Puttering About In A Small Land [Paperback]

Philip K. Dick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

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 fifties. The buildup of emotional intensity and the finely observed characterizations are a hallmark of Philip K. Dick’s work.

This is a realistic novel filled with details of everyday life and skillfully told from three points of view. It is powerful, eloquent, and gripping.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

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

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897333845
• ISBN-13: 978-0897333849
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,721,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Mainstream PKD, November 3, 2000

By 

David Kleist - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Puttering About In A Small Land (Paperback)

I have a soft spot for this bleakly realistic novel about California life in the 1950's. The main characters are little people, anti-heroes, average Joes, but Dick's psychological insights are superb and singular. I remember one character's description of being popular in elementary school for two days because of making ears from breadcrusts and causing everyone to laugh; and a brilliantly believable internal monologue about getting caught in the act of adultery. Dick's evocations are haunting. He truly was capable of finding the unique and the universal in the quotidian realities of modern life, even when disguised by a wacky SF alternative-realm framework (not here, though). PUTTERING is straight slice-of-life.

I wish someone would make this one into a movie. It's bittersweet, evocative--filled with character like an aged burgundy. Read it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of PKD's best mainstream novels, January 25, 1999

By 

Eric M. Van (Watertown, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Puttering About In A Small Land (Paperback)

Eight of the mainstream novels PKD wrote in the fifties have now been published. Everyone agrees that CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST is the best; after that, opinions vary quite widely. I'd put this in the top three, but, really, you have to try them and see. This one's an often funny tale of adultery, with terrific characterizations, including one of the most positively portrayed females in all of PKD's work. Like a lot of Dick novels, it explores why we sometimes knowingly and willfully act to bring about our own downfall.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insights into human relationships not usually expressed, February 22, 2001

By 

A. G. Plumb "Greg Plumb" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Puttering About In A Small Land (Paperback)

I loved this novel. The reactions the adulterers experience after their one 'affair' are so atypical of drama, film, TV but I suspect so accurate of human life. We can all learn many things from reading Dick's novels - both SF and otherwise. Somehow - even in extreme environments (which this novel does not show) - he shows everyday reality of the human mind.