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Ubik (Paperback)

by Philip K. Dick (Author) "At three-thirty A.M. on the night of June 5, 1992, the top telepath in the Sol System fell off the map in the offices of..." (more)
Key Phrases: kidney balm, moratorium owner, prudence organization, Joe Chip, Don Denny, Glen Runciter (more...)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Nobody but Philip K. Dick could so successfully combine SF comedy with the unease of reality gone wrong, shifting underfoot like quicksand. Besides grisly ideas like funeral parlors where you swap gossip for the advice of the frozen dead, Ubik (1969) offers such deadpan farce as a moneyless character's attack on the robot apartment door that demands a five-cent toll:

"I'll sue you," the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, "I've never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it."

Chip works for Glen Runciter's anti-psi security agency, which hires out its talents to block telepathic snooping and paranormal dirty tricks. When its special team tackles a big job on the Moon, something goes terribly wrong. Runciter is killed, it seems--but messages from him now appear on toilet walls, traffic tickets, or product labels. Meanwhile, fragments of reality are timeslipping into past versions: Joe Chip's beloved stereo system reverts to a hand-cranked 78 player with bamboo needles. Why does Runciter's face appear on U.S. coins? Why the repeated ads for a hard-to-find universal panacea called Ubik ("safe when taken as directed")?

The true, chilling state of affairs slowly becomes clear, though the villain isn't who Joe Chip thinks. And this is Dick country, where final truths are never quite final and--with the help of Ubik--the reality/illusion balance can still be tilted the other way. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

Review
SALES POINTS 'One of the most original practitioners writing any kind of fiction, Dick made most of the European avant-garde seem like navel-gazers in a cul-de-sac' - Sunday Times 'My literary hero' -- Fay Weldon 'For everyone lost in the endlessly multiplicating realities of the modern world, remember: Philip K. Dick got there first' -- Terry Gilliam --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Vintage (December 3, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679736646
ISBN-13: 978-0679736646
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (106 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,808 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#14 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Dick, Philip K.

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
At three-thirty A.M. on the night of June 5, 1992, the top telepath in the Sol System fell off the map in the offices of Runciter Associates in New York City. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
kidney balm, moratorium owner, prudence organization, many inertials, psi field, roof field, other inertials

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Joe Chip, Don Denny, Glen Runciter, New York, Des Moines, Miss Wirt, Pat Conley, Wendy Wright, Edie Dorn, Stanton Mick, Runciter Associates, Tippy Jackson, Tito Apostos, Beloved Brethren Moratorium, Sammy Mundo, Jon Ild, Ray Hollis, Ella Runciter, Francesca Spanish, Fred Zafsky, Dole Melipone, Herbert Schoenheit von Vogelsang, Zoe Wirt, Archer's Drugstore, Elixir of Ubique

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 7 books:

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Shambala Pocket Classics) by Chogyam Trungpa on page 13
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick in Back Matter
The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick in Front Matter
A Scanner Darkly (Millennium SF Masterworks S) by Philip K. Dick in Front Matter
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick in Front Matter

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

How We Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hayles

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I Am Alive and You Are Dead by Emmanuel Carrere

Discusses:

Five Great Novels: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep", "Martian Time Slip", "Ubik", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "A Scanner Darkly" (Gollancz S.F.)

Five Great Novels by Philip K. Dick

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	80% buy the item featured on this page: Ubik 4.6 out of 5 stars (106) $10.94
	6% buy Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of The 1960s / The Man in the High Castle / The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? / Ubik (Library of America No. 173) 4.7 out of 5 stars (21) $23.10
	5% buy The Man in the High Castle 4.0 out of 5 stars (168) $10.15
	5% buy A Scanner Darkly 4.4 out of 5 stars (131) $10.98

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Customer Reviews

106 Reviews

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (106 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best Phil Dick novel to start with; a classic, October 8, 2000

By	Tung Yin (Iowa City, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although "Ubik" wasn't the first Philip K. Dick novel I read (having read just about all of them now, it's hard to remember which was first, but I think it was "Martian Time-Slip"), I would recommend it as the best starting point for someone trying to decide if PKD is your cup of tea. "Ubik" has all of the major elements of the typical PKD novel (to the extent there is any typicality): (1) questioning of the meaning of reality; (2) an almost pathetic sense of humor in the face of the unraveling of reality; (3) an everyman protagonist; and (4) extreme readability despite a somewhat pedestrian writing style.

The plot can be summed up like this: some humans have psychic powers, but rather than being seen as heroes (as is the case in most sci-fi), they're possible sources of invasions of your privacy. Never fear, however, because some humans have developed anti-psychic powers -- they block the powers of the others. A bunch of anti-psychics go on a mission, but something goes wrong and they barely get away with their lives. Almost immediately, they notice that something is not right. Phone directories are out of date, coffee is disgustingly stale, and so on. Time, it seems, is flowing backwards!

For readers who aren't aware, PKD was one of the most influential sci-fi writers, with his reality-warping stories. His interest in this topic can be traced, no doubt, to his youthful experimentation with narcotics -- an experience recounted largely in "A Scanner Darkly."

PKD was an incredibly prolific writer; he wrote something like 16 novels in a five year stretch in the late-1960s, including "Ubik." Many of his best novels were written during that stretch. If you like "Ubik," I would suggest in no particular order: "The Gameplayers of Titan," "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch," "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (made into the movie "Bladerunner"), "Dr. Bloodmoney," and "The Man in the High Castle." By the 1970's, PKD stopped writing as many novels, and they became more thematically complex, with increasing emphasis on religious spirituality.

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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I laughed, I cried..., December 28, 1999

By	Ed Lee (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This was the first PKD I ever read, so it's got some sentimental value...as it is, it's stood the test of time to remain one of my all time favorite PKD novels.

Supposedly one of the major influences on The Matrix (along with The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch), Ubik is about the subjectivity of physical reality, death, advertising, consumerism...

In the first few pages PKD introduces more ideas than most sci-fi (I cringe to pigeonhole him so, but it's the closest comparison) authors are capable of their entire careers.

You can't take this book on face value, it engages the reader so completely with it's energy, style and fiercely challenging ideas. Not to mention the plot twists, which will keep you guessing to the final page (without sounding too horribly cliched I hope).

For PKD vets it's comforting to revisit the world he established in his most blatantly sci-fi phase, with all the standbys like precogs, conapts, talking kitchen appliances, etc.

For PKD newbies Ubik is a perfect choice to start in on the incredible feast that are the novels of PKD - trust me.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic PKD, December 31, 2002

By	alchemist42 "alchemist42" (Athens, GA United States) - See all my reviews

I finished reading Ubik and I couldn't even start any other books for a week because I had to sit and think about everything that had just happened. I've read several other books by Mr. Dick and, while they are all excellent, this is the best. So far. It has everything that I have come to expect from him. You never quite know where reality is. Then you figure it out only to find that you are wrong. Then another twist comes. It has excellent pacing, a good bit of humour, and - of course - loads of wild ideas about life, death, the future, consumerism, dreams, drugs, psychic abilities, and the human condition.

The first few pages set up the stage for the story in a way that an average author would have required 100 pages of descriptions and explanations. And it all made sense. This is a good book if you have never been introduced to PKD's work, since it is very accessible and well written. It is required reading for any PKD fans who have not yet gotten around to it.

Just remember- it is safe when taken as directed.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Format for Kindle: A-
This review is specific to this "printing": B000FC2O48 for Kindle and was read on a K2. Also to be clear my star rating is a reference to the story and not the formatting... Read more

Published 1 month ago by cfazendin

4.0 out of 5 stars Underdeveloped, But Still Very Good
Overview:

A well-thought-out tale, but not a complete one, Ubik is the story of the destruction of Runciter's anti-paranormal agency at the hands of its... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Harkius

4.0 out of 5 stars One More Time Again
Is it a good book or a great book? Some say that "Ubik", published a few years after Philip K. Dick's classic period, is a genuine and final return to form, a true last burst of... Read more

Published 4 months ago by benshlomo

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Received in perfect condition
The book (UBIK) came to me in 2 days! Excellent price and it was in new condition. Thanks! AAAA++++

Published 6 months ago by Robert A. Rose

5.0 out of 5 stars 2xist but not just for underwear
i wish i was no longer alive... there is no god and there is no dog either. suicide might be the cure if only i would die for real... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Nobody Really

5.0 out of 5 stars My vote for the best PKD novel
would be for this one.

This is a PKD masterpiece. A strong convoluted story that, unlike many PKD novels, does not trail off but stays strong and sustained to the... Read more

Published 8 months ago by eagle eye

5.0 out of 5 stars Crazy, dark, explosive, suspenseful, and still very funny
In this futuristic sci-fi tale of life and death and cold-sleep, Glen Runciter (with the counsel of his quick-frozen wife Ella) runs a company that supplies `inertials', people... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Dave Deubler

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting take on psychic warfare
Ubik presents an interesting twist on psychics in the future. They not only exist, but they are highly organized and aggressive. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Joseph Boone

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Mytery, Greater Science Fiction
As a general rule, I read very little science fiction. And, when I do, I like for it to be short and not too intricately detailed about the science aspects. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Miami Bob

3.0 out of 5 stars reality in a can
If you're new to Philip K. Dick, then I can't recommend UBIK as a place to get to know him. Start with one of his inventive SciFi operas (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep... Read more

Published 14 months ago by A. Marchant

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