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The Earth Tripper
Science Fiction
Story of an apparently quite human-appearing alien who is trapped on earth when his means of transportation disappears during a wild evening party in the city. He eventually is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution for his beliefs and activities on earth and enters into a contest of wits and more against the staff with the help of some of his fellow patients.
It's never quite certain whether he truly is what he says he is.
Story of an apparently quite human-appearing alien who is trapped on earth when his means of transportation disappears during a wild evening party in the city. He eventually is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution for his beliefs and activities on earth and enters into a contest of wits and more against the staff with the help of some of his fellow patients.
It's never quite certain whether he truly is what he says he is.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
Paperback
First published May 1, 1973
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 10, 2018
This was an odd book. It was an easy read, and flowed well enough. The principle character occasionally being prone to odd flights of fancy. I couldn’t get a grasp on when it was set, sometimes an issue with older science fiction novels, it was definitely the United States of America, and taxis and helicopters are around, there’s still racial tension, homophobia, and inequality of genders, but it feels set slightly further forward than that.
The book deals with mental illness, both perceived by society and actual. It looks at sanity as defined by a wider societal norm vs sanity of the individual.
All in all, not a bad book, but felt like it would do better as a section of a larger story, or an episode of Black Mirroe.
As a content warning, sex, mentioned regularly, occurs intermittently; but not demonised, or graphically described (usually poetically insinuated).
The book deals with mental illness, both perceived by society and actual. It looks at sanity as defined by a wider societal norm vs sanity of the individual.
All in all, not a bad book, but felt like it would do better as a section of a larger story, or an episode of Black Mirroe.
As a content warning, sex, mentioned regularly, occurs intermittently; but not demonised, or graphically described (usually poetically insinuated).
November 17, 2025
How about this for a first-line grabber: “Well, Tok Von, like I said, I don’t ball mutants.”
Tok Von is an ET disguised as a human. His home folks think he is a malcontent. But he is enjoying the drugs and rock ‘n’ roll party scene and wondering about sex, as he watches the girls in the see-through blouses of the time. He is straightforward about who he is, but no one will believe he is an alien. Then, he meets Dr. Quest, a mad psychiatrist who runs an asylum with a high-tech role-playing arena with androids. Think West World meets Maybury.
I liked it, but I’m up for any new take on Candide, even if it ain’t so new anymore.
Tok Von is an ET disguised as a human. His home folks think he is a malcontent. But he is enjoying the drugs and rock ‘n’ roll party scene and wondering about sex, as he watches the girls in the see-through blouses of the time. He is straightforward about who he is, but no one will believe he is an alien. Then, he meets Dr. Quest, a mad psychiatrist who runs an asylum with a high-tech role-playing arena with androids. Think West World meets Maybury.
I liked it, but I’m up for any new take on Candide, even if it ain’t so new anymore.
February 13, 2021
A member of an exterrestial research party gets off on his own to make his own investigations. He takes human form, gives his clothes to a beggar and frees the animals in the zoo, naked. So he ends up in the loony bin.
Hippie - SF! At the beginning it had some promise, but then it got rather silly and had a stupid end. All in all a disappointment, more or less a waste of time
Hippie - SF! At the beginning it had some promise, but then it got rather silly and had a stupid end. All in all a disappointment, more or less a waste of time
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews