The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Originally published in 1965, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is one of Philip K. Dick's most mind-bending and entertaining novels. It deals with several of Dick's favorite topics, including mind-altering drugs, the nature of reality, and religion. This is a first printing of the American first edition hardcover, which is the true first. Octavo, cloth binding. [Levack 40a].
Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. New York: Doubleday, 1965. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels (44). #10099.
Nearly fine copy with faint dampstain on rear endpaper in nearly fine dust jacket with touch of shelf wear at extremities. Sharp copy.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is a mind-bending science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, published in 1965. It is set in a future where global temperatures have surged so dangerously high, that the UN has ordered the colonization of neighboring planets.
The harsh conditions of these off-worlds prompt colonists to escape their grim realities through the habitual use of a hallucinogenic drug, "Can-D," which transports users into simulated realities, or "layouts," that are shaped by actual physical objects or props designed for the drug. Within these alternative realities, life is much more tolerable, and even allows shared or collective experiences by multiple users inside the layouts.
The novel opens with protagonist Barney Mayerson, a precog at Perky Pat Layouts, receiving a draft notice for involuntary resettlement to the planet Mars. New York-based Perky Pat Layouts, Inc. monopolizes this the illegal Can-D trade. Their monopoly is threatened by the news of the return of the enigmatic Palmer Eldritch from an interstellar journey, promising to deliver an even more potent alien hallucinogen, "Chew-Z" to replace Can-D. Forced to confront Eldritch, Mayerson plunges into a world of intrigue and hallucinatory nightmare, where reality and hallucination intertwine.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch delves into questions about mind-altering drugs, the nature of reality, and even religion in signature Philip K. Dick fashion.
Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965 and included in David Pringle's Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels (#44).