At the dawn of the Atomic Age, an experimental nuclear plant explodes in Mississippi. Nine months pass, the shock subsides and life goes on, until New York newspaperman Stephen Smith makes an unsettling discovery: there are no births scheduled in the city's hospitals after June 22. Calls across the country and the world reveal the same grim mystery--a looming deadline of empty maternity wards. Scientists discover that the Mississippi explosion unleashed an unknown form of radiation rendering all men sterile. All but one--hapless Homer Adam, shielded from the blast by chance at the bottom of a lead mine. This shy man becomes humanity's last escape from extinction, and Stephen Smith finds himself in the unenviable position of being Mr. Adam's confidant and caretaker in a bureaucratic maelstrom that envelops them both.
Pat Frank (1908-1964), real name Harry Hart Frank, a journalist and government consultant, is best known for his post-nuclear apocalypse novel Alas, Babylon (1959). Mr. Adam was first published in 1946. Though some of the pop culture and political references are dated, the story remains as relevant as ever. Much of it is satire revolving around bloated federal agencies and geopolitical bickering, with a dash of military and scientific ineptitude in Dr. Strangelove style. The protagonist's dark wit and poor Homer's bumbling farm-boy awkwardness make them excellent centerpieces for this humorous early-Atomic Era Children of Men. Despite touches of the period's casual misogyny, it is welcoming to see Mr. Adam reproduced for its 70th anniversary. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer