David Gerrold wrote The Man Who Folded Himself first in 1973. There are additional revisions in 2003, that mention the American Airlines flight 191 crash of May 1979 and of course, 9/11 in 2001, both events that hadn’t happened yet in 1973.

In the foreword, Robert J. Sawyer, a science fiction writer himself, praises the novel and cites it as the book that got him started as a science fiction writer. Reviewers call it the best time travel story of all time. It was definitely the first truly unique one since H.G. Wells’ novel in 1895.

Dan Eakins inherits a time machine from his uncle, who served as his guardian. It comes with instructions, and it’s truly powerful without limits. He can basically transport himself back and forth to any point in time.  This means he can change history, if that’s what he wants to do. He can get rich by betting on the horse he knows will win the race from reading tomorrow’s paper. And, most central to the plot, he can run into himself by visiting his own apartment tomorrow, where the tomorrow version of himself is living.

This creates a truly complex plot and a story line that is very difficult to follow.

In the end, there isn’t much going on, and all the alternative selves he meets are not just confusing us, the reader, but himself.

If you are into time travel stories, I say this is a must-read, not because it’s a good story or particularly well-written, but because it pioneers the genre and sets the stage for many future time travel novels that make more sense, are more entertaining and realistic, and where more is actually going on.

The book is only 130 pages long, and I read it on a single flight from Hawai’i to California.