I was hoping that this one would be better than the movie based on it, but some of the explanations and hand-waving near the end just got a bit burdensome. I was also somewhat distracted by the unexplained age difference between the police chief and his wife - she was stated as being young and beautiful (I'm guessing in her 20's), but the police chief has been in charge for at least 30 years. ( )

This anthology groups several of Dick's short stories. As the preface indicates, the theme running through the stories is not so much technology as it is the human condition. More specifically, he asks: what is existence? the only thing that we have yet to prove scientifically. Dick explores this playing with memories, the senses, perceptions - anything that we conclude are tangible and yet can easily be manipulated. How easy it is to lose our sense of identity when nothing is what it seems!
Some stories feel repetitive but overall they are ageless, even 60 years after their writing. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2020/09/review-of-minority-report-by-philip-k.h... ( )

It's a British edition, and the collection is in different order than other editions:

ix - Introduction (Minority Report) essay by Malcolm Edwards
1 -The Minority Report (1956) novelette
45 - Impostor (1953) short story
61 - Second Variety (1953) novelette
111 - War Game (1959) short story
131 - What the Dead Men Say (1964) novella
191 - Oh, to Be a Blobel! (1964) novelette
211 - The Electric Ant (1969) short story
231 - Faith of Our Fathers (1967) novelette
267 - We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966) novelette

The last was filmed twice as Total Recall, but the story is still better than either effort. I loved (and still love) "Oh, to be a Blobel!" PKD could write better than any other two or three authors, all added together. ( )

This book gathers some short stories by Philip K. Dick, one of the best known sci-fi authors. We can find here the usual issues tackled by such authors, such as identity problems, reality and its perception, or the conflict between man and technology.

"Minority Report", which includes the short story with the same title, loosely adapted by Spielberg to the screen, and "We can remember it for you wholesale", also adapted, and also loosely, to the screen as Total Recall, is a much readable and enjoyable book. Most tales are really captivating and thought provoking, setting the bar higher enough for the reader who looks simultaneously for deepness and distraction.

Besides "Minority Report" and "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale", short stories such as "Impostor", "Second Variety", "The Electric Ant", and "Faith of our Fathers" stand out. Philip K. Dick has a talent for creating relatable characters, in spite of his occasionaly feeble writing style.

I would give it a 4 out of 5. ( )