paperback art

Ragged and foxy, spine miraculously uncompromised, one look at this Daw edition of Philip K Dick's seminal novel and I was smitten, as bee to flowery nectar; were my hair ablaze, I'd have still found the will to buy it. With more haste than usual, granted. Some might find the artwork less than pleasing to their tastes. That likely explains why the book was available in the first place; that and its rough condition. As you have already gathered, I've a different eye toward the cover -and not merely by virtue of its bizarre appearance or clever punning of the title. The cover illustration is marvelous, a visual presentation of the book's antagonist that adheres accurately to the author's description; it is so cunning, in fact, that I suspect Dick went back and changed a few details to make a better match. That is, he would have done so, had he been alive: though the novel was written halfway into Philip K Dick's career, this edition was published in that post-career period that follows an author's demise, that grim non-existence that disallows tinkering with past works or creation of future ones. This is just as well. A future envisioned like Dick's, populated by mutants like our friend here, stands well and frighteningly enough on its own.