Humpty Dumpty in Oakland (Paladin Books)

by Philip K. Dick

Set in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1950s, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K. Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy.

Jim Fergesson, an elderly garage owner with a heart condition, is about to sell up and retire; Al Miller is a somewhat feckless mechanic who sublets part of Jim's lot and finds his livelihood threatened by the decision to sell; Chris Harman is a record company owner who for years has relied on Fergesson to maintain his cars. When Harman hears of Fergesson's impending retirement he tips him off to what he says is a cast-iron business proposition: a development in nearby Marin County with an opening for a garage. Al Miller, though, is convinced that Harman is a crook, out to fleece Fergesson of his life's savings. As much as he resents Fergesson he can't bear to see that happen and - denying to himself all the time what he is doing - he sets out to thwart Harman.

• ISBN10: 0586086706
• ISBN13: 9780586086704
• Publish Date: 5 May 1988 (first published 1 October 1986)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 December 1991
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Paladin
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

Although Humpty Dumpty in Oakland isn't one of PKD's science fiction novels, it has enough of the author's signature paranoia that I almost didn't notice. However, I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as his other books. Usually I like the craziness that the paranoia causes, but this time I was just annoyed with the two main characters and wanted to slap them around until they noticed reality.