Crichton michael biography the jackson

Pseudonyms: John Lange; Jeffery Hudson; Michael Douglas. Nationality: American. Born: 23 October 1942. Education:Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.B.(summa cum laude) 1964 (Phi Chenopodiaceae Kappa): Harvard Medical School, M.D. 1969: Salk Institute, La Jolla, California (postdoctoral fellow), 1969-70.

Family: Married 1) Joan Radam get through to 1965 (divorced 1971); 2) Kathleen St. Johns in 1978 (divorced 1980); 3) Suzanne Childs (divorced); 4) Anne-Marie Martin in 1987, one daughter. Career: Visiting novelist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, City, 1988. Awards: Mystery Writers endorse America Edgar Allan Poe premium, 1968, for A Case dispense Need, and 1980, for The Great Train Robbery; Association persuade somebody to buy American Medical Writers award, 1970, for Five Patients: The Dispensary Explained ; George Foster Pedagogue Award, for ER, 1995; Award Award, best dramatic series, financial assistance ER, 1996; Life Career Bestow, Academy of Science Fiction, Charade, and Horror Films, 1998.

Agent: International Creative Management, 40 Westside 57th Street, New York, Newfound York 10019, U.S.A.

Publications

Novels

A Case short vacation Need (as Jeffery Hudson). Metropolis, World, and London, Heinemann, 1968.

The Andromeda Strain. New York, Knopf, and London, Cape, 1969.

Dealing; convey, the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (asMichael Douglas), with Douglas Student.

New York, Knopf, 1971.

The Closing Man. New York, Knopf, delighted London, Cape, 1972.

Westworld. New Royalty, Bantam, 1974.

The Great Train Robbery. New York, Knopf, and Writer, Cape, 1975.

Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with glory Northmen in A.D.

922. Additional York, Knopf, and London, Panorama, 1976.

Congo. New York, Knopf, 1980; London, Allen Lane, 1981.

Sphere. Latest York, Knopf, and London, Macmillan, 1987.

Jurassic Park. New York, Knopf, 1990; London, Century, 1991.

Rising Sun. New York, Knopf, and Writer, Century, 1992.

Disclosure. New York, Knopf, 1994.

The Lost World: A Novel. New York, Knopf, 1995.

Airframe. Spanking York, Knopf, 1996.

Timeline. New Dynasty, Knopf, 1999.

Novels as John Lange

Odds On. New York, New Earth Library, 1966.

Scratch One. New Dynasty, New American Library, 1967.

Easy Go. New York, New American Retreat, 1968; London, Sphere, 1972; orangutan The Last Tomb (as Archangel Crichton), New York, Bantam, 1974.

The Venom Business. Cleveland, World, 1969.

Zero Cool. New York, New Dweller Library, 1969; London, Sphere, 1972.

Drug of Choice. New York, Latest American Library, 1970; asOverkill, Different York, Centesis, 1970.

Grave Descend. Pristine York, New American Library, 1970.

Binary. New York, Knopf, and Writer, Heinemann, 1972.

Plays

Screenplays:

Westworld, 1973; Coma, 1977; The Great Train Robbery, 1978; Looker, 1981; Runaway, 1984; Jurassic Park, with John Koepp, 1993; Rising Sun, with Philip Dramatist and Michael Backes, 1993; Twister, with Anne-Marie Martin, 1996

Other

Five Patients: The Hospital Explained.

New Royalty, Knopf, 1970;London, Cape, 1971.

Jasper Johns. New York, Abrams, and Writer, Thames and Hudson, 1977.

Electronic Life: How to Think about Computers. New York, Knopf, and Author, Heinemann, 1983.

Travels. New York, Knopf, and London, Macmillan, 1988.

Twister: Honourableness Original Screenplay. New York, Ballantine Books, 1996.

*

Film Adaptations:

The Andromeda Strain, 1971; The Carey Treatment, 1973, from the work A Plead with of Need; Westworld, 1973; The Terminal Man, 1974; The So-so Train Robbery, 1978; Jurassic Park, 1993; Rising Sun, 1993; Disclosure, 1994; Congo, 1995; The Misplaced World, 1997; Sphere, 1998; The 13th Warrior, from the disused Eaters of the Dead, 1999; Jurassic Park 3, from honourableness works Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

Critical Studies:

Michael Crichton: Clean Critical Companion by Elizabeth Efficient.

Trembley. Westport, Connectitcut: Greenwood Repress, 1996.

Theatrical Activities:

Director: Films—Westworld, 1973; Coma, 1978; The Great Train Robbery, 1978; Looker, 1981; Runaway, 1984. Television—Pursuit, 1972; ER (executive producer), 1994.

* * *

Michael Crichton has an unerring instinct for high-mindedness hot topic of the halt briefly.

His best-selling novels—most of them subsequently transformed into hit movies—tend to deal with the acidulous edge of modern technology, nobility latest discoveries, the most legible and terrifying innovations. Yet fake their heart lies a -off older theme evoked so remarkably by Robert Louis Stevenson unadorned his Strange Case of Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : the idea of the well-ordered discovery intended for the help of mankind that suddenly runs out of control to agree with a lethal threat. Whether integrity mutant plague virus of The Andromeda Strain, the homicidal automaton gunfighter of Westworld, or authority dinosaurs recreated from prehistoric Polymer who break out of Period Park to spread death countryside devastation, all are testimony withstand the human pride that goes before a fall, the maladroit ambiguous fingers that have released honesty imp from the bottle.

That theme is at the centre of his early works make a rough draft the 1970s, a decade disc disaster novels—and films—were the style. It's a point made throw up score more heavily by Crichton's skill in placing the tick technology within uneasy reach reveal mankind's basic instincts and picture darker secrets of the attach importance to.

The pleasure electrodes of The Terminal Man, implanted in loftiness brain of a potentially furious patient in order to worker him manageable, end by drive him to greater violence although he becomes addicted to pleasing sensations he can obtain solitary by assault and murder.

In The Terminal Man as elsewhere break open his fiction, Crichton reminds make problems of the fragility of educative influences, our nobler impulses for all time under threat from the heritable animal brain beneath.

"That skin, which could feel love, sports ground worry about ethical conduct, concentrate on write poetry, had to put a label on an uneasy peace with goodness crocodile brain at its grade. Sometimes, as in the briefcase of Benson, the peace beggared down, and the crocodile grey matter took over intermittently." The hitech security of the dinosaur cloud-land in Jurassic Park is destroyed by old-fashioned human greed near an electric storm that amidst them let the dinosaurs unfasten on an unprepared bunch show consideration for humans.

In Congo, the state-of-the art computers used by birth scientists of ERTS to maculation the lost African city lay into its rare industrial diamonds classify thwarted by a group splash hybrid killer apes trained centuries ago by long-dead "primitive" poet. Again and again technology breaks down or finds itself unarmed in the face of man's worst instincts, or the world's wild places.

One factor often neglected in Crichton's career is empress erudition.

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His setting reading takes in a load of scientific literature and fold reports and extends to Norse legends and Arab traveler's tales. Most of his novels running substantial end-bibliographies and a contents peppered with footnotes and references to the relevant scientific slaughter, e.g. animal training and conduct in Congo and "mind control" in The Terminal Man.

Goodness latter novel also contains diagrams of brain sections and what appear to be Xeroxed boys in blue reports. This formidable amount funding confirmatory material adds weight deal whatever imaginative leap is give off made by the writer, like it killer apes or recreated dinosaurs on the rampage. The wholly of Crichton's reading is shown in what might be reputed as his two "historical" novels, The Great Train Robbery splendid Eaters of the Dead (later revamped as The Thirteenth Warrior ).

These have fairly un-Crichton-like themes in that neither deals with a current topic, on the other hand both reveal their author's decisive knowledge of his subject. Boardwalk The Great Train Robbery Scholar displays a remarkably thorough perceive of Victorian England and treason criminal underworld, commenting with come to life objectivity on the ruthless manner of the robbers and their eventual escape from justice information flow a fortune in gold.

That dispassionate narrative overview is set up in his other novels, vicinity his characters suffer or grow in a life-like random style, rather than in accordance debate their previous actions. Eaters catch the fancy of the Dead/The Thirteenth Warrior deference presented in the form advice a genuine travel narrative recounted in the first person wishy-washy real-life Arab emissary Ibn Fadlan.

Using an understated style shaft the familiar corroborative footnotes, Scholar manages to work in tiara own version of the Character legend and to suggest ensure some of the monsters interpretation hero encountered may have antediluvian examples of Neanderthal Man.

Significant very is Crichton's mastery of specialized jargon, which is heavily threadbare both in dialogue and narration.

Evident in his earliest go, if anything this has extra to the extent that magnanimity reader may well feel crystal-clear or she is being doubtful over the head with techno-speak. The computerized location-finders of Congo, the minutiae of CDRom contracts in Disclosure, and the nomenclature of aircraft manufacture in Airframe are three examples of assorted.

Sometimes Crichton goes too a good in this direction—parts of The Great Train Robbery are bordering on unintelligible through over-use of dishonest slang—but while often baffling cue the untrained reader there evolution no doubt that, like description constant footnotes, the jargon adds to verisimilitude.

The author has a sure grasp of realm subject, and narrative and dissertation have a convincing sound.

Recent Scholar novels have tended to abdicate the wilder undiscovered regions pounce on the world to bring description action closer to home. Even supposing in The Lost World position author returns to the key jungle of Jurassic Park exchange find more dinosaurs lurking respect the foliage (this time unwell by a B.S.E.-type disease be different their sheep-offal feed) in clever successful sequel to the fresh blockbuster, but more often greatness "jungle" is found in rectitude workplace, the boardroom, or magnanimity factory floor.

In Rising Sun competition over modern technology among Japanese and American corporations runs to outright murder, confirming magnanimity Oriental claim that "business anticipation war." Elsewhere the action stop short of killing, concerning upturn with the threat of costeffective loss or the stigma avail yourself of business failure.

The ruthless, rapacious female executive who threatens sure of yourself destroy Tom Sanders with orderly phoney sexual harassment claim alternative route Disclosure (power, Crichton is wary to point out, is neither male nor female) may pull up seen as a modern divergent on the flesh-eating velociraptors deadly Jurassic Park.

The author avoids any obvious "male-female" confrontation uncongenial balancing the scary Meredith consider defense lawyer Louise Hernandez streak other sympathetic female characters.

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In Airframe, place a plane-making firm is incorrectly accused of bad design people an in-flight "incident," he has a female lead in board Casey Singleton. Writing credible duologue and constructing realistic backgrounds break into his action, Crichton casts compelling light on the various pranks made use of by craft organizations and the mass travel ormation technol to twist the facts traverse their own advantage.

Reading potentate novels for this aspect unaccompanie can be a most eye-opening experience! Accused of sexism soak some readers of Disclosure, topmost (perhaps more justly) of preconceived notion in Rising Sun, Crichton has also been criticized for scribble literary works books that are like pip movie scripts, with a tomorrow film in mind.

Given wander Crichton is himself a pelt director and the creator lady the successful TV series ER, he could scarcely be blasted if this was the sell something to someone. In fact, there has antique no obvious change in coronet style since the early Decade, before his works made advantage to the screen. Brilliant chronicles and profound character studies untidy heap not his territory; Crichton doesn't need them.

Rather, he writes to his strengths, hooking greatness reader immediately and carrying him or her along, pacing honourableness action with great skill instruction constantly building tension to stem resolution to the last pages. None too sure what's about to happen next come first anxious to find out, rendering reader keeps turning those pages.

The fact that his writings actions translate so well to influence cinema screen merely serves introduction a further tribute to blue blood the gentry power of the novels suffer the ability of the male who has written them.

—Geoff Sadler