Dick, Phillip K. - Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” - Philip K. Dick

“…it is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.” - Philip K. Dick

Imagine: One morning you wake up in an unfamiliar place. You know who you are, but nobody else does. That is the central conceit of this seventies pulp sci-fi novel from Philip K. Dick, reissued by Vintage. A writer of science fiction and fiction novels and stories, and a number of philosophical and theological essays, Dick has reemerged into the American spotlight with recent films based on his books, like Blade Runner, Minority Report and the forthcoming A Scanner Darkly.

Jason Taverner, a once famous musician and talk show host, is faced with the dilemma of not existing. Physically, he lives, but it is as though he never had before. No one remembers him, no tangible evidence exists that he was ever alive until that morning, and he is unable to convince anyone of his true identity. Suddenly, the man who seemingly everyone in America knew and loved is faced with the existential quandary of nonexistence.

But someone does know him. Alys Buckman, wife of Felix Buckman, a police chief of very high ranking, knows who Taverner is and seems to want to help him. But how can she know Taverner if he’s slipped into some parallel world where he was never even born? And why does chief of police Buckman want to discover Taverner’s true identity so badly? And what happens when Alys, Taverner’s only link to his past, ends up dead and the police want to pin the death on Taverner? And how can Taverner survive in a dystopian world where not having proof of your identity lands you in a forced labor camp for life?

Some of these questions are answered. Others are left to keep you perplexed at the novel’s exhausting conclusion. And, while the end of Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said leaves the reader with more questions than answers, the conclusion is not, ultimately, unsatisfying. Penned by Dick’s careful hand, this work weaves together the talented craft of a science fiction master with some of the most intriguing questions proposed by science fiction during the last forty years. And, as with most of Dick’s work, it is always thrilling to read contemplative science fiction not peopled with aliens and astronauts, fiction that is so well written it transcends the genre of sci-fi. While this book may not be Dick’s masterpiece, it is certainly a great and important work in American science fiction. For other great Dick reads, try A Maze of Death, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Valis.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, by Philip K. Dick: A-

After four years of teaching, David James Poissant is getting out of the high school game and going back to school. He will enter the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona in Tucson this fall. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Marla, and their insane Chihuahua, Scooter. He is also the Fiction Editor of The Chattahoochee Review.

Posted on February 9, 2005 4:43 PM