So he (via Gumm) shows great appreciation for things like going to the supermarket and finding everything he needs, for doing newspaper puzzles in the living room, and for relaxing at the park with a cute and simple girl (albeit one who is already spoken for Junie is similar to Liz from “Puttering About in a Small Land”). PKD imagines the future holds nuclear war – along with a one-world government and civil war between the Earth and Luna. The book naturally plays as nostalgic when read today, but what makes “Time’s” nostalgia fascinating is that PKD is purposely writing about 1959 (his own time) through a nostalgic lens. He’s a more functional answer to Jack Isidore from “Confessions of a Crap Artist.” This allows us to get to know Ragle Gumm – one of the best PKD protagonists in addition to having one of the best names – a 46-year-old man who makes a living winning newspaper puzzle contests in 1959. It doesn’t jump into the SF weirdness right away. “Time Out of Joint” reads like one of PKD’s 1950s realist novels (none published at the time of their writing) for most of the first three chapters. In this case, he explores nostalgia, civil war, off-planet colonization and the military/surveillance state. Unlike most of his 1950s SF novels, “Time Out of Joint” has sharp plotting and well-drawn characters to go along with his reliably attention-grabbing themes. It also has the benefit of being more accessible than “High Castle,” so you can confidently recommend it to first-time PKD readers. Dick on the map, but “Time Out of Joint” (written in 1958, published in 1959) is his first published masterpiece. “The Man in the High Castle” (1962) put Philip K.
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