| Drunkard's Walk | |
| Author: | Frederik Pohl |
| Cover Artist: | Nik Puspurica |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Ballantine Books |
| Release Date: | November 28, 1960[1] |
| Media Type: | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages: | 142 |
Drunkard's Walk is a science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It was originally published in paperback by Ballantine Books in 1960 and early in 1961 by Gnome Press in a hardback edition of 3,000 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction.
The novel tells the story of a math professor who struggles against urges to commit suicide. His life seemed so successful. He was a well-liked college-on-TV lecturer who offered the public a way to improve their meager living standards in the crowded future world of 2200. He has a lovely young wife, which would seem to be a protective factor. Doctors have ruled out depression, and they cannot figure out his problem. Yet in a suicidal attempt he tries to hurl himself from a high balcony. During one TV lecture he cuts his neck on live broadcast, and he takes an overdose of pills. In fact, a mysterious foe is trying to cause the professor to die, and this villain plans to increase the death toll into the millions.
. Jack L. Chalker . Mark Owings . The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 . Westminster, MD and Baltimore . Mirage Press, Ltd.. 308 . 1998.