Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s

In the 1960s, when he wrote these four novels, Philip K. Dick was not known, as he is today, as an acclaimed "literary" science-fiction writer and visionary who inspired many films. Since his death in 1982, his reputation has steadily soared, a little bit too late, and now this former genre journeyman toiling in obscurity has become the first sf author to be enshrined in a handsome omnibus volume in the esteemed Library of America series. Of course, I had to buy it even though I already owned multiple copies of all these novels. It is a genuine pleasure to read any of the LOA volumes, so lovingly produced they are. And this one especially so, compiled as it was by an author heavily influenced by Dick, Jonathan Lethem. You will never see a biographical chronology so interesting to read in its own right: we even learn that Timothy Leary called Dick during John and Yoko's bed-in and he put the famous pair on the phone to tell PKD that they wanted to film one of the four novels contained here, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Incidentally, Lethem's taste is impeccable. Though Dick wrote no fewer than 21 novels in the 1960s (plus a couple of dozen more before and after), these are without a doubt the four best: The Three Stigmata, The Man in the High Castle, Ubik, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? One could easily compile another such volume with four more extremely strong novels of this period: Clans of the Alphane Moon, Dr. Bloodmoney, Now Wait for Last Year, and Martian Time-Slip. However, the ones collected here are the ones I would pick, if I could have only four. They are all absolute classics and support many rereadings. I remember when in the 1970s, I encountered Three Stigmata for the first time and could not totally make sense of it, but I was intrigued. It was hallucinogenic, it was trippy, it was theological. A few years later I found myself seeking it out again, rereading with a passion, finally really "getting it," and then compulsively seeking out everything I could find by PKD. It took me years but I eventually tracked down every last out-of-print forgotten paperback. Since then all his works have been reprinted and made easily available. But my original "discovery" experience is why this LOA volume means so much to me now. The Man in the High Castle is perhaps the best alternate history ever written, a speculation on what life would have been like if the Germans and Japanese had won World War II. Ubik is a brilliant ontological quest into the very structure of reality. Do Androids Dream, the novel on which the film Blade Runner is based, is among other things a meditation on what it means to be human. These four novels have become like cornerstones in my own life's journey. For them to have been given this respectful and definitive publication is something that brings me a lot of pleasure, and would also, I think, have pleased Philip K. Dick.

After watching Blade Runner for the bazillionth time last week I decided finally to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I bought the LOA volume because I love the quality of the binding and printing of their publications.................I am not a fan of SF literature at all and cannot compare Dick to any of his peers...when I read genre fiction I read American crime fiction with the Killer Inside Me and POP 1280 by Jim Thompson as the apex of that style.This book literally blew my mind..............it is so different from the screenplay adapted from it..........it is funnier, more horrifying, and much more thought provoking than Blade Runner............the earth is certainly a nastier and dirtier place than the earth in the movie. The scene where Deckard buys a goat on impulse is one the funniest things I have ever read. The scene where Pris tortures a small spider is one of the most sickening things I have ever read. The scene where the talented opera singing replicant is retired is one the saddest things I have read. A woman or andy who can sing Mozart roles like Donna Anna and Pamina is a source of beauty in an ugly world............her death is much more a downer than the retirement of the snake woman in the movie.I can certainly see why they could not film the book as written..............animal abusers do not go over well in Peoria ....... however, the book is a must read. I am sorry I just got around to it.

This handsome volume of four of PKD's most acclaimed science-fiction novels from the '60s is a pure delight. To be included in the company of John Steinbeck and Saul Bellow (two other authors graced with 2007 Library of America releases) doubtlessly would make PKD smile: finally vindicated! I'm not sure that his days of horsemeat-eating and penny-ante royalty checks are truly assuaged by this posthumous honor--but better late than never. The chronology of Dick's life and works at the volume's close is detailed and heartwrenching. Hopefully Dick's inclusion in the Library of America series will further increase his worldwide status as a major American talent who transcended the limitations of his genre, creating dystopian visions of lasting significance for humanity.I hope we soon will be feted with a companion volume of four of Dick's mainstream novels--perhaps [...]Wherever you are, PKD--hat's off! It's not just kibble anymore.

This was a gift and the receiver remarked at how well constructed and good quality the book was. Also the cover is quite nice with the author holding the cat. I will probably purchase more from this Publisher in the future.

This is a beautifully produced volume containing four of PK Dick's best known novels, including 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'. Includes tasteful dust jacket and sewn-in blue satin book marker ribbon. The paper and printing is of high quality, with font / line spacing that is easy on the eyes. I make no comment about the novels as I presume anyone who orders this will already be familiar with Dick, or will have seen Blade Runner. An excellent choice for someone who wants a keepers edition as opposed to a paperback.

Para amantes de la ciencia ficción. La edición es muy bonita y cuidada. En la parte negativa, las hojas son tan finas que a veces se pasan dos sin querer. Nivel de ingles C1 al menos, para disfrutarlo.

ist durch nichts zu ersetzen - na ja, zumindest wirft er einen langen Schatten. Es war halt die Hochzeit der Science Fiction.

Nicely produced and affordable pocket edition in hardback of four novels.