#11095 A Scanner Darkly. Philip K. Dick.
Philip K. Dick

A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly is a semi-autobiographical novel by Philip K. Dick that explores drug counter-culture in a dystopian 1994 Orange County, California. Protagonist Bob Arctor leads a double life as a Substance D user and an undercover agent spying on his household. The novel delves deep into themes of identity confusion, surveillance, societal disillusionment, and the tragedy of drug addiction, reflecting Dick's own personal struggles and observations. Awarded the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel in 1978, it later inspired a film adaptation in 2006.

Hardcover. Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC). Octavo, dark brown paper boards with silver lettering on spine. Date code "H05" on the lower right margin of page 216. Garden City, NY: Science Fiction Book Club, 1977. British Science Fiction Award winner (1978). Levack 36b. Wintz & Hyde SF2.2. #11095.
Previous owner stamp on front pastedown. Otherwise fine in near fine dust jacket with minor wear and a few tiny closed tears.

Additional Details
A Scanner Darkly is Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical, dystopian novel deeply entrenched in his personal encounters with the 1970s drug counter-culture. Set in the near-future Orange County, California, in June 1994, the narrative follows Bob Arctor, who navigates a precarious double life as both a drug user and an undercover narcotics agent spying on his household’s drug activities. As Arctor descends into dependence on 'Substance D,' a potent drug that causes brain damage and reality distortion, he becomes ensnared in a web of identity confusion and surveillance.

Arctor’s life mirrors wider societal disillusionment, embodying the rejection of conventional norms and the embrace of an alternative, albeit tragic, countercultural existence. He actively turns away from the expected life trajectory—wife, kids, house, garage, power mower—all the trappings of a “normal” life, symbolizing his disdain and departure from societal expectations. However, this rejection isn't romanticized or glorified; instead, it reflects Dick's own harrowing experiences during the 1970s, including amphetamine dependency, attempted suicide, and drug rehabilitation.

In his role as an undercover agent, Arctor, alias 'Fred', dons a 'scramble suit'—a special apparatus that conceals the wearer's identity through a continuous shuffling of facial imagery. This allows him to engage with housemates and police colleagues anonymously. In this haze of anonymity and drug-induced confusion, Arctor loses his grasp on reality, unable to distinguish between his dual identities, ultimately spying on himself unwittingly.

The Southern California depicted in Dick's novel is a grim, commercialized landscape marked by sharp social divides. Affluent shops are guarded by vast walls and security officers who deny access to those without credit cards, like Arctor and his disillusioned housemates. These marginalized individuals, burnt out and discarded, navigate through a world saturated with advertising, an endless sprawl of monotonous strip malls, and glaring facades of fast-food and chain-industry establishments. This "neon ooze" represents a continuous loop of consumerism that's both alienating and numbingly familiar, leaving its inhabitants seeming lost and disconnected.

Arctor is eventually introduced to 'New Path', a rehabilitation center reminiscent of real-life institutions Dick encountered, such as the Canadian Synanon-type recovery program, X-Kalay, that Dick actually participated in. Dick's experiences with these centers deeply influenced and helped shape the richly intertwined themes of surveillance, paranoia, and an addict's descent into madness.

A Scanner Darkly stands as one of Dick’s darkest and most profound works, offering a window into the author's life and the drug-induced tragedies he witnessed. The book's afterword, where Dick dedicates the work to friends (including himself) who suffered due to drug use, underscores its deeply personal and tragic nature.

The novel, which won the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel in 1978, later inspired a 2006 film adaptation directed by Richard Linklater. The film, starring Keanu Reeves as Bob Arctor, with supporting roles by Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, and Winona Ryder, used interpolated rotoscope animation, a process that involves drawing on top of live action footage. The film was well-received and and deemed faithful to the novel.