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Upon the Dull Earth and Other Stories
- Narrated by: William Coon
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
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Publisher's summary
When an interviewer asked Phillip K. Dick “What is the most important quality for a writer to have?” he replied “A sense of indignation... A writer writes because it's his response to the world. It's a natural process, like respiration... The capacity for indignation is the most important thing for a creative person. Not the aesthetic capacity but the capacity for indignation... And especially indignation at the treatment afforded other people. To see some of the things that are going on in the world and to feel indignant...That is the basis of the writer.”
Whatever it was that stimulated his creative juices, we are the lucky beneficiaries, as demonstrated in this collection of five stories, all first published in 1954.
In “Exhibit Piece” a long-suffering museum worker becomes a little too attached to his display of mid-20th century lifestyle.
In “Upon the Dull Earth” a young man refuses to let go of his soul mate, and he creates a chain reaction that he couldn’t have anticipated.
In “Progeny” one man’s idea of how to raise a child is challenged by new, more scientific techniques.
“The Last of the Masters” explores a post-apocalyptic world, where anarchists don’t just occupy Wall Street, they occupy the entire planet.
Finally, in “Breakfast at Twilight”, a family awakes to find theirs is the only house left on their street, and they are forced to make the most important decision of their lives.
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What listeners say about Upon the Dull Earth and Other Stories
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Steve from Boston
- 09-22-22
Waste of time
The stories are too much like each other to make it worthwhile to overlook the other problems. The uninspired narration doesn’t make up for Dick’s sophomoric writing. During the first story, I thought the book might be interesting as a window onto the sensibilities of the 1950s. By the time I finished the second story, however, I was thoroughly ready to delete the book from my phone.
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