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We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick
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We Can Build You (original 1972; edition 1997)

by Philip K. Dick

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1,3431713,916 (3.34)9
Louis Rosen and his partners sell people--ingeniously designed, historically authentic simulacra of personages such as Edwin M. Stanton and Abraham Lincoln. The problem is that the only prospective buyer is a rapacious billionaire whose plans for the simulacra could land Louis in jail. Then there's the added complication that someone--or something--like Abraham Lincoln may not want to be sold. Is an electronic Lincoln any less alive than his creators? Is a machine that cares and suffers inferior to the woman Louis loves--a borderline psychopath who does neither? With irresistible momentum, intelligence, and wit, Philip K. Dick creates an arresting techno-thriller that suggests a marriage of Bladerunner and Barbarians at the Gate.… (more)
Member:clevercelt
Title:We Can Build You
Authors:Philip K. Dick
Info:HarperVoyager (1997), Paperback, 256 pages
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We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick (1972)

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» See also 9 mentions

English (14)  Spanish (1)  Finnish (1)  German (1)  All languages (17)
Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
Straws pulled at random - the book.

The only merit this book has is that it has PKD written on the cover. I can't imagine anyone giving this a second thought if that wasn't the case. ( )
  MartinEdasi | Nov 30, 2023 |
This is kind of a delightful, oddball story
  rottweilersmile | Feb 28, 2022 |
Dick is up to his usual psych tricks: A robot Abe Lincoln, with more soul than its schizophrenic teen creator, appears as deus ex machina.
  rynk | Jul 11, 2021 |
Yet another classic PKD. :) A lot of great humor in this one, too. Lincoln and Edward Stanton, brought back to life and running a corporation that sells simulacra, android re-creations of real people? Well, that's hardly everything in this novel.

Most of it knocks the ball out of the park about relationships, madness, and a misdiagnosis. I really think it's not Schizophrenia he's talking about, but Autism. Or in the spectrum. And that's all kinds of cool, too, when it comes to modern novels. But of course, PKD has always jumped feet-first in that particular pool.

Interestingly enough, this novel deals with the pre-Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep time, with Simulacra JUST getting on the market, getting that push to take on and prepare colonies off Earth, and EVEN Mood Organs. :) So much of that is hilarious and/or disturbing when you think about how things go later on.

This is definitely one of the livelier and light PKD novels out there, focusing more on doomed relationships and fantasies than most. Kinda fitting, considering the theme. Are we just machines? Are we slaves to our passions, or are we making new slaves for our passions? Even funnier when you consider that LINCOLN himself has become a slave of sorts. :)

( )
  bradleyhorner | Jun 1, 2020 |
Philip K. Dick is one of my favourite authors of all time, but it's fair to say that We Can Build You doesn't represent his best work. There's little to no action and it re-uses tropes that have been dealt with better elsewhere, such as simulacra, artifical intelligence, a lunar colony, small business management, the nature of consciousness. It also leans heavily on a rather disturbing sub-plot about the main character's sexual obsession with his business partner's barely-legal and mentally unstable daughter. ( )
1 vote SFF1928-1973 | Aug 23, 2019 |
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» Add other authors (8 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Philip K. Dickprimary authorall editionscalculated
Böhmert, FrankTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Foss, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moore, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Powers, TimAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schoenherr, JohnCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tybus, PeterCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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To Robert and Ginny Heinlein,

whose kindness to us has meant more

than ordinary words can answer.
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Our sales technique was perfected in the early 1970s.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Louis Rosen and his partners sell people--ingeniously designed, historically authentic simulacra of personages such as Edwin M. Stanton and Abraham Lincoln. The problem is that the only prospective buyer is a rapacious billionaire whose plans for the simulacra could land Louis in jail. Then there's the added complication that someone--or something--like Abraham Lincoln may not want to be sold. Is an electronic Lincoln any less alive than his creators? Is a machine that cares and suffers inferior to the woman Louis loves--a borderline psychopath who does neither? With irresistible momentum, intelligence, and wit, Philip K. Dick creates an arresting techno-thriller that suggests a marriage of Bladerunner and Barbarians at the Gate.

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