Machine Man

By: Max Barry

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts.

Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a weapon.

A story for the age of pervasive technology, Machine Man is a gruesomely funny unraveling of one man's quest for ultimate self-improvement.

Critic reviews

"Wickedly entertaining, a brilliant book: caustically funny, and-by its closing chapter-surprisingly moving." --Scott Smith, author of The Ruins

"Using precision-engineered prose, Max Barry has built a gleaming, terrifying device: part love story, part horror story, part thought experiment, all entertaining." --Charles Yu, author of How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

"A meticulously devised, deviant little parable--once it starts, you can't look away." --Austin Grossman, author of Soon I Will Be Invincible

Sci-Fi That Came To Life

This writer is just brilliant. I am on my second book from Max Barry and I feel that the characters have so much life in an almost believable world. The time taken to cultivate completely different protagonist in both books is a real art. I’m carried to events and feel for these people as if they are real. It’s remarkable and well worth the read.

another Max Berry crazy idea

or how self-improvement can go bad.
it is funny, emotional, sometimes gory story and the performance of actorie is very good.

A better cyborgian future?

It's a witty and entertaining book that was originally an online serialized novel (check out M. Barry's website). It revolves around Charles Neumann, a reticent engineer, who loses his limb and decides to improve his body by building a new leg. The funny thing that happens is that the less 'organic' Charles becomes, the more human he feels.
The book IS cynical and entertaining, but it also raises philosophical and ethical questions. What is it to be human? Would you download and upload your mind into a much better equipped robot body? Having been subjected to augmentation, can we still remain human?
Thinking about the quote from Michio Kaku's Physics of the Impossible "...immortality (in the form of DNA-enhanced or silicon bodies) may be the ultimate future of humanity," the question is, what if the essence of humanity could be lost as a result of biotechnological improvement?
On the plus side, there are revolutionary ways of transforming human capabilities, such as pacemakers and tissue grafts that prolong life; e-broidery and smart prosthetics. So in order to survive and 'upgrade' our biological adaptability we need some nanotechnological enhancement. Or do we?
At the same time, a cyborgian reality can widen the gap between 'organic' and 'augmented' people, those who can afford to buy a better body and the havenots, those who become supersoldiers and ordinary people, unable to defend themselves...
And it's the book that gave me food for thought.
As I read about Charles looking everywhere for his lost phone in Chapter 1, I thought about the way technology infiltrates our life. We are overdependent on it. As Naomi Goldenberg put it, "We are engaged in a process of making one another disappear by living more and more of our lives apart from other humans, in the company of machines..." Even now, while typing this, I desperately rely on my iPad.

engineering minded

the only book I've come across that deals with nerves learning to deal with new parts rather than keeping old replacement prosthetics. the humor and logic is written by and for engineers

Max Berry quirkiness with a darker side.

Machine Man is a very interesting read, and very original, as are all of Berry's novels. The story and characters are engaging as always, but Machine Man has a darker tone as the plot has to do with accidental dismemberment and an anti-social protagonist. The darker tone however makes the occasional humourous spots stand out even more, as they are often of the cringing variety, and contrast well with some very serious scenes. A worthy read.