Additional Details
The Variable Man is a 1957 collection of five science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. The contents are: “The Variable Man” (1953), “Second Variety” (1953), “The Minority Report” (1955), “Autofac” (1955), and “A World of Talent” (1954). “Second Variety” is a post-nuclear war story where a world war has destroyed much of the planet. Self-replicating robots that were designed to kill Soviet agents have gained sentience and now pose a threat to all sides. The story was adapted into the 1995 film, Screamers, starring Peter Weller. “Minority Report” is set in a future society where a division of the police known as Precrime can arrest suspects before they commit actual crimes. Precrime relies on three mutants (or “precogs”) who can foresee crime before it happens. The title refers to the dissenting opinion by one of the precogs, and the story explores questions about authoritarianism and the existence of free will. It was adapted for the big screen in 2002 by Steven Spielberg and starred Tom Cruise, Collin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and Max von Sydow. “Autofac” is a post-war story about a network of automated factories (“autofacs”) that are designed to deliver goods to survivors. Human control is lost during the war and the survivors are unable to gain back control of the autofacs before they exhaust all resources. It was adapted into an episode of the 2017 TV series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.