Lies, Inc. is the first dud I have encountered in the many novels of Philip K. Dick. An expanded form of a novella from his burst in the 1960s, Lies, Inc is not too dissimilar from typical Dick: drugs, ethics, metaphysics, one-dimensional women characters (yet a surprisingly complex black pilot, Al Dusker?), but this was too jarring in its narrative structure and lacked sufficient "flow" to aid the reader. Of course, Germany and the specter of World War II and fascism linger in this 21st century envisioned by Dick, and there are some strange things Dick kinda got right. For example, he's only off by a few years for the reunification of Germany, and he takes a shockingly critical stance on the US use of the atomic bomb in Japan, going so far as to compare it with the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. Remember, Dick first wrote the short story that formed the basis of this novel in the 1960s, not too long since the end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War, which explains why dystopias are so prevalent in his work. FOr the hardcore fans of Dick's oeuvre, this is required reading. For those of us who have perused his work and appreciate his genius, I think this is skippable. The confusing narrative and very difficult hallucination sequences are much more taxing than they should be when one compares this novel with other "difficult" works by Dick.
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