A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick
A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick
3 Rating(s)
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A Scanner Darkly

Author: Philip K. Dick

Narrator: Paul Giamatti

Unabridged: 9 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/23/2006

Synopsis

Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, Fred takes on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D--which Arctor takes in massive doses--gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize he is narcing on himself.

Caustically funny, eerily accurate in its depiction of junkies, scam artists, and the walking brain-dead, Philip K. Dick's industrial-grade stress test of identity is as unnerving as it is enthralling.

About The Author

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. He briefly attended the University of California, but dropped out before completing any classes. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year in 1974 for Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said. Philip K. Dick died on March 2, 1982, in Santa Ana, California, of heart failure following a stroke.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper on January 22, 2012

I used to wonder how Phillip K. Dick came up with all the trippy concepts in his stories until I read A Scanner Darkly. That’s when I realized that the drugs probably had a lot to do with it. Originally published in 1977 and set in the mid ‘90s, the book tells the story of Bob Arctor. Arctor appears......more

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on October 02, 2021

There are other books dealing with drug addiction that tell a whole story and not just the introspection of the protagonist balancing next to the cliffs on insanity by using Dicks´ stylistic trademarks consciousness, parallel realities, illusion, perception, madness,… Like most of Dicks´ novels, it i......more

Goodreads review by Michael on October 10, 2019

This was a fascinating story (if somewhat terrifying) about LA in the 90s (seen from the 70s) and the future is grim. In a lot of ways, PKD's predictions have not bourne out: we don't have scattersuits and no one was using cassette tapes anymore because of the CD. However, the long-term effects of h......more

Goodreads review by Baba on June 24, 2022

2020 view SF Masterworks 20: A dystopian world where one half of society spends nearly all their time acquiring and using drugs, especially Substance D, the most toxic, addictive and lethal(!) drug ever. Deep undercover police 'Fred' whose identity is secret even from the police, is startled to find......more

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