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Title: interesting but ultimately disappointing
Review: I'd heard only good things about this book, so being a pkd fan, I expected an intriguing read. For the first 80 pages or so, it was, but after that it drifts into less pleasant territory. The dialogue at points is clunky and unnatural, and sometimes the character's motives are not believable (for example, Charley wanting to kill his wife; Jack's amusing but unjustified creating a "story" for Charley). Despite the fact that some of this is drawn from the author's life (faye is based on one of his real-life wives), it feels like he doesn't really know these characters. They serve the plot rather than vice versa. Also pkd's strengths -- his humor and elaborate imagination -- are tied up.Knopf requested a rewrite for this novel circa 1960 and sadly the author never revised it, despite not finding a publisher for it until 1975. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to pick up "three stigmata" or "dr bloodmoney" for my pkd fix.
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