Time Out of Joint

Billed as Philip K. Dick’s “brilliant novel of reality displacement,” Time Out of Joint is a thoroughly postmodern story of paranoia, conspiracy and simulacra. With a 1959 copyright, the book represents SF’s struggle to press beyond “zap-gun” stories and political commentary into a fully mature literature asking questions about the basic nature of things. Here Dick wonders if we can be sure of what’s true and suggests that a right action is one that operates on the basis of intuition in the face of uncertainty. Or as the cover blurb puts it, “Dick dares to ask ‘What is a sane response to an insane world?’”

Dick’s command of language is less than masterful, but what he lacks in style he makes up for in narrative control. He skillfully uses anomaly (as opposed to action or mystery proper) to hook the reader. Things are just off enough to make you want to find out why. It ain’t pretty prose, but he pulls your eye down the page. Just know that the journey satisfies more than the destination.

Brevity in review prevents spoilers for a novel that teases you along like this one, but here are a few sights to look for along the way: shades of the coming sexual revolution, a nod to emerging hippie culture, and seeds of inspiration for the Wachowski brothers.