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.

Good story - Fantastic narration

Philip K. Dick is one of my all-time favorite authors, although I've never felt this title is one of his best. Don't get me wrong, the story and characters are interesting, and there's the usual philosophical themes of divided reality and questioned identity that are common in PKD's work, but I suppose having never been a part of the drug-culture it just didn't resonate with me.

Enter: Paul Giamatti. I cannot imagine a better choice of narrator for this book. He infused each character with such distinct personality that I couldn't help being drawn into the story. I wish I could thank him for making it possible for me to enjoy this book from a new perspective.

Through A Glass Darkly

This is the third Phillip K. Dick book that I have listened to so far and by the end, through accident, or by way of the story itself, it made me feel deeply emotional. The characters interactions are funny and interesting, but also deeply depressing. the story itself took strange turns but managed to keep me invested. I'd say that Phillips note at the end about 'Children playing in the street' really struck a chord with me and helped me truly understand where the story was coming from. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who already likes Dick's work or is just as interested in his cryptic, beautiful storytelling.

Do it

What a lovely experience this book was. I liked it a lot for it's subtlety in delivery and Philip's whimsical, schizophrenic story telling. Please give it a listen?

Just great

if you like good books then get this... really nothing more that I need to say.

doesn't get better than this

Paul Giamatti and Philip K Dick create a surprising force. Doesn't get better than this.

Paul. Giamatti.

PKD came through, as always, with a masterfully detailed and twisted tale that captivated me from start to finish. I don't knit if they give awards for narrative performances, but Paul Giamatti deserves the top distinction. This was quite possibly the best performed audio book I've listened to. Well done.

Great characters but no real story

First, let me start by saying how good Paul Giamatti is as the narrator. Really top notch performance, as you might expect from such a great actor.

As to the story, I struggled with this one. I love Philip K Dick, but this isn’t one you might guess was written by him. The characters, and the dialog, we’ll all I can say is wow. They sound like fully flesh and bone people. I’m not familiar with the counter culture of the 60s but these guys seem to have teleported directly into the pages of this book from there.

But as great as it was listening to Paul Giamatti act out these wonderful characters, the story was so slow. I kept waiting for something to happen, and though the ‘plot’ does eventually resolve itself in the end, it’s a long wait.

One of a kind visionary!!

There is no voice quote like PKD’s. His dystopian vision seems to resonate all too true so many decades after his untimely death.

Alan A.

One of PKD's best I've read so far

Making my way through his novels, ten so far, I consider this one of the best. Not really a science fiction work, especially compared to his other outlandish creations. This one is dark and dystopic, a great analysis of our present culture of addiction and delusion, even though it was written in the 70's.
Paul Giamatti, yes the hero of HBO's John Adams and ShoTime's Billions, is a wonderful narrator for this material. I hope he continues to record many more novels for Audible.

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.