Introduction

This Crowded Earth is one of the early entries in the overpopulation subgenre. It begins with Harry Collins in that far-future year of 1997, and follows him through various adventures to 2065.

Harry's Life and Challenges

Harry is one of the growing number of people who can't stand the over-crowded cities. He lives in a cramped bachelor's apartment -- he could upgrade to a larger one if he'd get married, but he'd also have to add an hour to his commute each way, bringing the total to six hours.

The Clinic and the Experiment

One day he suffers a mental breakdown and is sent to a bucolic clinic in the country, where he soon enters a relationship with a nurse. Or so he thinks. A doctor at the clinic approaches him with the truth -- the "nurse" is another patient who was instructed to deceive him in order to start a tryst. They're both, in fact, part of an experiment to solve the over-population problem.

The Plot Unfolds

The doctor is apprehended by the Powers That Be at the clinic, and Harry is told the man's a nut. But soon his "nurse" disappears and he ends up in a relationship with another ... and then another ... and another. Bloch plays coy about what exactly the experiments are about, but we eventually learn that they're part of a project to end overcrowding by breeding midget babies. (Goodreads)