A Scanner Darkly

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: Paul Giamatti

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, Fred takes on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D, which Arctor takes in massive doses, gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize he is narcing on himself.

Caustically funny, eerily accurate in its depiction of junkies, scam artists, and the walking brain-dead, Philip K. Dick's industrial-grade stress test of identity is as unnerving as it is enthralling.

©1977 Philip K. Dick (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Fear and loathing

pkd is a literary god. it was hard to grasp at first but doing a little research before diving into this fever dream would not hurt.

Giamatti is great, book is good

I always want to like PKD more than I do. His books are solid and parts of them are thought-provoking and intriguing but they end up being good, but not spectacular. There is a lot here to like.

Giamatti should read everything

Paul Giamatti should read everything. I have to make this fifteen words or Audible won't accept.

Dang, what a ride!

I thought the movie was good but Dang! LOVED THE BOOK! Paul Giamatti did Great!

So many Dick jokes, I couldn’t decide.

Like this one a lot. I feel like if Naked Lunch was readable, it would be A Scanner Darkly. Lots of weirdness without the layers of time screw you get fromPKD.

Fantastic performance and a trip of a book

The narrator's performance was fantastic; great range and skill in bringing the text to life. The book itself is an interesting trip, sometimes hard to follow but worth the effort.

A strangely true fantasy

I love this book, and the movie. There’s something about it that just calls to me. I listen to it over and over and never tire of it. I guess you could say I’m addicted to the drug addicts? But the language is just very compelling. It feels very true for a fictional sci fi. The audiobook is very well performed. Perfect for the subject

That was one weird trip, man!

This is really a disjointed, crazy, drug-induced trip for much of the book, and for me that was where it failed. A little of that can go a long way, but there was too much here. The core idea - an addicted world where an undercover narcotics agent has an unusual reaction to the drug he's using and becomes a "split" personality who is actually investigating himself - is a good one, as is the conspiracy theory of a government that's addicting the people it then purports to help cure. But along the way, the undercover persona (Bob) and his drugged-out friends trip along in crazy ways with long meaningless conversations for far too long and for far too much of this novel.

Great reader

I've already read this and saw the movie, but decided to try this for my driving job. Still a weird compelling story read very well by Paul Giamatti.

Good

I think the narrator did a great job for the most part. He really captures the essence of the characters. Although I think he needs to work on his elderly woman voice, that one didn't sound very good. As for the story itself, it was confusing at times and I had to really think back on everything to put it together in my mind. Once I figured out what was going on though I was blown away by what had happened. Also, very depressed. It's definitely a dark story. Good though. Really does a great job showing the lives of those affected by drugs. (Or, lack of a life)