The Penultimate Truth
Philip K. Dick
In the future, most of humanity lives in massive underground bunkers, producing weapons for the nuclear war they've fled. Constantly bombarded by patriotic propaganda, the citizens of these industrial anthills believe they are waiting for the day when the war will be over and they can return above ground. But when Nick St. James, president of one anthill, makes an unauthorized trip to the surface, what he finds is more shocking than anything he could imagine.
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"At a time when most 20th-century science fiction writers seem hopelessly dated, Dick gives us a vision of the future that captures the feel of our time." --Wired
"The finest American novelist of our time." -Hartford Advocate
"Dick was ... one of the genuine visionaries that North American fiction has produced in this century."-Steve Erickson, L.A. Weekly
"If there's such a thing as a 'black science fiction,' Philip K. Dick is its Pirandello, its Beckett and its Pinter." -Harlan Ellison
From the Trade Paperback edition. FROM THE PUBLISHER
'AN ENTERTAINIG AND DISTURBING READ' - Sunday Times 'AS FULL OF MUSCLE, TEETH AND FLASHING SURPRISES AS AN ALLIGATOR POOL' - Brian Aldiss
'A FINE PARABLE, GRIPPINGLY WRITTEN' - Tribune
FROM THE INSIDE FLAP
What if you discovered that everything you knew about the world was a lie? That's the question at the heart of Philip K. Dick's futuristic novel about political oppression, the show business of politics and the sinister potential of the military industrial complex. This wry, paranoid thriller imagines a future in which the earth has been ravaged, and cities are burnt-out wastelands too dangerous for human life. Americans have been shipped underground, where they toil in crowded industrial ant hills and receive a steady diet of inspiring speeches from a President who never seems to age. Nick St. James, like the rest of the masses, believed in the words of his leaders. But that all changes when he travels to the surface where what he finds is more shocking than anything he could possibly imagine.
Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and 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 utlizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves. FROM THE BACK COVER
"At a time when most 20th-century science fiction writers seem hopelessly dated, Dick gives us a vision of the future that captures the feel of our time." - Wired
In the future, most of humanity lives in massive underground bunkers, producing weapons for the nuclear war they've fled. Constantly bombarded by patriotic propaganda, the citizens of these industrial anthills believe they are waiting for the day when the war will be over and they can return aboveground. But when Nick St. James, president of one anthill, makes an unauthorized trip to the surface, what he finds is more shocking than anything he could imagine.
Over a career that spanned three decades, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) wrote 121 short stories and 45 novels, establishing himself as one of the most visionary authors of the twentieth century. His work is included in The Library of America and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Eleven works have been adapted to film, including Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) , Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
One of the greatest authors of the 20th century, with a career spanning 3 decades and 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film; notably: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly. Dick won the Hugo Award in 1963 and was inducted into the SF Hall of Fame in 2005, and in 2007 he was the first science fiction to be published by the Library of America.
Nick Podehl has been named a "Best Voice of 2010" by AudioFile magazine. He has narrated many young adult, fantasy and romance titles, several of which have won awards, and has appeared in a number of theatrical productions and independent films. Read more
