 A man faces many dangers when he gradually shrinks., 1998-07-30
Richard Matheson's classic tale,familiar to many of us from the movie version,is an engrossing fantasy about a man named Scott Carey who is gradually shrinking. As he gets smaller,his life gets more bizarre,embarassing,and dangerous.Told in flashback form,the story centers on Carey's adventures in his cellar,where he must face a voracious spider,his own hunger,and the thought that he may shrink down to nothing.There are flashbacks to earlier times,in which Carey has a love affair with a midget and is attacked by a drunken pederast and a teenage gang.This novel looks at the ordinary from a bizarre perspective, as the tiniest things can cause all sorts of trouble for Scott Carey.This paperback edition also contains several of Matheson's short stories.
 A very imaginative adventure and 9 amusing short stories., 1998-11-26
Richard Matheson's novel is one great adventure yarn. At times, it is a too in-your-face existential allegory (what with Scott Carey's, the main character, constant doubts on why he keeps on hanging to life?), and the tale never really points to the direction it takes in the ending. Yet, it left me satisfied to have followed it up through the whole journey.The story of Scott's gradual descent into oblivion is framed by the events in what he expects to be his last week on Earth, before he shrinks to nothing. His cat-and-mouse game with a black widow bent on devouring him is an involving thriller. And in holding the tension of this hunt is where Matheson's prose shines. The 9 stories included go from the darkly comic to the thrilling. Here are the titles of these stories: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
The Test
The Holiday Man
Mantage
The Distributor
By Appointment only
Button, Button
Duel
Shoofly
Most of these share one of the basic topics of the novel: a man looking for a meaning to his actions, his life, a reason to go on. These ones, together with "The Shrinking Man", show the preocupations Matheson reflects about through his whole work.
CAREY MAY STILL BE SHRINKING TODAY, 1998-12-31
ONCE AGAIN MATHESON SHOWS US THE GENIUS THAT WE ALL HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. ONLY R.M. CAN CREATE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT SO ALONE AND DESPERATE THAT WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT FEEL SORRY FOR THEM. I CAN ALMOST PLACE MYSELF THERE.
Richard Christian Matheson is somebody else!, 1999-05-05
Richard Christian Matheson is a terrific writer, but he is not Richard Matheson, the author of this book. They are son and father, respectively. Matheson is elder is one of the great fantasists of the twentieth century. Please fix!!!
The horror slowly overtakes you, 2008-11-07
I was really impressed with The Incredible Shrinking Man. The horror slowly overtakes you, and not in the `things that go bump in the night' way. It's watching a man slowly lose everything that's central to him... his masculinity, his stature as head of his family, his purpose for living, and (probably least of all) his height.
There are plenty of real terrors to be had: giant spiders & bullies & people who want to turn Scott Carey into a sideshow, but the narrative is what makes the book. Richard Matheson does a superb job of capturing with great poignancy the path Scott Carey takes as he slowly lets go of life.
And don't let anyone tell you differently... the ending is fabulous.
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