Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick | Philip K. Dick

Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick | Philip K. Dick | for PKD novices and acolytes

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Selected Stories o...

	Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick Philip K. Dick Pantheon, 2002 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Philip K. Dick was a master of science fiction, but he was also a writer whose work transcended genre to examine the nature of reality and what it means to be human. A writer of great complexity and subtle humor, his work belongs on the shelf of great twentieth-century literature, next to Kafka and Vonnegut. Collected here are twenty-one of Dick's most dazzling and resonant stories, which span his entire career and show a world-class writer working at the peak of his powers.

In "The Days of Perky Pat," people spend their time playing with dolls who manage to live an idyllic life no longer available to the Earth's real inhabitants. "Adjustment Team" looks at the fate of a man who by mistake has stepped out of his own time. In "Autofac," one community must battle benign machines to take back control of their lives. And in "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon," we follow the story of one man whose very reality may be nothing more than a nightmare. The collection also includes such classic stories as "The Minority Report," the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," the basis for the film Total Recall. Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.

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Non-corny Sci-Fi

I had never heard of Philip.K.Dick before, im one of the millions who had only seen movies based on his work.

In short, the author writes very interesting stories that are refreshing from the sterotypical scfi-fi trash of aliens & Star Wars-inspired clone stories. It spins me out thinking this stuff was written 30-40 years ago & makes me think sci-fi writers these days have lost their creativity.

Some are thought-provoking, others ironic tales about petty human grievance's, some about paranoia & others involve a strong flavour of the old Cold War fear of the formidable & largely unknown enemy.

It was a pretty good find for me, Dick's style is refreshing as i said earlier & i'll definatly be reading more of his work.

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for PKD novices and acolytes

Overall, a very strong and representative collection of PKD's short stories. These shorts in this binding include a lot of old favorites that are arranged chronologically so we can watch PKD's obsessions and themes emerge and unfold and develop. It also allows us to see where he managed to frustrate himself along the way as well. Anyone reading this would do well to read the PKD bio by Emmanuel Carrere, "I Am Alive And You Are Dead"; it's interesting to line up the parallels in PKD's life with his recurring tropes and stylistic choices.

Question: Print and production quality?

I'm a long-time reader and admirer of PKD looking to supplement my collection of now-fragile paperbacks. Can someone speak to the quality of this book: paper, printing, binding, other comments? Many thanks (wholesale, regrooved, castellated, etc.)

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Mediocre writer, great idea man

I've always loved science fiction but the idea that somehow Dicks was a 'great writer' rubbed me wrong. Perhaps because I myself am a writer and have an advanced degree in English [re: forced to read a plethora of excellent writing] I've always read with a [overly] critical eye. Dicks stikes me as a very lazy writer who, in his desire to get out his ideas, skips development or careful construction and just rushes to the dénouement, loose ends be damned. But.. I love the ideas! Like Twilight Zone instant good stuff. I don't deny it, I'm esentially lazy also! Still, for truly great Sci-Fi read, say, Gene Wolfes' The Fifth Head of Cerberus or Lem's Solaris..if your a lazy reader don't bother. The guy who claims King or what's-his-face as great, well, that says it all!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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