Tag Archives: total recall

Book Review: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale and Other Classics by Philip K. Dick

Classic Stories by Phil K. DickI read this collection of 27 speculative fiction tales immediately after The Philip K. Dick Reader, also by Citadel Press. Both collections are outstanding, with “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” as the only common story between them.

My favorites include “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (on which the 1990 film, Total Recall, was based), “The Cookie Lady,” “Jon’s World,” “The Cosmic Poachers,” “The Commuter,” “The World She Wanted,” “The Adjustment Team” (on which the 2011 film, The Adjustment Bureau, was loosely based), “A Present for Pat,” “The Hood Maker,” “Human Is,” “The Impossible Planet,” “Imposter,” “Small Town,” and “Survey Team” (albeit, the ending was predictable).

Of those mentioned above, it should be noted that “The Commuter,” “Human Is,” “The Hood Maker,” and “The Impossible Planet” were among ten Phil K. Dick stories adapted for the 2017 Netflix mini-series Electric Dreams.

Book Review: The Philip K. Dick Reader

Philip K Dick ReaderThis marvelous collection of 24 stories includes such gems as “Fair Game,” “The Hanging Stranger,” “The Last of the Masters,” “War Veteran,” “Exhibit Piece,” “Sales Pitch,” “The Chromium Fence,” and several tales that were adopted into film, such as “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” (Total Recall, 1990), “The Minority Report” (Minority Report, 2002), “The Golden Man” (Next, 2007), and “Second Variety” (Screamers, 1995).

Additionally, “Sales Pitch,” “Exhibit Piece,” “The Hanging Stranger,” and “Foster, You’re Dead!” were dramatized in the 2017 Amazon Prime anthology series, Electric Dreams, based on the works of Philip K. Dick.