In Radio Free Albemuth, his last novel, Philip K. Dick morphed and recombined themes that had informed his fiction from A Scanner Darkly to VALIS and produced a wild, impassioned work that reads like a visionary alternate history of the United States. Agonizingly suspenseful, darkly hilarious, and filled with enough conspiracy theories to thrill the most hardened paranoid, Radio Free Albemuth is proof of Dick's stature as our century's greatest science fiction writer.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Here is another of the unpublished novels science-fiction writer Dick left when he died in 1982. It recounts the friendship of two California men, Nicholas Brady, a record store clerk and later a record company executive, and Philip K. Dick, a writer. During the several decades spanned by the novel, America slides into fascism, particularly under the presidency of Ferris F. Fremont, who comes into office in 1969. Once entrenched, Fremont begins tossing dissidents into camps and in some cases executing them. Brady, meanwhile, has been receiving communications from a Godlike intelligence which he dubs Valis (an idea the author utilized previously in Valis). Valis guides Brady in the secrets of the universe, in the conduct of his life, and in a plot to bring down the monstrous Fremont, a cause to which Brady is finally martyred. This bleak political vision is given extra force by its autobiogrphical tone. Though not one of Dick's best novels, it is an engrossing, non-stop excursion into a believable vision of Hell. Foreign rights: Scott Meredith. January 8
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'An engrossing, non-stop excursion into a believable vision of hell' Publishers Weekly 'The most brilliant sci-fi mind on any planet' Rolling Stone
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By J. A. Furgal
Format:Paperback
To me, this was the accessible, sentimental VALIS. While it is not so rich in detail, one does not have to read the exegesis of Gnostic terminology found in VALIS. I believe the story benifits from this as it allowed Dick to focus more tightly on his main characters and their emotions.
Parts of this books made me feel like I was reading a later day addition to C. S. Lewis' Perlandria series. The feeling of divine contact and its sudden withdrawal was just devastating. I have rarely read such a clear portrayal of the emotions surrounding direct religious experiences.
The other aspect of this book I liked was its obviously autobiographical narrative, and its dark hints at Nixon's raw grasping for power and possible responsibilities for the loss of some of our most popular leaders of the '60s.
Radio Free Albemuth provides a fascinating alternative to VALIS, and can be enjoyed at several levels. It also combines in an accessible manner the important themes Dick wrote about in "A Scanner Darkly" and "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said". While it is derrivative of these books, the insight and ideas have been honed to their essence.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Dave Deubler
Format:Paperback
Set in California in the early 1970's, record producer and hipster Nicholas Brady is receiving communications from outer space that put him in the thick of a political plot to depose the despised U.S. President from Orange County, while Phil Dick is his science-fiction writer friend in this outrageous novel. Do these outcasts have what it takes to overthrow an authoritarian government and right the social wrongs of America? Not if the administration's goons have anything to say about it. A marvelous romp through faith, insanity, free will, and paranoia.
While not technically part of the "Valis" trilogy, this book deals with many of the same themes and occasionally even the same events, some of which supposedly really happened. It seems likely that the reason Dick never published this novel during his lifetime is because so much of this material had already been covered in his other books. But this work is far more novelistic, telling a chronological story about how two individuals decided to stick it to the Man, and less a scholarly treatise on the nature of God, reality, the universe, etc... For those who found "Valis" a little too methodological in its analysis of comparative cosmologies and so forth, "Albemuth" is a much more readable, straightforward science fiction novel. If you haven't read the "Valis" trilogy yet, read this book first.
The characters are pretty much standard for Dick: the everyman who overdid the drug culture during the 1960's, and the science fiction writer who tries to turn everything into a story. Since both of these are Dick's alter-egos, they serve to bring the writer into the action and let him toy with both autobiography and meta-fiction. As a general rule, Dick's style is easy enough to read, but his plots are often difficult to follow, since things are rarely what they appear to be and some dichotomies are never really resolved. Unlike some of his better known works, this book at least has a fairly clear-cut conclusion. The bottom line is: if you're a fan of imaginative fiction who is still unfamiliar with the work of this astonishing writer, then you need to tune in pronto. And while this may not be the master's tightest work, those new to Dick might just as well start here as anywhere.
While not technically part of the "Valis" trilogy, this book deals with many of the same themes and occasionally even the same events, some of which supposedly really happened. It seems likely that the reason Dick never published this novel during his lifetime is because so much of this material had already been covered in his other books. But this work is far more novelistic, telling a chronological story about how two individuals decided to stick it to the Man, and less a scholarly treatise on the nature of God, reality, the universe, etc... For those who found "Valis" a little too methodological in its analysis of comparative cosmologies and so forth, "Albemuth" is a much more readable, straightforward science fiction novel. If you haven't read the "Valis" trilogy yet, read this book first.
The characters are pretty much standard for Dick: the everyman who overdid the drug culture during the 1960's, and the science fiction writer who tries to turn everything into a story. Since both of these are Dick's alter-egos, they serve to bring the writer into the action and let him toy with both autobiography and meta-fiction. As a general rule, Dick's style is easy enough to read, but his plots are often difficult to follow, since things are rarely what they appear to be and some dichotomies are never really resolved. Unlike some of his better known works, this book at least has a fairly clear-cut conclusion. The bottom line is: if you're a fan of imaginative fiction who is still unfamiliar with the work of this astonishing writer, then you need to tune in pronto. And while this may not be the master's tightest work, those new to Dick might just as well start here as anywhere.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By thetwonky
Format:Paperback
This is a very well-written novel from an author who is generally hit or miss. It also has an unusual narative structure (which I will not give away) that provides a clue into Dick's own state of mind. Based on actual events of Dick's life, (as he sees them) this novel, published after his death, is the first version of what became (the very confused) VALIS. Read this first and you will understand VALIS much, much more. Dick's final four novels (RFA, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) should all be read in that order to really unlock the mind of Dick in the last years of his fascinating life.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Avoid anything Valis related from PKD
I love much of PKD's writing, but this is just bad. There's very little story at all, and instead the bulk of the book is just incoherent religious ramblings and aimless political... Read more
Published 18 months ago by tqwert1
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, entertaining and life-changing
Philip K. Dick chose not to take a new editor's notes on this novel and entrusted the manuscript to a friend. Read more
Published on March 26, 2011 by sceptical
4.0 out of 5 stars
Huh?
I listened to the audio version by Tim Weiner. Aliens broadcasting advice, paranoid presidents, subliminal music, visions, and other general wackiness didn't really make much... Read more
Published on September 13, 2010 by Evan Hammerman
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's just VALIS, again.
It's always thrilling when a manuscript from a brilliant author is published posthumously. So I had high hopes with "Radio Free Albemuth", released from the private collection of... Read more
Published on March 4, 2010 by Walter Baeck
4.0 out of 5 stars
One Step Over the Red Line
I wonder what Philip K. Dick thought of Radio Free Europe, the American show broadcast to anti-American nations during and after the Cold War. Read more
Published on September 8, 2009 by benshlomo
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Curiously Mind Melding Experience - P.K.D Style
What a task PKD must have had, trying to decipher and express in written form his 1974 metaphysical experience. Read more
Published on June 3, 2009 by Frau Blücher
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disapointing
I'm getting a bit tired of all these totalitarian regime stories, though admittedly there are some very frightening similarities with today's America and the world as a whole. Read more
Published on November 1, 2008 by Vassilis Michalitsis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easier than Valis to read
I've been an avid PKD fan for years, but I've never been able to work my way through his VALIS trilogy. Not sure why. Read more
Published on June 19, 2008 by E. Truman
3.0 out of 5 stars
Established Readers
Essentially, this is another version of VALIS. I recommend VALIS often, especially to readers who tell me they've read a book or two of his (usually Do Androids Dream of Electric... Read more
Published on December 11, 2007 by Joseph Estes
5.0 out of 5 stars
The completion of Valis
RFA combines concepts from VALIS, The Divine Invasion, A Scanner Darkly, The Man in the High Castle, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Read more
Published on November 6, 2007 by Arcadian
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