"We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick (1928-1982)

 

Publisher: Citadel Press

Copyright: 1987

ISBN: 0806512091

This is an anthology of 27 of Philip K. Dick's short stories, all of which are well worth reading. The title story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" may be recognizable to many as it was the inspiration for the two movies entitled "Total Recall" the first starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1990, and the second starring Colin Ferrall in 2012. While neither of these movies followed the story too closely they were obviously influenced by elements in it.

Many of the other stories in this anthology deal with a post-apocalyptic world in which humans are trying to survive. One of the better ones being "Planet for Transients" in which the world has survived a nuclear war, but it has changed so much that humans are no longer the dominant life form. The first story in the collection "The Cookie Lady" I found to be a really great read, but I'm not going to spoil it for you as it isn't very long.

All in all this is a very good introduction to the late Mr. Dick's work, and I'm looking forward to reading more. I'm not sure why I'd never read any of his stories before, but it might be because I used to have a definite dislike for short fiction, as when I was young I had read some rather poor work, and this guided me towards only reading novel lengths work for many years. I have since come around.

I think you'll like this book.

Enjoy