# The Humans *By Matt Haig. Canongate, UK, 2013; Simon & Schuster, US, 2013. Haig's fifth novel (Wikipedia).* > I did not read the novel. The premise comes from the US publisher's description and a plot summary I found by search; the publication facts from library catalog records and the S&S page; the revision anecdote from the video notes, backed by a 2026 podcast interview as reported by a search tool. I did not open the interview itself. I do not summarize the ending beyond what the publisher says. ## 1. Book facts | | | |---|---| | Title | *The Humans* (US edition subtitled *A Novel*) | | Author | Matt Haig | | Publishers | Canongate (UK, 2013); Simon & Schuster (US). The title page of the US edition says "originally published in Great Britain in 2013 by Canongate Books" | | Published | 2013 (UK Canongate first; US Simon & Schuster hardcover later in 2013). I did not verify exact dates | | ISBNs | 9781476727912 (US first Simon & Schuster hardcover, 282 pages); 9781476730592 (US paperback, 12 August 2014, 320 pages); 9780857868763 (Canongate paperback, 294 pages, from a Google Books listing I saw in search; not re-checked) | | Genre | Science fiction, humorous fiction | | Language | English | **Where it came up.** - [It's Boring, But It's How You Write a Bestseller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CktFySXS9Sk&t=361s), Alyssa Matesic, at 6:01: Haig as an example of how brutal revision is, even for a bestselling author (she draws on David Perell's interviews with five novelists). Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Alyssa Matesic/It’s Boring, But It’s How You Write a Bestseller]] ## 2. Book resources **Free (legal).** In copyright; no legal free full text that I found. - **Library ebook and audiobook (Libby/OverDrive).** The Los Angeles Public Library catalog lists an [ebook](https://www.overdrive.com/media/1342762) (Kindle, OverDrive and other formats) and an [audiobook](https://www.overdrive.com/media/1259062). Your own library may or may not hold them. - **Internet Archive / Open Library.** One US-edition scan, [humansnovel0000haig](https://archive.org/details/humansnovel0000haig), is listed as print-disabled lending only, so it will not be borrowable for most readers. I did not open the page. I did not check Hoopla. **Paid.** - Audible: [*The Humans*, narrated by Mark Meadows (ASIN B00D67F7TS)](https://www.audible.com/pd/B00D67F7TS), found in an Audible search; I did not check the price. - Print and Kindle: widely sold. I did not open an Amazon listing, so I have not checked price, stock or Kindle availability. - [Simon & Schuster page for the paperback](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Humans/Matt-Haig/9781476730592) (opened; list price $18.99 at the time I looked). **Cover:** [Open Library cover image](https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/7989984-L.jpg) (the cover Open Library holds for this work; I did not check which edition it shows). ## 3. Author biography Matt Haig was born 3 July 1975 in Sheffield and grew up in Newark, Nottinghamshire. He studied English and History at the University of Hull. He writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, including *The Radleys* (2011), *The Humans* (2013), *How to Stop Time* (2017), *The Midnight Library* (2020) and the non-fiction *Reasons to Stay Alive*, a Sunday Times number-one bestseller. Source: [Wikipedia: Matt Haig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Haig). See my note on [[Book Summaries/Haig, Matt/The Midnight Library - Matt Haig|The Midnight Library]]. ## 4. Author interviews and talks - [Matt Haig: How to Write a Book Millions of People Read](https://howiwrite.substack.com/p/matt-haig-how-to-write-a-book-millions), How I Write (page named in a search result; I did not open it). The search tool reports that in it Haig says *The Humans* began at about 80,000 words, that he cut 40,000 and added 55,000 between the first and second drafts, prompted by his editor. - [Some thoughts on THE HUMANS](http://www.matthaig.com/some-thoughts-on-the-humans/), Haig's own 2013 post (titled "80,000 word message" per the search tool; I did not open it). - [Matt Haig on writing The Humans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4WVdutvT8U), a YouTube video (title confirmed in search; I did not watch it). ## 5. Summary **Premise (US publisher's description, paraphrased).** An extraterrestrial visitor takes the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, to complete a grim task and hurry home to his own utopian planet, where everyone is omniscient and immortal. He is disgusted by how humans look, what they eat and their capacity for war, and baffled by love and family. Disguised as Martin he drinks wine, reads poetry, develops an ear for rock music and a taste for peanut butter, and slowly forges bonds with Martin's family. He begins to see beauty in human imperfection and to question his mission. The narrator is first-person and, per Wikipedia, "a 43-year-old newborn on Planet Earth" from the planet Vonnadoria. **What the plot turns on (search-tool summary).** Martin has just solved a famous mathematical problem; the alien is sent to destroy the proof and to deal with those who know it. He bonds with Martin's wife Isobel and teenage son Gulliver. **Themes.** Love and family, the absurdity of human habits as seen from outside, and the value of a flawed species. The same ideas return in Haig's later *The Midnight Library*. **Chapter outline.** I found no chapter list. **The video's use of the book.** Matesic cites it as proof that revision is brutal for everyone. She says Haig wrote about 80,000 words, deleted about 40,000 and added another 55,000 between drafts, and that you send a first draft thinking it is perfect and expect your editor "to faint in wonder." Her takeaway: successful authors do not describe writing as easy. **Reception.** - Jeanette Winterson called it "troubling, thrilling, puzzling, believable and impossible"; Joanne Harris called it a "hilarious novel" that "puts our species on the spot" (both via Wikipedia). - A search tool reports that *The Guardian* praised its humor and cleverness but found its later moralizing mawkish; I did not open the review ([link](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/15/the-humans-matt-haig-review)). - The same tool reports nominations for the 2015 Dublin Literary Award and the 2015 Imaginaire award; I did not open the award pages' full text. ## 6. Fact-check Overall verdict: **mixed**. The publication facts are well supported; the review and award claims and the revision numbers are second-hand. | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |---|---|---| | Published 2013 by Canongate in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US | Supported | NYSL library record; Wikipedia | | US hardcover is 282 pages, ISBN 9781476727912 | Supported | NYSL and Spokane library records (xiii, 282 pp.) | | First draft about 80,000 words, 40,000 cut, 55,000 added (video) | Plausible, second-hand | Reported by a search tool from a 2026 How I Write interview; I did not open it | | Haig's *Midnight Library* has 2 million+ Goodreads ratings (video) | Not re-checked | Counts change; not a claim about this book | | Narrator is a Vonnadorian alien in Andrew Martin's body | Supported | Wikipedia; S&S description | | Dublin Literary Award nomination (2015) | Reported, not opened | Search result linked to the award's own page | ## 7. Citations and references - [Wikipedia: The Humans (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Humans_(novel)); [Wikipedia: Matt Haig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Haig) - [Simon & Schuster: The Humans (paperback)](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Humans/Matt-Haig/9781476730592) - [NYSL catalog record](http://library.nysoclib.org/record=b1260779); [Spokane library record](https://catalog.spokanelibrary.org/catalog/Record/4d2b5e53-74ba-516f-ac3b-c651c1cfefd8) - [Open Library: The Humans](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16805374W); LAPL OverDrive records [1342762](https://www.overdrive.com/media/1342762) and [1259062](https://www.overdrive.com/media/1259062) - [The Guardian review](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/15/the-humans-matt-haig-review) (unopened); [Dublin Literary Award page](https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/the-humans/) (unopened) - Video: [It's Boring, But It's How You Write a Bestseller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CktFySXS9Sk) (Alyssa Matesic)