- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (5 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575070013
- ISBN-13: 978-0575070011
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 443,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Paycheck
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Paycheck, originally written as a short story by Philip K. Dick and first published in 1953, centres on an electrician who wakes up to discover his employer has erased his memory of the past two years -- as a security measure. When he tries to collect his paycheck, he finds he had previously signed a release replacing the money with a bag of random objects. Previous film adaptations of Dick's short stories have included the box office smash hits MINORITY REPORT, TOTAL RECALL and BLADE RUNNER, released shortly after Dick died in 1982.
About the Author
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) was born in Chicago, but lived in California for most of his life. He went to college at Berkeley for a year, ran a record store and had his own classical-music show on a local radio station. He published his first short story, 'Beyond Lies the Wub', in 1952. Among his many fine novels are The Man in the High Castle; Time Out of Joint; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said. Several of his stories and novels have been made into major Hollywood movies.
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All at once he was in motion. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
All at once he was in motion. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Backgrounder: I watched BladeRunner I then read 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep', the Philip K. Dick novel that the film is based on, and understood why the author was less than happy with the result. I thought I'd do the reverse with Paycheck, buy and read the book then see the movie.
The story is good, but imagine my confusion and subsequent surprise when at page 43 in the book, I got a brand new story to read!
My mistake was to take the title of the book literally, Paycheck is in the book, it's the first 42 pages, but there are some dozen or so other short stories also present. Now, I was initially a little miffed at this (after all I thought I was getting a full novel to dive into) but a collection of Mr. Dick's short stories is still well worth having.
The story is good, but imagine my confusion and subsequent surprise when at page 43 in the book, I got a brand new story to read!
My mistake was to take the title of the book literally, Paycheck is in the book, it's the first 42 pages, but there are some dozen or so other short stories also present. Now, I was initially a little miffed at this (after all I thought I was getting a full novel to dive into) but a collection of Mr. Dick's short stories is still well worth having.
There has been a distinct 'cashing in' on the movie to punt this book, there is no mention on the cover anywhere that this is a collection of short stories, something which I don't believe would have affected sales if it had been included.
I'm giving this 4 stars because the stories are good (a little dated perhaps but most were written in the late 1950's!) and this nullifies the surprise at the brevity of Paycheck itself.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Nowhere on the cover does it mention that this is a book of short stories by Philip K. Dick...
Paycheck is only the first story in the book, and arguably not the best one anyway.
(The same sort of thing applies to Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves, that was only a short story originally, too.. come to think of it, there are other similarities, too..)
However, looking past that blatant product-placement / marketing, it's a very good read. Sure, it's dated in places, but so are most Sci-Fi short stories of this age.
It's a worthwhile addition to any Sci-Fi library.
Paycheck is only the first story in the book, and arguably not the best one anyway.
(The same sort of thing applies to Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves, that was only a short story originally, too.. come to think of it, there are other similarities, too..)
However, looking past that blatant product-placement / marketing, it's a very good read. Sure, it's dated in places, but so are most Sci-Fi short stories of this age.
It's a worthwhile addition to any Sci-Fi library.
Format:Hardcover
Even if you didn't like the movie starring Ben Affleck, you should read this anyway.
This collection of Philip K Dick's short stories, of which "Paycheck" is the first, is some of his best work. He manages to pack more ideas, more innovation, and sometimes more twists and turns, into his short stories than most authors can manage in a full-length novel. Pretty much every single one of these short stories could be turned into a full-length sci-fi movie in its own right, the way that "Paycheck" was.
There are common themes throughout- most of these stories are set in a slightly (or very) dystopian future where man's dependence on machines has changed their very nature, and often where a war has pummelled the landscape. There's often a bizarre blend of everyday family life, and post-apocalyptic trauma. Most of the core ideas are nothing short of brilliant, and very radical and quite political at the time they were written, and the execution of them usually very good as well.
The inclusion of the controversial "The Pre-Persons" is also interesting- a very moving and openly pro-life story about a future in which it's been made legal to kill children up to 12 years after they're born if they're unwanted. Powerful stuff.
If you're a fan of good sci-fi, you should have this on your shelf.
This collection of Philip K Dick's short stories, of which "Paycheck" is the first, is some of his best work. He manages to pack more ideas, more innovation, and sometimes more twists and turns, into his short stories than most authors can manage in a full-length novel. Pretty much every single one of these short stories could be turned into a full-length sci-fi movie in its own right, the way that "Paycheck" was.
There are common themes throughout- most of these stories are set in a slightly (or very) dystopian future where man's dependence on machines has changed their very nature, and often where a war has pummelled the landscape. There's often a bizarre blend of everyday family life, and post-apocalyptic trauma. Most of the core ideas are nothing short of brilliant, and very radical and quite political at the time they were written, and the execution of them usually very good as well.
The inclusion of the controversial "The Pre-Persons" is also interesting- a very moving and openly pro-life story about a future in which it's been made legal to kill children up to 12 years after they're born if they're unwanted. Powerful stuff.
If you're a fan of good sci-fi, you should have this on your shelf.
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