Product Description

In the overcrowded world and cramped space colonies of the late 21st century, tedium can be endured through the use of the drug Can-D, which enables the user to inhabit a shared illusory world. When industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar trip, he brings with him a new drug, Chew-Z, which is far more potent than Can-D, but threatens to plunge the world into a permanent state of drugged illusion controlled by the mysterious Eldritch. THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH is, by universal consent, one of his three key novels, and the book in which he first took his perennial interest in the fragile nature of reality to a new level of imaginative intensity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68003 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Perky Pat , drugs and hallucinations
Stigmata deals with a number of Dick's themes: identidy, what is reality, drugs. I read this book a couple of years ago, and I bought it for about 80 pence in a second hand book stall. It was one of the best investments I've ever made. The pages that deal with the Perky Pat playsets are particularly memorable , revealing Dick to be a thoughtful , witty writer.
In a nutshell, buy it, borrow it , steal it...just do what you have to do to read it

Dick at his best
A lot of text indicates that this book is one of Philip K. Dick's 3 key works. Not surprisingly then it deals with many of the author's reoccurring themes, most obviously, identity and drug abuse.

At first I wasn't convinced by the world described, but the more I read the more I was drawn into the world of PP Layouts and Chew-Z, like the hovelists described on Mars. The sheer imagination and vivid description makes it almost cinematic and the creepy aura Dick creates around the mysterious Palmer Eldritch is quite incredible - an unnerving presence as he is for those who are introduced to the Chew-Z narcotic.

Classic Dick
If you're a fan of Philip K Dick, you probably won't be very much dissapointed to read this one. Dick is in top form. His writing is very fluent and clear and his imagination his running at top speed. Though many twist and turns that at times leave you gasping for more air, cause yor brain are working extra, you still get the feeling of control and purpose. It seems like Dick knew perfectly what he was trying to tell.

Dick's books like this one, need the trust of the reader. You need to have faith that this all makes sense in the end. Though it always doesnt'. But his book has strenght to get your subconsciousness moving - they get to you. This book gets to you.
Dick was a great realist, and sometimes that all is lost, cause we get tangled up in all the offbeat details he throws into his work.
This one was well worth the read.