We Can Remember It for You Wholesale: The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Vol. 5

This fifth and final deluxe collection of Dick’s short stories contains numerous examples of why he continues to rank as one of the most influential authors of SF. Written between 1963 and 1981, the stories bridge the cultural shifts of the 1960s and 1970s, which provide lush terrain for forceful tales. In “Faith of Our Fathers,” Dick blends together hallucinogenic drugs, the Cold War, God, orgies, and alien invasions in a feverish storm of imagery, while the haunting “Electric Ant,” in which an android discovers it is not human, reworks Dick’s familiar theme of reality vs. unreality with a melancholy loveliness and an unnerving conclusion. “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” reverberates with disillusionment in a time-loop story that is as sad as it is inventive. Even “The Pre-Persons,” a viciously misogynistic anti-abortion fable, manages to be distressingly successful. This volume makes the case that Dick’s last works were some of his most provocative. (Aug.)