I really didn’t enjoy this book per se. As a look at Philip K. Dick’s other works, it’s quite interesting.

Written early in his career and long unpublished, it is apparent why it hadn’t been published earlier. I’m not sure I would have read this had it not been written by Dick. It certainly isn’t my taste—it’s a work of realistic fiction set in the real world of the 50s, nor did I particularly care for the main character.

Even so, for serious PKD fans, I would recommend this book.

So why bother with this book? It explores lots of themes that Dick writes about in his other books. Specifically the man on the run, the less-than-wonderful marriage, the TV/radio repair shop, religion and mental illness. I was surprised at each plot turn by the way these things echo in other books. You might be too.