#10976 The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Philip K. Dick.
Philip K. Dick

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

Science Fiction Book Club edition

Originally published in 1965, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is one of Philip K. Dick's most mind-bending and entertaining novels. It takes place in a dystopian future where high temperatures on Earth are forcing the colonization of other planets. There colonists grapple with an existence made bearable only through drugs that offer escape to alternative realities. The novel explores several of Dick's favorite topics, including mind-altering drugs, the nature of reality, and religion. This Science Fiction Book Club edition matches the design of the actual first edition by Doubleday.

Hardcover. Book Club Edition (BCE). Octavo, bound in gray paper boards with black lettering on spine and front cover. Top edge stained blue. Garden City, NY: Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC), 1965. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels (44). Jones & Newman, Horror: The 100 Best Novels (61). Levack 40b. Wintz & Hyde SF27.2. #10976.
Fine in fine dust jacket.

Additional Details
In The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick crafts a mind-bending science fiction novel set in a future where escalating global temperatures have compelled the UN to mandate the colonization of nearby planets. Living under harsh conditions, colonists seek comfort through a drug called 'Can-D', which allows users to temporarily inhabit simulated realities, or 'layouts'. Influenced by real physical objects, these layouts offer an escape from their bleak everyday environment and can be experienced collectively.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Barney Mayerson, a precog employee at Perky Pat Layouts, who receives a draft notice for his involuntary resettlement to Mars. New York-based Perky Pat Layouts, Inc. holds a monopoly over the illegal Can-D market—until the enigmatic Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar journey bearing 'Chew-Z', an alien hallucinogen claimed to be superior to Can-D. With Eldritch’s arrival, Mayerson finds himself ensnared in a web of intrigue and plunged into a hallucinatory nightmare where the lines between reality and illusion blur. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch delves into questions about mind-altering drugs, the nature of reality, and religion, all in signature Philip K. Dick fashion.