Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Review ebook Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Writing in the 1950s, did Philip K. Dick really anticipate the Gregorian chant music could be popular? Yes he did.

I’ve said it before, unfortunately, I will likely say it again, why, why, why was he not more popular in his own time?

“You nothing but ditch water walking around on two feet.”

Poetry.

A reader, a PKD fan, cannot read Humpty Dumpty in Oakland without comparing this work to Confessions of a Crap Artist, his 1975 non-science fiction publication, originally written in 1959. Like Confession Writing in the 1950s, did Philip K. Dick really anticipate the Gregorian chant music could be popular? Yes he did.

I’ve said it before, unfortunately, I will likely say it again, why, why, why was he not more popular in his own time?

“You nothing but ditch water walking around on two feet.”

Poetry.

A reader, a PKD fan, cannot read Humpty Dumpty in Oakland without comparing this work to Confessions of a Crap Artist, his 1975 non-science fiction publication, originally written in 1959. Like Confessions, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland was a realistic, non-science fiction novel written earlier (1960), rejected by publishers, and then kept on the shelves. Unlike Confessions, Humpty was not published until after his death.

Dick describes a situation where Jim Fergusson, a retiring garage owner with a bad heart, conflicts with his long time friend and business associate, used car salesman, Al Miller. Along the way the reader meets a smooth talking dirty record producer, a barbershop quartet aficionado, a jazzy realtor, a matronly health food store clerk, and a cultured Greek housewife.

Whether it is absurdist sci-fi musing or a realistic 1960s existentialist urban drama it is the little guy in society, going it alone against an uncaring universe that gets Phil’s attention. One of his ex-wives commented that his novels were a surrealistic autobiography. And on the streets of Oakland, is Al Miller that different from Dick? Struggling, striving, always a paycheck away from disaster? Yet intensely individualistic and deigning to “join the crowd” only reluctantly and half-heartedly. There are no simulacra or slug-like aliens in this narrative, but common PKD themes such as isolation, paranoia, elitist class structure, unreliable hallucination and stark spiritual and cultural ennui are evident.

Some critics have called Dick a post-modernist and at first glance I would agree. But Humpty Dumpty in Oakland, again written in 1960, makes me wonder if he was not on to something completely different. Reading his science fiction canon, the predominant bulk of his work, it is easy to slap labels on his intelligent but frequently wacky designs. His more somber theological musings would only come later with the VALIS series.

But Humpty, like Confessions, marks PKD as a deeply introspective writer of his times, not just a rejectionist of earlier structure (post-modern). Phil was tuned into his time, the 50s, 60s and 70s – he was a canary in the coalmine for our society up to this point. A careful student will also note that much of his “future” was close ahead and much of what he wrote as future has already come and gone.

A modern reader may also look at HDIO and wonder about whether Dick was racist. No doubt if this were published in 2014, his references to “Negro” and “Asian” and other ethnic statements would bring this criticism, but I think these were more of a sign of the times than an internal bigotry. A more careful examination will reveal that Al had a very close relationship, even an empathy with his African-American neighbors and customers. His dynamic relationship with Mrs. Lane bears closer scrutiny, but here also, Dick was well ahead of his times.

A decidedly different sample of his writing, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland, like Confessions of a Crap Artist further demonstrates the great depth and amazingly adept and erudite talent of one of our finest American writers of the twentieth century.

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