Jason Taverner does not exist. Not in any legal files, anyway.
We are introduced to Taverner as a television celebrity with over thirty million viewers. That is, until he wakes up in a parallel universe where nobody knows who he is. He is suddenly an unperson. The rest of the story follows him as he tries to figure out where his identity went. None of his old friends or coworkers recognize him or his name. He has no ID cards, there is no record he was even born.
Philip K. Dick explores the metaphysical in this futuristic novel. Futuristic is an interesting term to use, as the year we start in is 1988 and the society we are introduced to is very, very "advanced". I put that in quotes since there is little mention of technology, but the world is a very different place (named Terra, in fact) and we have contact with Mars. Neat!
Before April, I hadn't explored the realm of science fiction, and I'm finding a slight interest in novels that lean that way. I suppose I'm just a sucker for good writing and Dick makes excellent use of the English language. No wonder it won a Hugo award! I was able to devour all 233 pages of this book within a day, with slight regret that I didn't take longer to let it all soak in. I feel like it was a good chaser to the Tom Robbins book I just finished off, though. Heck, I'd even say that their writing styles are more closely linked than Robbins' and Vonnegut's!
Enough babbling. I will surely be reading more Philip K. Dick, and I hope you pick up some of his works as well. 5 stars
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