Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

by Dick, Philip K.
ISBN: 9780679740667
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Overview

"Dick skillfully explores the psychological ramifications of this nightmare."--The New York Times Review of Books

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said grapples with many of the themes Philip K. Dick is best known for-- identity, altered reality, drug use, and dystopia--in a rollicking chase story that earned the novel the John W. Campbell Award and nominations for the Hugo and Nebula.

Jason Taverner--world-famous talk show host and man-about-town--wakes up one day to find that no one knows who he is--including the vast databases of the totalitarian government. And in a society where lack of identification is a crime, Taverner has no choice but to go on the run with a host of shady characters, including crooked cops and dealers of alien drugs. But do they know more than they are letting on? And just how can a person's identity be erased overnight?

  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Dick, Philip K.
  • ISBN: 9780679740667
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 0.50 x 8.00
  • Publication Year: 1993

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  • Excellent Post-Modern Science-Fiction

    Joseph G. - 7 years 11 months ago

    Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, a later work of Philip K. Dick, is notable for a downbeat tone and an emotional climax that shifts the mood of the book from a dystopian mystery to an existential examination of the nature of love and existence. As in many of Dick's best works, no character that is encountered throughout the narrative is as they seem upon initial analysis. The book is set in a complex futuristic police state where identity is determined by one's paperwork rather than one's individual merit. Slave-labor camps are used to keep the populace in line, and all citizens live under the fear of the potential rescension of their freedom. Justice is elusive, arbitrary, and ultimately vaporous. As in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," citizens are kept in line with the administering of mind-altering drugs. If all of this sounds familiar, Dick's unique characterization and storytelling abilities are the real treasure buried within this dark story. The ostensible protagonist of the book is a celebrity who has had his identity taken away, and is in a race against time to discover the meaning of the events that he has found himself thrust into, which in the end are essentially meaningless. Perspectives shift throughout the story, and seemingly each chapter shifts to the point of view of a different character within Dick's ever-evolving world. The effect of this seems to be to provide an open-ended meditation on the nature of fate and identity within the confines of human existence. The ever-changing nature of the book's reality gives the odd effect that the world of the characters is transforming before your eyes as the novel progresses. Given the multi-dimensional explanation that is offered for the reasons for the events in the novel, this seems to be Dick's intention. The final segment of the book serves a purpose of being an emotional reservoir for the book's collective protagonists. Ultimately, chaos and diffusion reign in the world of the novel, but meaning is provided in the characters' ability to accept and deal with their various tragedies and mishaps that occur along the way. "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" is far more than what it appears to be upon the initial approach. Although it is a brief novel, the multi-layered complexity encountered in the narrative merits repeated readings and foreshadows what is known as the VALIS trilogy, considered by many to be the apotheosis of the complex writer's work. Suffering comes to represent the foundation for further growth, a necessary but unpleasant force that provides balance but appears to us as chaos. By providing an array of perspectives throughout the narrative, "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" weaves a tapestry of meaning between seemingly disparate forces. The players are pieces on a game board, gradually understanding meaning within the symmetry of the rules of their existence.

    HPB Staff Review