I read TSMD about 50 times when I was a teenager and early twenties.
There are lots of SF writers who write mind-bending, off-the-wall crazy otherworldly stories. The thing about Bester’s TSMD is that it’s as bizarre as the most bizarre, but it all hangs together. It makes sense as a story, it makes sense as a reading of the past and the future, both scientifically and sociologically.
At the time it was written, “psi” (mental energy, extra-scientific mental stuff) was being actively studied by the government and by various universities and research institutions.
The plot of TSMD revolves around two psi concepts: one, the idea of instantaneously teleporting from one location to another (with some limitations), called “Jaunteing.” The other is a nuclear explosive that reaches critical mass in the presence of “the will and the idea,” a particular set of thoughts in a person who can be far away from the explosive material.
Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation.
Deep space is my dwelling place,
And the stars my destination.
Unforgettable.
As good as “The Stars My Destination” is, “The Demolished Man” is at least as good.