Description:

**Written in the late 1950s but unpublished until after his death, this is one of Dick's greatest realistic novels** When Roger and Virginia Lindhal enroll their son Gregg in Mrs Alt's Los Padres Valley School in the mountains of Southern California, their marriage is already in deep trouble. Then the Lindhals meet Chic and Liz Bonner, whose two sons also board at Mrs Alt's school. The meeting is a catalyst for a complicated series of emotions and traumas, set against the backdrop of suburban Los Angeles in the early 1950s. As Roger, Virginia, Chic and Liz orbit each other in ever-decaying circles, their lives threaten to run out of control. This is a realistic novel filled with details of everyday life and skilfully told from three points of view. It is powerful, eloquent, and gripping. Winner of both the HUGO and JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARDs for BEST NOVEL, Philip K. Dick is widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day. The object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves. ** ### Review “Published posthumously, this work is radically different from the famous science fiction author’s past successes. It is a mood piece, a somber study of two young couples. A curious, oddly compelling book. Turning each page the reader feels an odd suspense and a reluctance to abandon these four unpredictable but somehow endearing people.” --*Booklist* on *Puttering About in a Small Land *“Dick was…one of the genuine visionaries that North American fiction has produced in this century.” *--L.A. Weekly* ### About the Author **Philip K. Dick** has had many movies based on his stories, including the classic, *Blade Runner*. Several more are in various stages of development.