Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a mainstream novel by Philip K. Dick, written around 1960 and published posthumously by Gollancz in 1986. Set in an Oakland auto repair shop, it follows two men: Jim Fergesson, an aging garage owner who has decided to retire and invest his savings in a speculative land deal, and Al Miller, his abrasive, self-defeating tenant who sells used cars from the lot next door. When Fergesson's retirement disrupts the fragile arrangements of Al's daily life, Al spirals into resentment and increasingly erratic behavior, convinced that the world is systematically against him. The novel is a close, patient study of working-class anxiety and the psychology of failure, with no science fiction elements. It belongs alongside Voices from the Street and Confessions of a Crap Artist as part of the body of realistic fiction Dick was writing throughout the 1950s, most of which went unpublished during his lifetime. This copy is the first edition, published by Victor Gollancz in London, and carries penciled notes and the signature of editor David G. Hartwell on the front free endpaper, with comments on the circumstances of the book's publication.

Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, yellow cloth boards with gold lettering on spine. London: Victor Gollancz, 1986. Wintz & Hyde MS3.3. ISBN: 0575038756. #10506.
Fine in fine dust jacket.