Set in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1950s, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K. Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy. Jim Fergesson, an elderly garage owner with a heart condition, is about to sell up and retire; Al Miller is a somewhat feckless mechanic who sublets part of Jim's lot and finds his livelihood threatened by the decision to sell; Chris Harman is a record ...
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Set in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1950s, Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragicomedy of misunderstandings among used car dealers and real-estate salesmen: the small-time, struggling individuals for whom Philip K. Dick always reserved his greatest sympathy. Jim Fergesson, an elderly garage owner with a heart condition, is about to sell up and retire; Al Miller is a somewhat feckless mechanic who sublets part of Jim's lot and finds his livelihood threatened by the decision to sell; Chris Harman is a record company owner who for years has relied on Fergesson to maintain his cars. When Harman hears of Fergesson's impending retirement he tips him off to what he says is a cast-iron business proposition: a development in nearby Marin County with an opening for a garage. Al Miller, though, is convinced that Harman is a crook, out to fleece Fergesson of his life's savings. As much as he resents Fergesson he can't bear to see that happen and - denying to himself all the time what he is doing - he sets out to thwart Harman.
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Seller's Description:
8vo. 199, [1] pp. Mustard-coloured tweed boards, gilt lettering on spine, w/ d.j. cover art by Mark Foreman, F/F copy. First British edition, stated, of one of Dick's posthumously published novels set in Mid-20th-Century San Francisco, filled with used car dealers and real estate salesman, grifters, and crooks.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. An excellent copy, fine condition in fine dj---London: Victor Gollancz 1986, First Edition, hardcover in dust jacket, 199 pages, 5 5/8 x 8 3/4, cover art by Mark Foreman.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. 1st Edition. 199pp. Octavo with yellow cloth boards and gilt lettering on spine. Corners slightly bumped. fine Originally rejected by publishers in 1960, this novel was published posthumously and, with the story following a auto repair business owner, is a small departure from Dick's usual sci-fi.
