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.

Better than the movie - great reading -unsettling.

Many novels by Philip K. Dick have been made into great sci-fi movies (too many to list here) and most of those stories have been greatly rearranged to suite the demands of Hollywood... this rearranging of his writing is sometimes quite unfortunate and not always a favorable reworking of his brilliant writing. However, the movie version of this book actually does follow the story arch of the original text quite accurately. I saw the movie version of this before diving into the book and I am here to tell you that both are great! the book is far better than movie because certain ideas and pivotal plot points are illuminated with a great deal more detail. Motivations of certain characters are explained better, the picture painted by the book is so much clearer than the picture painted by the movie. Paul Giamatti is the perfect narrator for this. The story of an uncover drug officer investigating and pursuing himself as his two identities split further and further apart (due to drug induced brain damage) is so much more real feeling in this reading. The actual book depicts this interesting story arch with much more authority than the movie and the narration enhances the experience.

We need more Philip K Dick.

Super interesting, I need more like it! Great narration and very pleased. Only way to make it better is to feature the movie with it! thanks!

loved it

loved it the book is great, and it's performance was amazing as well. it you check out the movie you will like the book.

based on a true story

i thought i bought i science fiction book, not some documentary about rl in california

Paul Giamatti

This is probably the best narration I have heard. The way he voices the various characters is outstanding.

The line between good and evil is examined.

Sad and harsh and good the listen to. Creative and unique. A voice of the misreprested and misunderstood.

Hilarious and triply

One of my favorite books in awhile and I read a lot

Great characters with amazing reading skills together with a great writer

Let them play

I'm a huge fan of the movie so this was a no-brainer buy. Giamatti was a surprisingly good narrator. I wasn't sure how he'd do but he did the material justice. Upon reflection even the movie did the novel justice.

It's not so much a sci-fi story as it is a cautionary warning on drugs. Hit deep and highly reccommend.

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.