscraper in Any Form|author=Norma Lee Browning.|date=August 30, 1970|work=Chicago Tribune|page=s2}}</ref>

Crichton stated that this was his least favorite work.<ref>Interview at https://web.archive.org/web/20050325012031/http://www.adara-interactive.com/crichton/ow_transcripts2.htm</ref>

== Film adaptation ==
The novel was made into a [[The Terminal Man (film)|film]] in 1974.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q1962492|id=tt0072267|title=The Terminal Man (1974)}}</ref>

==Reception==
Like his previous bestseller ''The Andromeda Strain'', reviews for ''The Terminal Man'' were widely positive. ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "an entertaining and unsparing narrative, compressed and scientifically sound."<ref>{{Cite news|title=THE BOOK REPORT: Mind Control by Surgeon's Scalpel|author=Kirsch, Robert.|date=May 24, 1972|work=Los Angeles Times|page=f6}}</ref> ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called the novel "A fascinating, splendidly documented thriller."
''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' said it was "An absolutely riveting novel." John Barkham Reviews called it "A superb thriller..." and said "It will make you think-and shudder."<ref>First Ballantine Books Edition: January 1988</ref>

The novel was criticized by the American Epilepsy Foundation who said it unfairly linked epilepsy with violence.<ref>{{Cite news|title=CROMIE ON BOOKS: Is Crichton bestseller unjust to epileptics?|author=Cromie, Robert.|date=August 6, 1972|work=Chicago Tribune|page=h5}}</ref>

==Real life epilepsy device==
Crichton's technological sci-fi premise became reality half a century later, in 2023, when a British boy had a neurostimulator fitted inside his skull, sending electrical signals deep into his brain to control seizures.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg33kgd81mvo World first epilepsy device fitted in UK boy's skull]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Michael Crichton}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terminal Man, The}}
[[Category:1972 American novels]]
[[Category:1972 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Fiction about brain–computer interface]]
[[Category:Fiction about mind control]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Playboy]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Books with cover art by Paul Bacon]]
[[Category:Novels by Michael Crichton]]
[[Category:Alfred A. Knopf books]]