The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

I try not to gush, but this is a masterpiece. It gives me goosebumps to read it, and there are few books that have ever done that. The fact that PKD is not considered to be on the same level as Pynchon, Barthelme, and Calvino is a failure of our culture, not his writing. A billion stars.

In a world of extreme global warming, corrupt corporations, and rampant drug use, this book from 1965 is strangely prescient. The world’s richest and most powerful man, Leo Bulero, derives his income from the illegal sale of a drug called Can-D. Can-D users enter a virtual life not unlike what video gamers experience in modern day Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing...more

In a world of extreme global warming, corrupt corporations, and rampant drug use, this book from 1965 is strangely prescient. The world’s richest and most powerful man, Leo Bulero, derives his income from the illegal sale of a drug called Can-D. Can-D users enter a virtual life not unlike what video gamers experience in modern day Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), except that Can-D users are completely immersed in their fantasy lives, returning to their dreary real lives all too soon. When mysterious space explorer Palmer Eldritch returns from the Prox system with a competing drug called Chew-Z, Leo schemes to eliminate Palmer with the help of his key employee Barney Mayerson, a psychic who sees future events as probabilities. The novel begins innocently enough, but the last half is a mind-bending foray on reality in a quintessential Philip K. Dick manner. Readers will long ponder the meaning of the book’s events, themes, and ideas. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich is not a trivial science fiction adventure—it is a wonderful piece of literature, a multi-layered examination of everything from religion and philosophy to individual freedom and responsibility that remains relevant over 40 years after it was written.   hide

As always, Dick's concerns are identity, social norms, and women with dark hair. Sub-themes include time travel, belief, power, reality, commodities, and drugs. John Lennon planned to film this one, if legend can be believed.

So far this is probably one of the most bizarre PKD novel I've ever read. It's a very good read and explores some very interesting ideas. However, I think that Ubik and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Man In the High Castle are better than this one.