This Paperback Book item from Vintage was reviewed on 24-Oct-2008.
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1) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. Barney Mayerson is a mid-level executive who uses his precognitive abilities to decide what products will be fashionable next in the miniature world of Perky Pat, a kind of Barbie doll of the future. This is of major importance to Perky Pat´s devotees, who ingest a drug called Can-D which transposes them into Pat´s little world, which is a vast improvement over their miserable existences on colonial Mars. That´s the setup for this bizarre, reality-twisting tale from sci-fi genius Philip K. Dick.
Next, enter Palmer Eldritch, tycoon extraordinaire, who has just returned from a trip to a little-known alien civilization with a new substance called Chew-Z. Eldritch claims that Chew-Z actually transports the users into a virtual universe of their own creation. But when he demonstrates this for Barney and his employer, they are left to decide for themselves which universe is real and who´s in actually in control.
Fans will love this paranoid ride through different levels of reality featuring Dick´s bizarre approaches to precognition, recreational drugs, interplanetary colonization, religion, global warming - this is Dick at his psychotic best. For those not familiar with the work of this off-the-wall genius, this book is pretty far out, but if you aren´t afraid to dive right into the craziness that is Philip K. Dick, this is not a bad place to start.¤ 2) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. This is such a religious novel - it reflects on the nature of God (compassionate, condemning, disinterested?) and the connections we make to God (through the sacrament and lesser rituals). But is there a God at all - a God that isn´t just some vast entity in space? And what of our reality - are our experiences as we perceive them at all related to the reality of the physical and energetic world about us?
Of course, like any Dick novel, this book is about common man - all but overwhelmed by the mystery that surrounds them. Sure, there are the power brokers in the story - at least that´s what they think they are. But do they achieve anything meaningful, and when their actions do have positive outcomes, is this anything more than luck? In Dick novels people never seem to have any power - perhaps they are no more than a single brushstroke in a masterpiece, say the ´Mona Lisa´ (or for me, ´Monk by the Sea´ by Caspar David Friedrich).
But ultimately we all carry the stigmata that Chew-Z inflicts on users in the novel. The stigmata of our experiences, of our upbringing, of the religion inculcated upon us, of the religion and mysticism that comes our way during our lives.
Other recommendations:
´A Scanner Darkly´ - this is Philip Dick´s ´drug´ novel - ´The Three Stimata´, despite using drugs as a vehicle for the story, is not about drugs
´The Ramayana´ - the great Indian Hindu classic that will help dilute some of the stigmata that you might carry, that I certainly do
¤ 3) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. This is one of PKD´s better books - and in true PKD fashion, it´s over before you know it.
The other reviews delve into the subject and presentation, so I will share something that is both not in the book itself and highly valuable:
Purchase "Four Novels from the 1960´s." This book is right in the middle - so you will not know when the story ends. I truly believe the best way to read this book is to not know the end is coming - because it will hit you the hardest.
"Four Novels" also has "The Man in the High Castle," "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," and "Ubik." All four stories are wonderful.¤ 4) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. Working through the nature of reality and illusion, this story is set in a future that is anything but Utopian. Earth is going through a "fire" age and a human can not survive more than a few seconds outside during daylight; this has forced humanity to spend all daylight hours in a warren of buildings and tunnels. Additionally, a draft is set up to send humans out to the colonies on Mars and various asteroids. These colonies are living at subsistence level and the colonists there are invariably hooked on a drug called Can-D, that allows them to live in an illusory world populated by Perky Pat and her boyfriend Walt. They use miniature items to create these worlds; these "mins" are provided by the same company that supplies the illegal Can-D, which is run by Leo Bulero.
However when the famous explorer Palmer Eldritch returns from his trip to Proxa, he brings with him some lichen, with which he creates a product called Chew-Z - a legal alternative to Can-D. This is a more potent drug that allows people to create their own universes, without needing the mins. However, what most do not know is that all these universes are controlled by Eldritch. Is Palmer still human, or did something else come back in his place?
Playing onto our worst nightmares - namely those in which we continually think we´ve awakened, only to find we´re still inside the nightmare - this story keeps you guessing as to what is real and what is hallucination. It is difficult to explain too much of the plot without giving away key elements that will spoil the story, which is why I´ve stuck mainly to what is given in the editorial review or on the book cover. However, I found the story to be very much in the lines of a typical Philip K. Dick story - twisted and convoluted. Well worth the read, however. My copy of the story is part of am omnibus, Counterfeit Unrealities (contains Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep [aka Blade Runner], The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch), which title describes the overall topic of this story, at least, very well. Do yourself a favor and check it out.¤ 5) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. Earth is quickly moving toward inhabitability, the temperatures are reaching 180 degrees plus and the UN is hastily conscripting people so that humankind can colonize every habitable plant in our solar system.
Colonists are so utterly bored in the Martian landscape that they must resort to playing with dolls and miniature play sets. Fortunately for them a hallucinogenic drug, Can-D, allows these colonists to translate their consciousness into the dolls and live their lives in Perky Pat´s miniature landscape. They can share these experiences with other Can-D users.
Enter Palmer Eldritch an rich industrialist back from visiting the Proxima Centauri star system bringing a lichen that is far more powerful than Can-D, now being marketed as Chew-Z. Chew-Z allows users to transfer their consciousness to an infinite sort of constructs and can last an infinite amount of time without any time passing in the Chew-Z trance. What is real and what is the construct can be easily confused, very similar to the Wachowski brothers Matrix trilogy with Agent Smith playing the roll of Eldritch. This is easily PKDs finest book I have read; I must however confess that I am not sure where he was going in the end with the Palmer Eldritch character, reality seemed to be infiltrated with a malevolent side of the industrialist and all of the main characters in the book slowly reveal the three stigmata of Palmer Eldtritch: artificial right hands, Jensen visors, and steel teeth. Are they still in the construct of The Matrix?¤ 6) Paperback Book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Vintage. In this wildly disorienting funhouse of a novel, populated by God-like--or perhaps Satanic--takeover artists and corporate psychics, Philip K. Dick explores mysteries that were once the property of St. Paul and Aquinas. His wit, compassion, and knife-edged irony make The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch moving as well as genuinely visionary.¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 21-Nov-2008, 06797366629780679736660, 750-650-460-620-6X0-780-8 
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Book, Image © Vintage
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