Editing Michael Crichton (section)

==Life==
===Early life===
John Michael Crichton<ref name="kids">{{cite web |url=http://www.michaelcrichton.com/foryoungerreaders-qa.html |title=Q & A with Michael Crichton |date=November 20, 2014 |publisher=Michael Crichton (the official site) |access-date=May 2, 2015 |archive-date=June 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617045805/http://www.michaelcrichton.com/foryoungerreaders-qa.html |url-status=live }}</ref> was born on October 23, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.il.us/hpa/Illinois%20History/Mover206.pdf |title=IHPA: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614110520/https://www.state.il.us/hpa/Illinois%20History/Mover206.pdf |archive-date=June 14, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmbug.com/db/22387|title=Michael Crichton|work=Filmbug|access-date=August 15, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126175348/https://www.filmbug.com/db/22387|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/403/403447p1.html|title=Featured Filmmaker: Michael Crichton|publisher=IGN|date=May 19, 2003|access-date=March 14, 2011|archive-date=October 19, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019010752/http://movies.ign.com/articles/403/403447p1.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb name|0000341}}</ref> to John Henderson Crichton, a journalist, and Zula Miller Crichton, a homemaker. He was raised on [[Long Island]], in [[Roslyn, New York]],<ref name="kids" /> and he showed a keen interest in writing from a young age; at 16, he had an article about a trip he took to [[Sunset Crater]] published in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3387711/MichaelCrichton.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114045739/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3387711/MichaelCrichton.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2013 |title=Michael Crichton: Novelist and screenwriter responsible for 'Jurassic Park', 'Westworld' and the TV series 'ER' |date=November 10, 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=December 18, 2008 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=CLIMBING UP A CINDER CONE: A Visit to Sunset Crater Makes A Novel Side Trip in Arizona|author=Michael Crichton|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 17, 1959|page=XX30|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/05/17/89124241.html?pageNumber=442|access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> Crichton later recalled, "Roslyn was another world. Looking back, it's remarkable what wasn't going on. There was no terror. No fear of children being abused. No fear of random murder. No drug use we knew about. I walked to school. I rode my bike for miles and miles, to the movie on Main Street and piano lessons and the like. Kids had freedom. It wasn't such a dangerous world... We studied our butts off, and we got a tremendously good education there."<ref name="big">{{cite news|title=Big Mike Michael Crichton Was Easily Spotted in a Roslyn High Crowd|author=David Behrens|work=Newsday|date=October 10, 1995|page=B.04}}</ref>

Crichton had always planned on becoming a writer and began his studies at [[Harvard College]] in 1960.<ref name="Telegraph" /> During his undergraduate study in literature, he conducted an experiment to expose a professor whom he believed was giving him abnormally low marks and criticizing his literary style.<ref name="Travels" />{{Rp|4}} Informing another professor of his suspicions,<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Crichton's Convictions|work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=May 11, 1988}}</ref> Crichton submitted an essay by [[George Orwell]] under his own name. The paper was returned by his unwitting professor with a mark of "B−".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/sciencefiction/story/0,,1962747,00.html |title=King of the techno-thriller |work=[[The Observer]] |date=December 3, 2006 |access-date=February 2, 2007 |archive-date=February 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208164938/http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/sciencefiction/story/0,,1962747,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He later said, "Now Orwell was a wonderful writer, and if a B-minus was all he could get, I thought I'd better drop English as my major."<ref name="big"/> His differences with the English department led Crichton to switch his undergraduate concentration. He earned his Bachelor's degree in [[biological anthropology]] ''[[wikt:summa cum laude|summa cum laude]]'' in 1964,<ref name="Graduation">{{cite web|url=http://www.crichton-official.com/aboutmichaelcrichton-biography.html|website=About Michael Crichton|title=Biography|access-date=September 24, 2008|archive-date=September 13, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913184547/http://www.crichton-official.com/aboutmichaelcrichton-biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and was initiated into [[Phi Beta Kappa]] society.<ref name="Graduation" />

Crichton received a Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellowship from 1964 to 1965, which allowed him to serve as a visiting lecturer in [[anthropology]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Graduation" /><ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Michael Crichton '64, Novelist and Screenwriter {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/5/29/michael-crichton-64-author/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref> Crichton later enrolled at [[Harvard Medical School]].<ref name="auto"/>  Crichton later said "about two weeks into medical school I realized I hated it. This isn't unusual since everyone hates medical school – even happy, practicing physicians."<ref name="chicago" />

===Pseudonymous novels (1965–1968)===
[[File:Hudson in the woods by Mytens.jpg|thumb|upright|Crichton used the pen-name "[[Jeffrey Hudson]]", a reference to a 17th-century court dwarf and his own "abnormal" height.]]
In 1965, while at [[Harvard Medical School]], Crichton wrote a novel, ''[[Odds On]]''. "I wrote for furniture and groceries", he said later.<ref name=nonterminal>{{cite news |title=Author of 'Terminal Man' Building Nonterminal Career: CRICHTON |author= Gelmis, Joseph |work= Los Angeles Times |date= January 4, 1974 |page= d12}}</ref> ''Odds On'' is a 215-page paperback novel which describes an attempted robbery at an isolated hotel on the [[Costa Brava]] in Spain. The robbery is planned scientifically with the help of a [[Critical path method|critical path analysis]] computer program, but unforeseen events get in the way. Crichton submitted it to Doubleday, where a reader liked it but felt it was not for the company. Doubleday passed it on to New American Library, which published it in 1966. Crichton used the pen name John Lange because he planned to become a doctor and did not want his patients to worry that he would use them for his plots. The name came from cultural anthropologist [[Andrew Lang]]. Crichton added an "e" to the surname and substituted his own real first name, John, for Andrew.<ref name="israel" /> The novel was successful enough to lead to a series of John Lange novels.<ref name="chicago">{{cite news| title= The versatile Crichton| author =Seligson, Marcia|work=Chicago Tribune |date=June 8, 1969| page= k6}}</ref> Film rights were sold in 1969, but no movie resulted.<ref>{{cite news| title= No Gap Like the Generation Gap| author=Weiler, A. H. |work=The New York Times |date=July 6, 1969|page= D11}}</ref>

The second Lange novel, ''[[Scratch One]]'' (1967), relates the story of Roger Carr, a handsome, charming, privileged man who practices law, more as a means to support his playboy lifestyle than a career. Carr is sent to [[Nice]], France, where he has notable political connections, but is mistaken for an assassin and finds his life in jeopardy. Crichton wrote the book while traveling through Europe on a travel fellowship. He visited the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and [[Monaco Grand Prix]], and then decided, "any idiot should be able to write a [[potboiler]] set in Cannes and Monaco", and wrote it in eleven days. He later described the book as "no good".<ref name="israel" /> His third John Lange novel, ''[[Easy Go (novel)|Easy Go]]'' (1968), is the story of Harold Barnaby, a brilliant [[Egyptologist]] who discovers a concealed message while translating [[hieroglyphics]] informing him of an unnamed pharaoh whose tomb is yet to be discovered. Crichton said the book earned him $1,500 ({{Inflation|US|1500|1968|fmt=eq}}).<ref name=nonterminal/> Crichton later said: "My feeling about the Lange books is that my competition is in-flight movies. One can read the books in an hour and a half, and be more satisfactorily amused than watching [[Doris Day]]. I write them fast and the reader reads them fast and I get things off my back."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crichton-official.com/books-medschoolyears-lange.html |title=John Lange Archive |website=crichton-official.com|publisher=Michael Crichton's official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518062947/http://www.crichton-official.com/books-medschoolyears-lange.html|archive-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="israel">{{cite news|title=Michael Crichton |author=Shenker, Israel|work=The New York Times|date=June 8, 1969|page=BR5}}</ref>

Crichton's fourth novel was ''[[A Case of Need]]'' (1968), a medical thriller. The novel had a different tone from the Lange books; accordingly, Crichton used the pen name "Jeffery Hudson", based on Sir [[Jeffrey Hudson]], a 17th-century dwarf in the court of [[queen consort]] [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henrietta Maria]] of England.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php |title=Edgar Awards throughout time |publisher=TheEdgars.com |access-date=November 19, 2013 |archive-date=August 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828005743/http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The novel would prove a turning point in Crichton's future novels, in which technology is important in the subject matter, although this novel was as much about medical practice. The novel earned him an [[Edgar Award]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Crichton |url=http://www.famousauthors.org/michael-crichton |work=Famous Authors |access-date=March 24, 2014 |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219212422/http://www.famousauthors.org/michael-crichton |url-status=live }}</ref> He intended to use the "Jeffery Hudson" pseudonym for other medical novels but ended up using it only once. The book was later adapted into the film ''[[The Carey Treatment]]'' (1972).<ref name="scalpel">{{cite news|title=Dropping the Scalpel: Film Notes Columbia Frowns Speeds the Turnover Refuge From Roles|author=Judith Martin|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|date= February 28, 1969|page=B12}}</ref>

===Early novels and screenplays (1969–1974)===
[[File:Slaughterhouse-Five (first edition) - Kurt Vonnegut.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Crichton critiqued [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'' (1969) in ''[[The New Republic]]''.]]

Crichton says after he finished his third year of medical school: "I stopped believing that one day I'd love it and realized that what I loved was writing."<ref name="chicago"/> He began publishing book reviews under his name.<ref>{{cite news|title=Life, Death And the Doctor|author=J. MICHAEL CRICHTON|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 10, 1968|page=BR28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Be careful, it's not my heart|author=Crichton, Michael|work=Chicago Tribune|date=December 22, 1968|page=m3}}</ref> In 1969, Crichton wrote a review for ''[[The New Republic]]'' (as J. Michael Crichton), critiquing [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s recently published ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]''.<ref name="Slaughterhouse">{{cite magazine |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/114833/michael-crichton-sci-fi-and-vonnegut |title=Michael Crichton's 1969 Review of Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse-Five' |magazine=New Republic |date=September 25, 2013 |access-date=April 12, 2016 |author=Crichton, Michael |archive-date=April 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421002618/https://newrepublic.com/article/114833/michael-crichton-sci-fi-and-vonnegut |url-status=live }}</ref> He also continued to write Lange novels: ''[[Zero Cool]]'' (1969), dealt with an American radiologist on vacation in Spain who is caught in a murderous crossfire between rival gangs seeking a precious artifact. ''[[The Venom Business]]'' (1969) relates the story of a smuggler who uses his exceptional skill as a snake handler to his advantage by importing snakes to be used by drug companies and universities for medical research.<ref name="chicago"/>

The first novel that was published under Crichton's name was ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' (1969), which proved to be the most important novel of his career and established him as a bestselling author. The novel documented the efforts of a team of scientists investigating a deadly [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] [[microorganism]] that fatally clots human blood, causing death within two minutes. Crichton was inspired to write it after reading ''[[The IPCRESS File]]'' by [[Len Deighton]] while studying in England. Crichton says he was "terrifically impressed" by the book – "a lot of ''Andromeda'' is traceable to ''Ipcress'' in terms of trying to create an imaginary world using recognizable techniques and real people."<ref name="israel"/> He wrote the novel over three years.<ref name="israel" /> The novel became an instant hit, and film rights were sold for $250,000.<ref name="scalpel"/> It was adapted into a [[The Andromeda Strain (film)|1971 film]] by director [[Robert Wise]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Screen: Wise's 'Andromeda Strain' |first=Roger |last=Greenspun |author-link=Roger Greenspun |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 22, 1971 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/22/archives/screen-wises-andromeda-strain.html |access-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329192840/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/22/archives/screen-wises-andromeda-strain.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During his clinical rotations at the [[Boston City Hospital]], Crichton grew disenchanted with the culture there, which appeared to emphasize the interests and reputations of doctors over the interests of patients.<ref name="Travels">{{cite book|author=Crichton, Michael|title=Travels|date=1989|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |isbn=978-0804171274}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2015}} He graduated from Harvard, obtaining an MD in 1969,<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Crichton, novelist and filmmaker, Harvard College (Anthropology, 1964) and Harvard Medical School (1969) graduate|url=http://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/education/lectures_workshops/|website=Harvard University Department of Global Health & Social Medicine|access-date=April 22, 2011|archive-date=August 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807162358/http://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/education/lectures_workshops/|url-status=live}}</ref> and undertook a post-doctoral fellowship study at the [[Salk Institute for Biological Studies]] in [[La Jolla, San Diego|La Jolla, California]], from 1969 to 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.com/biography/|title=Biography|work=michaelcrichton.com|year=2018|access-date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211142020/http://www.michaelcrichton.com/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> He never obtained a [[license to practice medicine]], devoting himself to his writing career instead.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Southern Medical Journal|title='The Falling Sickness' in Literature|first=Jeffrey M.|last=Jones|year=2000|volume=93|issue=12|pages=1169–72|doi=10.1097/00007611-200093120-00006|pmid=11142451|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410682_8|access-date=March 21, 2016|archive-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317055031/http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410682_8|url-status=live}}</ref> Reflecting on his career in medicine years later, Crichton concluded that patients too often shunned responsibility for their own health, relying on doctors as miracle workers rather than advisors. He experimented with [[astral projection]], [[Aura (paranormal)|aura]] viewing, and [[clairvoyance]], coming to believe that these included real phenomena that scientists had too eagerly dismissed as [[paranormal]].<ref name="Travels" />{{Page needed|date=September 2015}}

Three more Crichton books under pseudonyms were published in 1970. Two were Lange novels, ''[[Drug of Choice]]'' and ''[[Grave Descend]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Elliott Gould Will Ride a 'Tiger': Plenty For Pakula Full 'Speed' Ahead Elliott Gould Getting in 'Sync'|author=A. H. Weiler|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 18, 1970|page=D13}}</ref> ''Grave Descend'' earned him an Edgar Award nomination the following year.<ref name="urlEdgar Award: Best Paperback Original | Cozy-Mystery.Com">{{cite web|url=http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Edgar-Award-Best-Paperback-Original.html |title=Edgar Award: Best Paperback Original |work=Cozy-Mystery.Com |access-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219014943/http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Edgar-Award-Best-Paperback-Original.html |archive-date=December 19, 2008}}</ref> There was also ''[[Dealing: or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues]]'' written with his younger brother Douglas Crichton. ''Dealing'' was written under the pen name "Michael Douglas", using their first names. Michael Crichton wrote it "completely from beginning to end". Then his brother rewrote it from beginning to end, and then Crichton rewrote it again.<ref name="israel" /> This novel was [[Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (film)|made into a movie in 1972]]. Around this time Crichton also wrote and sold an original film script, ''Morton's Run''.<ref name="israel" /> He also wrote the screenplay ''Lucifer Harkness in Darkness''.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news |title=Hollywood Today: Mike Crichton, a Skyscraper in Any Form |author=Norma Lee Browning |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=August 30, 1970 |page=s2}}</ref>

[[File:MassGeneralHospital.jpg|thumb|right|Crichton's first published book of non-fiction, ''[[Five Patients]]'', recounts his experiences of practices in the late 1960s at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]] and the issues of costs and politics within American health care.]]

Aside from fiction, Crichton wrote several other books based on medical or scientific themes, often based upon his own observations in his field of expertise. In 1970, he published ''[[Five Patients]]'', which recounts his experiences of hospital practices in the late 1960s at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]] in Boston.<ref name="scalpel"/><ref>{{cite news|title=For Michael Crichton, Medicine is for Writing|author=John Noble Wilford|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 15, 1970|page=48}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Redlich |first1=F. C. |title=Five Patients |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/02/archives/five-patients.html |website=New York Times |access-date=February 2, 2020 |date=August 2, 1970 |archive-date=February 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202002746/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/02/archives/five-patients.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The book follows each of five patients through their hospital experience and the context of their treatment, revealing inadequacies in the hospital institution at the time. The book relates the experiences of Ralph Orlando, a construction worker seriously injured in a scaffold collapse; John O'Connor, a middle-aged dispatcher suffering from fever that has reduced him to a delirious wreck; Peter Luchesi, a young man who severs his hand in an accident; Sylvia Thompson, an airline passenger who suffers chest pains; and Edith Murphy, a mother of three who is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. In ''Five Patients'', Crichton examines a brief history of medicine up to 1969 to help place hospital culture and practice into context, and addresses the costs and politics of American healthcare. In 1974, he wrote a pilot script for a medical series, "[[24 Hours (ER)|24 Hours]]", based on his book ''[[Five Patients]]'', however, networks were not enthusiastic.<ref>{{cite book | last=Keenleyside | first=Sam | title=Bedside manners: George Clooney and ER |publisher=ECW Press | year=1998 | edition=Illustrated | page=129 | isbn=1-55022-336-4}}</ref>

As a personal friend of the artist [[Jasper Johns]], Crichton compiled many of Johns' works in a [[coffee table book]], published as ''[[Jasper Johns (book)|Jasper Johns]]''. It was originally published in 1970 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with the [[Whitney Museum of American Art]] and again in January 1977, with a second revised edition published in 1994.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3001846|title=Jasper Johns|date=August 15, 1977|oclc=3001846|via=Open WorldCat|access-date=August 15, 2020|archive-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217100816/https://www.worldcat.org/title/jasper-johns/oclc/3001846|url-status=live}}</ref> The psychiatrist Janet Ross owned a copy of the painting ''Numbers'' by Jasper Johns in Crichton's later novel ''[[The Terminal Man]]''. The [[technophobic]] antagonist of the story found it odd that a person would paint numbers as they were inorganic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Crichton|title=[[The Terminal Man]]|location=New York|publisher=Avon Books|date=2002|page=181}}</ref> In 1972, Crichton published his last novel as John Lange: ''[[Binary (novel)|Binary]]'', relates the story of a villainous middle-class businessman, who attempts to assassinate the President of the United States by stealing an army shipment of the two precursor chemicals that form a deadly nerve agent.<ref>{{cite news|title=Criminals at Large|author=Newgate Callendar|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 20, 1972|page=BR26}}</ref>

''[[The Terminal Man]]'' (1972), is about a [[psychomotor epileptic]] sufferer, Harry Benson, who regularly suffers seizures followed by blackouts, and conducts himself inappropriately during seizures, waking up hours later with no knowledge of what he has done. Believed to be psychotic, he is investigated and electrodes are implanted in his brain. The book continued the preoccupation in Crichton's novels with machine-human interaction and technology.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The novel was adapted into a [[The Terminal Man (film)|1974 film]] directed by [[Mike Hodges]] and starring [[George Segal]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/28/archives/director-michael-crichton-films-a-favorite-novelist.html | title=Director Michael Crichton Films a Favorite Novelist | first=Michael | last=Owen | work=The New York Times | date=January 28, 1979 | access-date=May 2, 2020 | archive-date=August 20, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820214401/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/28/archives/director-michael-crichton-films-a-favorite-novelist.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Crichton was hired to adapt his novel ''The Terminal Man'' into a script by Warner Bros. The studio felt he had departed from the source material too much and had [[The Terminal Man (film)|another writer adapt it for the 1974 film]].<ref name="times">{{cite news|title=Director Michael Crichton Films a Favorite Novelist|author=Michael Owen|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 28, 1979|page=D17}}</ref> ABC TV wanted to buy the film rights to Crichton's novel ''[[Binary (novel)|Binary]]''. The author agreed on the provision that he could direct the film. ABC agreed provided someone other than Crichton write the script. The result, ''[[Pursuit (1972 American film)|Pursuit]]'' (1972) was a ratings success.<ref name="michael">{{cite news|title=Crichton Debuts as Film Director|author=Smith, Cecil|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1972|page=d27}}</ref> Crichton then wrote and directed the 1973 low-budget science fiction western-thriller film ''[[Westworld (film)|Westworld]]'' about robots that run amok, which was his feature film directorial debut. It was the first feature film using 2D [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI). The producer of ''Westworld'' hired Crichton to write an original script, which became the erotic thriller ''[[Extreme Close-Up (film)|Extreme Close-Up]]'' (1973). Directed by [[Jeannot Szwarc]], the movie disappointed Crichton.<ref name="pod">{{cite podcast|url=http://nashvillepubliclibrary.org/offtheshelf/paul-lazarus-legends-of-film/|title=Legends of Film: Paul Lazarus|date=December 27, 2004|access-date=July 4, 2018|archive-date=November 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113112343/http://nashvillepubliclibrary.org/offtheshelf/paul-lazarus-legends-of-film/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Period novels and directing (1975–1988)===
[[File:Neanderthal Man, H. G. Wells&#039; Outline of History, page 39.jpg|thumb|Crichton's 1976 novel ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'' featured relict [[Neanderthals]] as antagonists.]]
In 1975, Crichton wrote ''[[The Great Train Robbery (novel)|The Great Train Robbery]]'', which would become a bestseller. The novel is a recreation of the [[Great Gold Robbery of 1855]], a massive gold heist, which takes place on a train traveling through [[Victorian era]] England. A considerable portion of the book was set in London. Crichton had become aware of the story when lecturing at the [[University of Cambridge]]. He later read the transcripts of the court trial and started researching the historical period.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Owen|first1=Michael|title=Director Michael Crichton Films a Favorite Novelist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/28/archives/director-michael-crichton-films-a-favorite-novelist.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 28, 1979|page=D17|access-date=March 19, 2019|archive-date=June 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616203926/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/28/archives/director-michael-crichton-films-a-favorite-novelist.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1976, Crichton published ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'', a novel about a 10th-century Muslim who travels with a group of Vikings to their settlement. ''Eaters of the Dead'' is narrated as a scientific commentary on an old manuscript and was inspired by two sources. The first three chapters retell [[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]]'s personal account of his journey north and his experiences in encountering the [[Rus' people|Rus']], a Varangian tribe, whilst the remainder is based upon the story of [[Beowulf]], culminating in battles with the 'mist-monsters', or 'wendol', a relict group of [[Neanderthals]].<ref>{{cite news|title=With real and bogus footnotes: Eaters Of the Dead|author=JACK SULLIVAN|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 25, 1976|page=253}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Crichton's creative play: Eaters of the Dead|author=Oberbeck, S K.|work=Chicago Tribune|date=April 25, 1976|page=f6}}</ref>

Crichton wrote and directed the suspense film ''[[Coma (1978 film)|Coma]]'' (1978), adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by [[Robin Cook (novelist)|Robin Cook]], a friend of his. There are other similarities in terms of genre and the fact that both Cook and Crichton had medical degrees, were of similar age, and wrote about similar subjects. The film was a popular success. Crichton then wrote and directed an adaptation of his own book, ''[[The First Great Train Robbery|The Great Train Robbery]]'' (1978), starring [[Sean Connery]] and [[Donald Sutherland]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger|author-link1=Roger Ebert|title=The Great Train Robbery|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-train-robbery-1979|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=February 9, 1979|access-date=May 3, 2020|archive-date=June 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604221317/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-train-robbery-1979|url-status=live}}</ref> The film would go on to be nominated for Best Cinematography Award by the [[British Society of Cinematographers]], also garnering an [[Edgar Allan Poe Award]] for Best Motion Picture by the Mystery Writers Association of America.

In 1979, it was announced that Crichton would direct a movie version of his novel ''[[Eaters of the Dead]]'' for the newly formed [[Orion Pictures]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Orion: A Humanistic Production|author=Kilday, Gregg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 5, 1979|page=f13}}</ref> This did not occur. Crichton pitched the idea of a modern day ''[[King Solomon's Mines]]'' to [[20th Century Fox]] who paid him $1.5&nbsp;million for the film rights to the novel, a screenplay and directorial fee for the movie, before a word had been written. He had never worked that way before, usually writing the book then selling it. He eventually managed to finish the book, titled ''[[Congo (novel)|Congo]]'', which became a best seller.<ref name="los">{{cite news|title=CRICHTON DIPS INTO THE TANK: MICHAEL CRICHTON|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 6, 1980|page=g1}}</ref> Crichton did the screenplay for ''Congo'' after he wrote and directed ''[[Looker]]'' (1981).<ref>{{cite news|title=BEHIND THE BEST SELLERS: Michael Crichton|author=McDOWELL, EDWIN|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 8, 1981|page=BR8}}</ref><ref name="los" /> ''Looker'' was a financial disappointment. Crichton came close to directing a film of ''Congo'' with [[Sean Connery]], but the film did not happen.<ref>{{cite news|title=An author of pleasurable fear: Michael Crichton takes fiction where you wouldn't want to go|author= Gorner, Peter|work=Chicago Tribune|date=June 24, 1987|page=D1}}</ref> Eventually, a film version was made in 1995 by [[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]]. In 1984, [[Telarium]] released a [[graphic adventure]] based on ''Congo''. Because Crichton had sold all adaptation rights to the novel, he set the game, named ''[[Amazon (video game)|Amazon]]'', in South America, and Amy the gorilla became Paco the parrot.<ref name="maher20131011">{{cite web | url=http://www.filfre.net/2013/10/from-congo-to-amazon/ | title=From Congo to Amazon | work=The Digital Antiquarian | date=October 11, 2013 | access-date=July 10, 2014 | author=Maher, Jimmy | archive-date=July 11, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711194224/http://www.filfre.net/2013/10/from-congo-to-amazon/ | url-status=live }}</ref> That year Crichton also wrote and directed ''[[Runaway (1984 American film)|Runaway]]'' (1984), a police thriller set in the near future which was a box office disappointment.<ref>{{cite news |title=Screen: Tom Selleck in 'Runaway' |author=Janet Maslin |author-link=Janet Maslin |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=C20 |date=December 14, 1984 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/14/movies/screen-tom-selleck-in-runaway.html |access-date=May 3, 2020 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107012626/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/14/movies/screen-tom-selleck-in-runaway.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Crichton had begun writing ''[[Sphere (novel)|Sphere]]'' in 1967 as a companion piece to ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]''. His initial storyline began with American scientists discovering a 300-year-old spaceship underwater with stenciled markings in English. However, Crichton later realized that he "didn't know where to go with it" and put off completing the book until a later date. The novel was published in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |author=Peter Gorner |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/06/24/an-author-of-pleasurable-fear/ |title=An Author Of Pleasurable Fear |work=Chicago Tribune |date=June 24, 1987 |access-date=October 18, 2015 |archive-date=February 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224131355/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-06-24/features/8702160834_1_alien-scientists-ship |url-status=live }}</ref> It relates the story of psychologist Norman Johnson, who is required by the U.S. Navy to join a team of scientists assembled by the U.S. Government to examine an enormous alien spacecraft discovered on the bed of the Pacific Ocean, and believed to have been there for over 300 years. The novel begins as a science fiction story, but rapidly changes into a psychological thriller, ultimately exploring the nature of the human imagination. The novel was adapted into the [[Sphere (1998 film)|1998 film]] directed by [[Barry Levinson]] and starring [[Dustin Hoffman]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9805e6da123cf930a25751c0a96e958260|title=Sphere (1998)|last=Maslin|first=Janet|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 13, 1998|access-date=May 2, 2020|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125209/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9805e6da123cf930a25751c0a96e958260|url-status=live}}</ref>

Crichton worked—as a director only—on ''[[Physical Evidence]]'' (1989), a thriller originally conceived as a sequel to ''[[Jagged Edge (film)|Jagged Edge]]''. In 1988, Crichton was a visiting writer at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref name="WEBSITEBIO">{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.net/aboutmichaelcrichton-biography.html|title=Biography|website=MichaelCrichton.net|access-date=March 15, 2012|archive-date=January 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107012600/http://www.michaelcrichton.net/aboutmichaelcrichton-biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A book of autobiographical writings, ''[[Travels (book)|Travels]]'', was also published in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bosworth|first=Patricia|date=June 26, 1988|title=TOURING THE ALTERED STATES|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/26/books/touring-the-altered-states.html|access-date=May 4, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831133139/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/26/books/touring-the-altered-states.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''Jurassic Park'' and subsequent works (1989–1999)===
[[File:Jurassic Park for kids in Kletno PL.jpg|thumb|right|Crichton's novel ''Jurassic Park'', and its sequels, were made into films that became a major part of popular culture, with related parks established in places as far afield as [[Kletno]], Poland.]]

In 1990, Crichton published the novel ''[[Jurassic Park (novel)|Jurassic Park]]''. Crichton utilized the presentation of "fiction as fact", used in his previous novels, ''Eaters of the Dead'' and ''The Andromeda Strain''. In addition, [[chaos theory]] and its philosophical implications are used to explain the collapse of an [[amusement park]] in a "biological preserve" on Isla Nublar, a fictional island to the west of Costa Rica. The novel had begun as a screenplay Crichton had written in 1983, about a graduate student who recreates a dinosaur.<ref>{{Cite AV media | people = Crichton, Michael | title = Michael Crichton on the Jurassic Park Phenomenon | medium = DVD | publisher = Universal | date = 2001}}</ref> Reasoning that genetic research is expensive and that "there is no pressing need to create a dinosaur", Crichton concluded that it would emerge from a "desire to entertain", which led him to set the novel in a [[Wildlife refuge|wildlife park]] of extinct animals.<ref>"Return to Jurassic Park: Dawn of a New Era", ''Jurassic Park'' Blu-ray (2011)</ref> The story had originally been told from the point of view of a child, but Crichton changed it because everyone who read the draft felt it would be better if told by an adult.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.net/books-jurassicpark-mcnotes.html|title=Resources and Information|website=www.michaelcrichton.net|access-date=May 2, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920213117/http://www.michaelcrichton.net/books-jurassicpark-mcnotes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Steven Spielberg]] learned of the novel in October 1989 while he and Crichton were discussing a screenplay that would later be developed into the television series ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]''. Before the book was published, Crichton demanded a non-negotiable fee of $1.5&nbsp;million as well as a substantial percentage of the gross. [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Tim Burton]], [[Sony Pictures Entertainment]] and [[Richard Donner]], and [[20th Century Fox]] and [[Joe Dante]] bid for the rights,<ref name="mcbride">[[Joseph McBride (writer)|Joseph McBride]] (1997). ''Steven Spielberg''. Faber and Faber, 416–9. {{ISBN|0-571-19177-0}}</ref> but Universal eventually acquired the rights in May 1990 for Spielberg.<ref name="Production notes">DVD Production Notes</ref> Universal paid Crichton a further $500,000 to adapt his own novel,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Leaping Lizards |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=December 7, 1990 |url=https://ew.com/article/1990/12/07/michael-crichtons-jurassic-park/ |access-date=February 17, 2007 |first=Tim |last=Appelo |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013204929/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,318785,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which he had completed by the time Spielberg was filming ''[[Hook (film)|Hook]]''. Crichton noted that, because the book was "fairly long", his script only had about 10% to 20% of the novel's content.<ref name="Biodrowski">{{cite journal |author=Biodrowski, Steve |title=Jurassic Park: Michael Crichton |journal=[[Cinefantastique]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=12}}</ref> The [[Jurassic Park (film)|film]], directed by Spielberg, was released in 1993.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=Philip |last2=Utterson |first2=Andrew |last3=Shepherdson |first3=Karen J. |title=Film Theory: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies |year=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-25975-0 |page=337 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyRIlJTkuQ4C&pg=PA337 |access-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107012635/https://books.google.com/books?id=zyRIlJTkuQ4C&pg=PA337 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Mosquito in amber.jpg|thumb|left|A mosquito preserved in amber. A specimen of this sort was the source of dinosaur DNA in ''Jurassic Park''.]]

In 1992, Crichton published the novel ''[[Rising Sun (Crichton novel)|Rising Sun]]'', an internationally bestselling crime thriller about a murder in the Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a fictional Japanese corporation. The book was adapted into the [[Rising Sun (1993 film)|1993 film]] directed by [[Philip Kaufman]] and starring [[Sean Connery]] and [[Wesley Snipes]]; it was released the same year as the adaptation of ''Jurassic Park''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/BOOKS-Crichton-Takes-to-The-Skies-Airframe-2957122.php|title=BOOKS – Crichton Takes to The Skies / 'Airframe' formulaic but hard to put down|last=Holt|first=Patricia|date=December 5, 1996|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=July 27, 2017|archive-date=July 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729095442/http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/BOOKS-Crichton-Takes-to-The-Skies-Airframe-2957122.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/05/books/a-thriller-not-to-carry-on-your-next-plane-trip.html "A thriller not to carry on your next plane trip".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627225117/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/05/books/a-thriller-not-to-carry-on-your-next-plane-trip.html |date=June 27, 2019 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 5, 1996.</ref>

The theme of his next novel, ''[[Disclosure (novel)|Disclosure]]'', published in 1994, was sexual harassment—a theme previously explored in his 1972 novel, ''Binary''. Unlike that novel however, ''Disclosure'' centers on sexual politics in the workplace, emphasizing an array of paradoxes in traditional gender roles by featuring a male protagonist who is being sexually harassed by a female executive. As a result, the book has been criticized harshly by some feminist commentators and accused of being anti-feminist. Crichton, anticipating this response, offered a rebuttal at the close of the novel which states that a "role-reversal" story uncovers aspects of the subject that would not be seen as easily with a female protagonist. The novel was made into a [[Disclosure (1994 film)|film]] the same year, directed by [[Barry Levinson]] and starring [[Michael Douglas]] and [[Demi Moore]].

Crichton was the creator and an executive producer of the television drama ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]'', based on his 1974 pilot script ''24 Hours''. Spielberg helped develop the show, serving as an executive producer for season one and offering advice (he insisted on [[Julianna Margulies]] becoming a regular, for example). It was also through Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment that [[John Wells (TV producer)|John Wells]] was attached as the show's executive producer. In 1995, Crichton published ''[[The Lost World (Crichton novel)|The Lost World]]'' as a sequel to ''Jurassic Park''. The title was a reference to [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s ''[[The Lost World (Doyle novel)|The Lost World]]'' (1912).<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilmington|first=Michael|date=June 8, 1997|title=THE FIRST 'LOST WORLD'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-08-9706080353-story.html|work=The Chicago Tribune|access-date=May 2, 2020|archive-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310010445/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-06-08/news/9706080353_1_lost-world-jurassic-park-king-kong/2|url-status=live}}</ref> It was made into the [[The Lost World: Jurassic Park|1997 film]] two years later, again directed by Spielberg.<ref name="MC">{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.com/the-lost-world/|title=In His Own Words|website=MichaelCrichton.com|date=December 9, 2014 |access-date=May 10, 2016|archive-date=October 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006231725/https://www.michaelcrichton.com/the-lost-world//|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 1994, Crichton said there would probably be a sequel novel as well as a film adaptation, stating that he had an idea for the novel's story.<ref name="USA">{{cite news|last=Spillman|first=Susan|title=Crichton is plotting 'Jurassic 2'|via=Newsbank |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=March 11, 1994}}</ref> In 1996, Crichton published ''[[Airframe (novel)|Airframe]]'', an aero-techno-thriller. The book continued Crichton's overall theme of the failure of humans in human-machine interaction, given that the plane worked perfectly and the accident would not have occurred had the pilot reacted properly.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> He also wrote ''[[Twister (1996 film)|Twister]]'' (1996) with [[Anne-Marie Martin]], his wife at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1996/05/17/twister-set-got-stormy/|title=The War of the Winds|last=Daly|first=Steve|date=May 10, 1996|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=June 14, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018030610/https://ew.com/article/1996/05/17/twister-set-got-stormy/|archive-date=October 18, 2015}}</ref>

In 1999, Crichton published ''[[Timeline (novel)|Timeline]]'', a science-fiction novel in which experts [[time travel]] back to the medieval period. The novel, which continued Crichton's long history of combining technical details and action in his books, explores [[quantum physics]] and time travel directly; it was also warmly received by medieval scholars, who praised his depiction of the challenges involved in researching the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Linda Bingham|title=Crossing the Timeline: Michael Crichton's Bestseller as Social Criticism and History|at=Falling into Medievalism|editor1=Anne Lair|editor2=Richard Utz|journal=UNIversitas: The University of Northern Iowa Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity|url=http://www.uni.edu/universitas/spring06/default.htm|volume=2|issue=1|date=2006|access-date=January 22, 2011|archive-date=July 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720093046/http://www.uni.edu/universitas/spring06/default.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1999, Crichton founded Timeline Computer Entertainment with [[David A. Smith (computer scientist)|David Smith]]. Although he signed a multi-title publishing deal with [[Eidos Interactive]], only one game, ''[[Timeline (video game)|Timeline]]'', was ever published. Released by Eidos Interactive on November 10, 2000, for PCs, the game received negative reviews. A [[Timeline (2003 film)|2003 film]] based on the book was directed by [[Richard Donner]] and starring [[Paul Walker]], [[Gerard Butler]] and [[Frances O'Connor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newsweek.com/biggest-box-office-bombs-all-time-1037837|title=These are the biggest box office bombs of all time|date=July 23, 2018|work=Newsweek|access-date=May 2, 2020|archive-date=April 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410111120/https://www.newsweek.com/biggest-box-office-bombs-all-time-1037837|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Eaters of the Dead'' was adapted into the 1999 film ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'' directed by [[John McTiernan]], who was later removed, with Crichton himself taking over direction of reshoots.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/15-directors-unceremoniously-fired-or-replaced-on-a-movie-20130322?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel|title=15 Directors Unceremoniously Fired Or Replaced On A Movie|work=The Playlist|date=March 22, 2013|access-date=March 27, 2013|archive-date=March 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324222940/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/15-directors-unceremoniously-fired-or-replaced-on-a-movie-20130322?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Final novels and later life (2000–2008)===
In 2002, Crichton published ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'', about developments in science and technology, specifically [[nanotechnology]]. The novel explores relatively recent phenomena engendered by the work of the scientific community, such as: [[artificial life]], [[emergence]] (and by extension, [[complexity]]), [[genetic algorithms]], and [[intelligent agent|agent]]-based computing. In 2004, Crichton published ''[[State of Fear]]'', a novel concerning [[eco-terrorism|eco-terrorists]] who attempt mass murder to support their views. The novel's central premise is that climate scientists exaggerate [[global warming]]. A review in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' found the novel "likely to mislead the unwary".<ref name="A novel view of global warming – Bo">{{cite journal | last1=Allen | first1=Myles | title=A novel view of global warming – Book Reviewed: State of Fear | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume=433 | issue=7023 | page=198 | doi=10.1038/433198a | date=January 2005 | bibcode=2005Natur.433..198A| doi-access=free }}</ref> The novel had an initial print run of 1.5 million copies and reached the No. 1 bestseller position at [[Amazon.com]] and No. 2 on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]] for one week in January 2005.<ref name="Doran06" /><ref name="columbia.edu">{{cite web|date = September 27, 2005|url-status = live|url = http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2005/Crichton_20050927.pdf|title = Michael Crichton's "Scientific Method"|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110205005158/http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2005/Crichton_20050927.pdf|archive-date = February 5, 2011|first = James|last = Hansen|authorlink = James Hansen|website = www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/|publisher = [[Columbia University]]}}</ref>

The last novel published during his lifetime was ''[[Next (Crichton novel)|Next]]'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://www.academia.edu/43358654| title = Book Review &ndash; Crichton, Michael. ''Next''. London: Harper (Paperback).| first = Abhijit| last = Guha| journal = Indian Journal of Biological Sciences| date = January 2009| volume = 15| pages = 70–71}}</ref> The novel follows many characters, including [[Genetically modified organism|transgenic]] animals, in a quest to survive in a world dominated by genetic research, corporate greed, and legal interventions, wherein government and private investors spend billions of dollars every year on genetic research.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/books/review/Itzkoff2.t.html?ref=review|title=Genetic Park|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|authorlink=Dave Itzkoff|date=January 7, 2007|work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121202245/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/books/review/Itzkoff2.t.html?ref=review|archive-date=November 21, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref> In 2006, Crichton clashed with journalist [[Michael Crowley (journalist)|Michael Crowley]], a senior editor of the magazine ''[[The New Republic]]''. In March 2006, Crowley wrote a strongly critical review of ''State of Fear'', focusing on Crichton's stance on global warming.<ref name="Cock and Bull">{{cite magazine|title=Cock and Bull|last=Crowley|first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Crowley (journalist)|url=http://www.tnr.com/article/cock-and-bull|url-status=live|access-date=January 3, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100516142905/http://www.tnr.com/article/cock-and-bull|archive-date=May 16, 2010|magazine=[[The New Republic]]|date=December 25, 2006}}</ref> In the same year, Crichton published the novel ''[[Next (Crichton novel)|Next]]'', which contains a minor character named "Mick Crowley", who is a Yale graduate and a Washington, D.C.–based political columnist. The character was portrayed as a child molester [[Small penis rule|with a small penis]].<ref name="Lee, Felicia">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/books/14cric.html|title=Columnist Accuses Crichton of 'Literary Hit-and-Run'|date=December 14, 2006|work=[[The New York Times]]|quote=On Page 227 Mr. Crichton writes: 'Alex Burnet was in the middle of the most difficult trial of her career, a rape case involving the sexual assault of a two-year-old boy in Malibu. The defendant, thirty-year-old Mick Crowley, was a Washington-based political columnist who was visiting his sister-in-law when he experienced an overwhelming urge to have anal sex with her young son, still in diapers.' Mick Crowley is described as a 'wealthy, spoiled Yale graduate' with a small penis that nonetheless 'caused significant tears to the toddler's rectum.{{'-}}|last=Lee|first=Felicia R.|access-date=January 4, 2024|archive-date=April 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422155605/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/books/14cric.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The real Crowley, also a Yale graduate, alleged that by including a [[Tuckerization|similarly named character]] Crichton had libeled him.<ref name="Lee, Felicia" />

===Posthumous works===
Several novels that were in various states of completion upon Crichton's death have since been published. The first, ''[[Pirate Latitudes]]'', was found as a manuscript on one of his computers after his death. It centers on a fictional privateer who attempts to raid a Spanish galleon. It was published in November 2009 by [[HarperCollins]].<ref name=NYT1109 /> Additionally, Crichton had completed the outline for and was roughly a third of the way through a novel titled ''[[Micro (novel)|Micro]]'', a novel which centers on technology that shrinks humans to microscopic sizes.<ref name="NYT1109">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/books/06crichton.html |title=Posthumous Crichton Novels on the Way |first=Motoko |last=Rich |work=The New York Times |date=April 5, 2009 |access-date=July 18, 2009 |archive-date=November 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122051053/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/books/06crichton.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="MicroMay2011">{{cite news |title=Michael Crichton posthumous novel to be published |author=Zorianna Kit |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/books-michaelcrichton-idUSN2319436920110523 |publisher=Reuters |date=May 23, 2011 |access-date=May 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704092243/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/books-michaelcrichton-idUSN2319436920110523 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Micro'' was completed by [[Richard Preston]] using Crichton's notes and files, and was published in November 2011.<ref name="MicroMay2011" />

On July 28, 2016, Crichton's website and HarperCollins announced the publication of a third posthumous novel, titled ''[[Dragon Teeth]]'', which he had written in 1974.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/71049-hc-to-publish-new-novel-by-late-michael-crichton.html|title=HarperCollins to Publish Found Novel by Late Michael Crichton|website=PublishersWeekly|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730221351/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/71049-hc-to-publish-new-novel-by-late-michael-crichton.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It is a historical novel set during the [[Bone Wars]], and includes the real life characters of [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] and [[Edward Drinker Cope]]. The novel was released in May 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://corporate.harpercollins.com/us/press-releases/490/HARPERCOLLINS%2520PUBLISHERS%2520ACQUIRES%2520NOVEL%2520BY%2520%2520MICHAEL%2520CRICHTON|title=Press Releases Details|last=Archipelago|first=World|publisher=HarperCollins|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=August 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803173032/http://corporate.harpercollins.com/us/press-releases/490/HARPERCOLLINS%20PUBLISHERS%20ACQUIRES%20NOVEL%20BY%20%20MICHAEL%20CRICHTON|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelcrichton.com/harpercollins-publishers-acquires-novel-by-michael-crichton/|title=HarperCollins Publishers Acquires Novel by Michael Crichton – MichaelCrichton.com|date=July 28, 2016|publisher=MichaelCrichton.com|language=en-US|access-date=July 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731130548/http://www.michaelcrichton.com/harpercollins-publishers-acquires-novel-by-michael-crichton|archive-date=July 31, 2016}}</ref> In addition, some of his published works are being continued by other authors. On February 26, 2019, Crichton's website and HarperCollins announced the publication of ''[[The Andromeda Evolution]]'', the sequel to ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'', a collaboration with CrichtonSun LLC. and author [[Daniel H. Wilson]]. It was released on November 12, 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/b903b2e03d52462fbd36676dfd5b155e|title=Sequel to Michael Crichton's 'Andromeda Strain' due in fall|last=Italie|first=Hillel|date=February 26, 2019|website=AP NEWS|access-date=February 28, 2019|archive-date=February 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227144034/https://apnews.com/b903b2e03d52462fbd36676dfd5b155e|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BuWfmT-FUZk/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/michaelcrichton_official/1987915257755289188 |archive-date=December 23, 2021 |url-access=subscription|title=Michael Crichton on Instagram: "Big news Michael Crichton fans! HarperCollins will be publishing The Andromeda Evolution—the sequel to the breakthrough novel, The…"|website=Instagram|language=en|access-date=February 28, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harpercollins.com/corporate/press-releases/harpercollins-publishers-announces-the-publication-of-the-andromeda-evolution-the-sequel-to-michael-crichtons-worldwide-bestselling-novel-the-andromeda-strain/|title=HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCES THE PUBLICATION OF THE ANDROMEDA EVOLUTION, THE SEQUEL TO MICHAEL CRICHTON'S WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING NOVEL THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN|website=HarperCollins Publishers|access-date=February 28, 2019|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301013459/https://www.harpercollins.com/corporate/press-releases/harpercollins-publishers-announces-the-publication-of-the-andromeda-evolution-the-sequel-to-michael-crichtons-worldwide-bestselling-novel-the-andromeda-strain/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2020, it was announced that his unpublished works will be adapted into TV series and films in collaboration with CrichtonSun and Range Media Partners.<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Crichton's Unpublished Work Will Be Developed as TV and Film Projects|url=https://geektyrant.com/news/michael-crichtons-unpublished-work-will-be-developed-as-tv-and-film-projects|access-date=January 17, 2021|website=GeekTyrant|date=December 21, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> On December 15, 2022, it was announced that [[James Patterson]] would coauthor a novel about a mega-eruption of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano, based on an unfinished manuscript by Crichton. The novel, ''[[Eruption (novel)|Eruption]],'' was released on June 3, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|title=James Patterson To Co-Author Novel With Late Michael Crichton From Unfinished Manuscript On Hawaii Volcano Mega-Eruption|url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/james-patterson-michael-crichton-novel-unfinished-manuscript-hachette-1235200091/|access-date=December 15, 2022|website=Deadline|date=December 15, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>