Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

By: Philip K Dick

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Paperback | 30 September 2008

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The first US paperback edition of this classic Philip K. Dick novel
Set in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1950s, "Humpty Dumpty in Oakland" is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K. Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy.
Jim Fergesson, an elderly garage owner with a heart condition, is about to sell up and retire; Al Miller is a somewhat feckless mechanic who sublets part of Jim's lot and finds his livelihood threatened by the decision to sell; Chris Harman is a record company owner who for years has relied on Fergesson to maintain his cars. When Harman hears of Fergesson's impending retirement he tips him off to what he says is a cast-iron business proposition: a development in nearby Marin County with an opening for a garage. Al Miller, though, is convinced that Harman is a crook, out to fleece Fergesson of his life's savings. As much as he resents Fergesson he can't bear to see that happen and--denying to himself all the time what he is doing--he sets out to thwart Harman.

Industry Reviews

"A grim portrait of a luckless used-car salesman and his bigoted landlord in Oakland that seems at first to share little with the hallucinatory sci-fi works for which Philip K. Dick is best known. But both men slip into paranoid spirals that will be familiar to any fan of Dick's later masterpieces. Offers a fascinating glimpse into how Dick's uniquely warped perspective evolved." --Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A)

"Fans of the late SF icon Dick who have yet to discover his obscure genre works will be pleasantly surprised by this profound--and perplexing--1986 posthumous tragicomedy.... This paranoid and ambiguity-filled exploration into the psyche of the small businessman showcases not only Dick's wild imagination and sardonic wit but also, and most notably, his mastery at intertwining perception with reality." --Publishers Weekly

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