SOLVED. Science Fiction paperback about man who was able to change reality - Possible Spoilers Ahead [s]

[Nick]

I realize a lot of science fiction books have the theme of controlling reality, but I didn't want to give away too much of the plot in the header. So below are more plot details, including my recollection of what happens towards the end of the book.

First a little background, I read this in the 1970s in paperback. I read a lot of science fiction back then and I'm pretty sure it's not by Heinlein, Asmiov, or Clarke. Also, I did some googling on keywords and "Lathe of Heaven" kept popping up, but that is definitely not the book I'm thinking of. Also, I have a vague feeling the word "man" may have appeared in the title, but I'm not at all sure.

Now onto the plot. I recall the hero being unaware of his power through most of the book, I struck me that he was like a god, in the sense of being the prime mover, but he didn't know it. Things happened to him and it changed the nature of reality. I have a vague recollection that one of the changes was that the digits of pi changed, but again I'm not at all sure.

I seem to recall these changes happened when he slept and dreamed, or entered some kind of dreamlike state. By the end of the book he finally began to realize his powers and that it was he who was changing reality. At the same time reality began to break down. I vaguely recollect the book ending with him now aware of his power rebuilding reality from the subatomic level.

[Andy]

Possibly Night of Delusions by Keith Laumer Night of Delusions

[Nick]

Thanks Andy, but from the description I read, it definitely wasn't night of delusions. For example, I'm pretty certain there wasn't any 'dream machine'.

[Andy]

Nick wrote: "Thanks Andy, but from the description I read, it definitely wasn't night of delusions. For example, I'm pretty certain there wasn't any 'dream machine'."

Ah, well. I'll keep thinking about it.

You might find something on TvTropes under "Reality Warper"

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[SamSpayedPI]

Sorry; it sounds a bit like The Lathe of Heaven to me as well, although in that book the MC was aware of his abilities.

Maybe Ubik by Philip K. Dick?

[Ayshe]

The Infinite Man probably?

[Nick]

Ayshe wrote: "The Infinite Man probably?"

Yes! That's it! Thank you so much Ayshe. May I ask how you came up with the answer? Had you read it recently or a long time ago? Did you do any searching to find it? Which one of my "clues" was a match for you?

Again, a million thanks for posting your answer!

[Ayshe]

I'm happy to hear I have helped! I just searched https://scifi.stackexchange.com for [story-identification] and pi and it was one of the results.