Man in the Holocene (1979) is a novella by Swiss author Max Frisch, originally published in German in 1979, and in English in The New Yorker on May 19, 1980 (trans.

Fearing a large slide that would bury the village and man's knowledge, Geiser reads in his encyclopedia, the Bible, and history books.

At first he makes notes and tacks them to the walls; later he cuts paragraphs from the books and tapes them instead, noting sadly that the front sides of the encyclopedia's pages are visible, but the back sides unfortunately are dissected and destroyed.

Geiser has to admit that „der Mensch bleibt ein Laie“ (man remains an amateur).

The review concluded "I should also mention that, as far as I can tell, this luminous parable of indeterminate purport is also a masterpiece.