Just Finished re-Reading: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K Dick (FP: 1974) [204pp] 

Jason Tavener has it all, he is an idol with 30 million fans of his late-night TV show, he’s rich, famous and successful, he’s made it. He has, he would admit, an almost perfect life. One other thing he has is enemies. He can’t get to the top without climbing over people. On of those enemies, an ex-’girlfriend’, has something in mind to make their separation permanent. Jason never saw it coming. He woke briefly in the ambulance and again as he was rushed into the operating room. Then... Nothing. He woke the next day in a sleezy boarding house downtown. He was still dressed in his rumpled suit and the $5K was still in his pocket. The only things he was missing was his ID, any blood or scaring or any memory of how he got there. The lack of ID was a problem. The police would pick him up if he went far without it. He’d have to get his agent to drive over with a new set. Except his agent didn’t seem to know who he was. That bastard was going to get fired as soon as Jason got home. But the paper didn’t list his show on the TV pages, and no one recognised him in reception. What the hell was going on? His girlfriend would know. Calling her phone from memory was the real shocker. She clearly had no idea who he was except for a sick fan stalker. Jason was in trouble, deep trouble and he had no idea why... 

I read this no long after its original publication so could remember almost nothing about it. The blurb on the back (you know, I REALLY have to stop reading them...) promised ‘a terrifying near future that makes 1984 look like the Age of Enlightenment’. Needless to say, that was a ‘slight’ exaggeration. That’s not to say that it was without its merits. PKD’s main narrative thrust in at least most of his work (that I’ve read) is the question: What is REAL? Jason’s ‘transfer’ to a world where no one knows him gets him to question himself, reality and everything in between. If you’re effectively a non-person, then who exactly are you? The world he came from (and indeed the world he spent most of the novel in) was indeed a police-state but, especially by today’s standards, was a pretty lame one and wasn’t a patch on the dystopia of 1984. It was, essentially, the early 70’s with all its political and social upheaval projected into the ‘future’ plus flying cars, high levels of pornography and easy access to drugs of all types. So, the overall ‘world-building’ was minimal. The whole identity issue was handled much better and had some pretty good moments, but moments only! The ‘reason’ behind the sudden change of reality was, frankly, silly and would probably have been better if it was never explained. I’m not sure what I made of it in my teens, but it didn’t float my boat now. Reasonable overall, but more odd than enjoyable. Hopefully some much better re-reads to come!