Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
by Philip K. Dick
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Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick contains 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 show more 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. With an introduction by Jonathan Lethem, Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Absolutely amazing. I've always meant to read some of his stuff, so a book full of short stories seemed perfect. It contains most of the stories which have been adapted into movies.
I found it fascinating from a psychology perspective too. I had heard that Dick may have been schizophrenic, and I can absolutely see where that comes from, now. So many of the stories involve paranoia, warping of reality, or a complete disbelief in reality. That he is able to tackle those themes on such a deep level and still construct fascinating stories all around it shows how much skill he had.
Ratings:-
I found it fascinating from a psychology perspective too. I had heard that Dick may have been schizophrenic, and I can absolutely see where that comes from, now. So many of the stories involve paranoia, warping of reality, or a complete disbelief in reality. That he is able to tackle those themes on such a deep level and still construct fascinating stories all around it shows how much skill he had.
Ratings:-
Before reading this, I was awfully worried I wouldn't like these PKD stories as much (or even a fraction of the amount) of the movies that they were made into. And so I put it off, and with the help of another procrastinator, we put it off some more.
But then it finally happened. I read them. And all my worries melted away.
The core stories are all fantastic. The details in the movies flesh it out a lot, but the core stories are fantastic. :)
I won't mention all, but I will mention a few of my favorites.
Beyond Lies the Wub - a great sarcastic, meaty philosophical treat.
Paycheck - Almost play-by-play the same as the movie. Fun.
Second Variety - Screamers movie, perhaps BETTER than the movie. :)
Imposter- One of my favorite unknown PKD show more movies, same fundamental twist.
The King of the Elves - Funny and sad at the same time, and I would love to see this turned into a full movie.
Adjustment Team - On the fence. Probably as good as the movie.
Autofac - A great dystopia, post war, crazy.
The Minority Report - I really got into the subtleties of the *three* minority reports, this time.
The Days of Perky Pat - Creepy because we're already here.
A Game of Unchance - Carnie fun on outposts.
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale - Total Recall, anyone?
Faith of Our Fathers - Communist China has taken over the world, but who took over the Chinese?
The Electric Ant - A fantastic perception/reality fable featuring an android PoV. :)
The Exit Door Leads In - Perfect for all of us who just want to rebel. The MC is a weenie tho. :)
I definitely enjoyed these. The ones I didn't mention were not bad, mind you, after all, this is PKD. :) show less
But then it finally happened. I read them. And all my worries melted away.
The core stories are all fantastic. The details in the movies flesh it out a lot, but the core stories are fantastic. :)
I won't mention all, but I will mention a few of my favorites.
Beyond Lies the Wub - a great sarcastic, meaty philosophical treat.
Paycheck - Almost play-by-play the same as the movie. Fun.
Second Variety - Screamers movie, perhaps BETTER than the movie. :)
Imposter- One of my favorite unknown PKD show more movies, same fundamental twist.
The King of the Elves - Funny and sad at the same time, and I would love to see this turned into a full movie.
Adjustment Team - On the fence. Probably as good as the movie.
Autofac - A great dystopia, post war, crazy.
The Minority Report - I really got into the subtleties of the *three* minority reports, this time.
The Days of Perky Pat - Creepy because we're already here.
A Game of Unchance - Carnie fun on outposts.
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale - Total Recall, anyone?
Faith of Our Fathers - Communist China has taken over the world, but who took over the Chinese?
The Electric Ant - A fantastic perception/reality fable featuring an android PoV. :)
The Exit Door Leads In - Perfect for all of us who just want to rebel. The MC is a weenie tho. :)
I definitely enjoyed these. The ones I didn't mention were not bad, mind you, after all, this is PKD. :) show less
The rating is for the two short stories I read, "Minority Report" and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," both of which were the basis for movies, the former starring Tom Cruise and the latter starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original and Colin Farrell in the remake.
Both stories are interesting and competently written but they take a very cool idea and then rely on twists and tricks to make the stories interesting. Dick doesn't really follow through on the ramifications of the technological innovations he presents, even though it seems clear from throwaway lines that he appreciates what they might be. I'm not a huge fan of the twist-at-the-end short story format, but if you are, you'll like these quite a bit. I didn't dislike show more them, I was just expecting more given his reputation. I'll go back and read other stories at some point to get a better sense of his work overall, and I have a number of his novels in my TBR.
I was going to go on to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but I am a little worried about how the women characters will fare. In these two stories the only parts that were more than two dimensional were one character's boobs. So a break is definitely in order. show less
Both stories are interesting and competently written but they take a very cool idea and then rely on twists and tricks to make the stories interesting. Dick doesn't really follow through on the ramifications of the technological innovations he presents, even though it seems clear from throwaway lines that he appreciates what they might be. I'm not a huge fan of the twist-at-the-end short story format, but if you are, you'll like these quite a bit. I didn't dislike show more them, I was just expecting more given his reputation. I'll go back and read other stories at some point to get a better sense of his work overall, and I have a number of his novels in my TBR.
I was going to go on to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but I am a little worried about how the women characters will fare. In these two stories the only parts that were more than two dimensional were one character's boobs. So a break is definitely in order. show less
Depressing and dystopian, but some stories are the source of a few major movies (Total Recall and Minority Report at least) so I wanted to read before watching. Well-written and interesting but way too depressing for me.
I got this out to read a sampling of Dick's early work and Jonathan Lethem's essay. The strength in his intro is qualifying the man Dick was, his ambitions and how he never felt accepted. It sets up the chronological ordering of the stories and the intention to showcase the writer Dick was and became over his career. A number of these I was already familiar with from the audiobook of his short stories Mason burned for the car years ago.
New fav: "The King of the Elves"
I should note I didn't read all of the stories and I will return to this collection. Best overall selection of his shorter works I've come across.
New fav: "The King of the Elves"
I should note I didn't read all of the stories and I will return to this collection. Best overall selection of his shorter works I've come across.
Several good stories in this batch, but nothing that really blew my mind. I've also just read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and feel like based on these two books of Dick's (the only two I've read), he works much better in longer form prose. Still, it was need to read.
I've been told that PKD's best work appears in his stories. Doesn't seem correct compared to High Castle and Electric Sheep, both of which are just about perfect. About a third of the collection, from the period when PKD started to get truly weird, is worth is. But I've no interest in getting a picture of his whole career. Avoid the early stuff. Start halfway through, if you must.
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Phillip Kindred Dick was an American science fiction writer best known for his psychological portrayals of characters trapped in illusory environments. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 16, 1928, Dick worked in radio and studied briefly at the University of California at Berkeley before embarking on his writing career. His first novel, Solar show more Lottery, was published in 1955. In 1963, Dick won the Hugo Award for his novel, The Man in the High Castle. He also wrote a series of futuristic tales about artificial creatures on the loose; notable of these was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was later adapted into film as Blade Runner. Dick also published several collections of short stories. He died of a stroke in Santa Ana, California, in 1982. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
- Original title
- Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
- Original publication date
- 2002
- Related movies
- The Minority Report; Total Recall; The Adjustment Bureau
- First words
- Philip K. Dick is a necessary writer, in the someone-would-have-had-to-invent-him sense. (Introduction)
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Thanks to Pamela Jackson, whose 1999 dissertation "The World Philip K. Dick Made" helped clarify my thinking in writing this introduction. (Introduction)
- Blurbers
- Ursula K. LeGuin; Steve Erickson
- Disambiguation notice
- Contains:
Beyond Lies the Wub
Roog
Paycheck
Second Variety
Imposter
The King of the Elves
Adjustment Team
Foster, You're Dead
Upon the Dull Earth
Autofac
The Minority Report
The Days of... (show all) Perky Pat
Precious Artifact
A Game of Unchance
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale
Faith of Our Fathers
The Electric Ant
A Little Something for Us Temponauts
The Exit Door Leads In
Rautavaara's Case
I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon
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- Members
- 966
- Popularity
- 27,253
- Reviews
- 12
- Rating
- (4.03)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 8
