The Martian

by Andy Weir

Only an idiot would keep that thing near the Hab. So anyway, I brought it back to the Hab.

Mark doesn’t have a big ego. It’s one of his best qualities. He doesn’t think he’s “the schizz”, even though he actually is the schizz. He’s an astronaut who beat out god-knows how many other candidates for a seat on a mission to Mars. He is one of the best in the world at what he does. But he’s still humble and ready to question any of his conclusions. I wanted to show that without beating the reader over the head with it. So I gave him a ton of self-effacing humor.