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    Dr. Bloodmoney
    Dr. Bloodmoney
    Dr. Bloodmoney
    Audiobook9 hours

    Dr. Bloodmoney

    Written by Philip K. Dick

    Narrated by Phil Gigante

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Dr. Bloodmoney is Philip K. Dick's darkly comic riff on Dr. Strangelove, a look at how humanity gets along after the end of the world. This Nebula Award nominee has all the wild characters and twisty science fiction plotting that Dick fans know and love.

    "A masterpiece." —Roberto Bolaño

    What happens after the bombs drop? This is the troubling question Philip K. Dick addresses with Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb. It is the story of a world reeling from the effects of nuclear annihilation and fallout, a world where mutated humans and animals are the norm, and the scattered survivors take comfort from a disc jockey endlessly circling the globe in a broken-down satellite. And hidden amongst the survivors is Dr. Bloodmoney himself, the man responsible for it all. This bizarre cast of characters cajole, seduce, and backstab in their attempts to get ahead in what is left of the world, consequences and casualties be damned. A sort of companion to Dr. Strangelove, an unofficial and unhinged sequel, Dick's novel is just as full of dark comedy and just as chilling.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMay 10, 2016
    ISBN9781531835408
    Author

    Philip K. Dick

    Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

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    Reviews for Dr. Bloodmoney

    3.5/5

    416 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A very enjoyable post-apocalyptic novel. Dick is especially interested here in the ole mind/body conundrum. There’s no central character, the POV conveniently flitting from one to another, but the best-developed is the limbless Hoppy Harrington, “the first phocomelus”, whose “phocomobile” and mechanical manipulators allow him more agency than the whole-bodied characters — and on top of this, Hoppy has precognition as well as telekinetic and other psychic powers. Then there’s seven year old Edie Keller, whose twin brother Bill is a homunculus inhabiting her inguinal cavity. Bill too is capable of projecting himself beyond his physical confinement, briefly co-opting the body of a worm (to his great disappointment) and ending up in a wild power struggle with the increasingly megalomaniacal Hoppy. Finally we have Walt Dangerfield, whose mission to Mars is curtailed in low earth orbit by the nuclear dingdong, and finds himself circling the irradiated earth as humanity’s only common referent, playing songs over the radio by request and reading Of Human Bondage to keep peoples’ spirits up (ha ha). Another mind confined, straining to connect, to loose the bonds of flesh. There’s a certain amount of horror in this brutalized California — raw rat, yum yum — but also aspects of anarcho-utopia, especially out in West Marin where society is gradually reorganizing along cooperative agrarian lines. The title character, the Dr Strangelove figure responsible for the whole damn mess, ranches sheep in pseudonymous retirement until his sins catch up with him. Featuring an adorable taking dog who talks exactly like you imagine a dog would talk, homeostatic vermin traps, and a whole lot more delightful Dickian idiosyncrasies, this is almost up there with his best work imo.
    • 4/5
      Dreaming of Nuclear Destruction

      When Philip K. Dick wrote Dr. Bloodmoney, nuclear holocaust was a real possibility, a real fear, as evidenced by the effectiveness of "Daisy," the Johnson TV ad, run once, playing on the fear of Goldwater’s extremism writ large in a giant fireball seen in the eye of a little girl. Those were the days of mutually assured destruction, the idea of the two world powers equally armed to the point that neither could win an all out nuclear war. However, some may not be aware that military planners had conceived of another type of nuclear use: battlefield tactical. Here they would employ lower variable yield bombs and artillery shells that would cripple enemy troops but spare general populations from total annihilation. These tactical weapons comprised a good portion of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals. And as some may also know this idea of limited nuclear engagement has reached the public forum again. Which in an oddly prophetic way makes Dick’s novel as relevant now as it was in 1965.

      In Dr. Bloodmoney, we get a glimpse of a post nuclear war world that hasn’t been entirely destroyed, just blown back into the early 19th century. Harnessed electricity is scarce. Cities lie in ruins. Barter economies prevail. Horses make a comeback as the sole means of land locomotion, apart from walking. And there’s an added feature: mutated humans and animals, like talking dogs, intelligent rats, and the like, as well as psychic humans. It might be a Dick amphetamine fired nightmare, but it has the ring of veracity to it.

      In the future, 1972, a Livermore scientist, Bruno Bluthgeld (blood-money in German), initiates a high altitude nuclear test that goes horribly wrong. It blankets much of the world in radiation. Suffering from self-hatred and hated by everyone, Bluthgeld carries on under the name Jack Tree, settling in West Marin, where he, with the help of Bonny Keller, seeks psychiatric help from Dr. Stockstill. In town resides a collection of characters who surface from time to time as the novel progresses. Most important of them are the phocomelus (congenital deformity of the limbs) Hoppy Harrington, child Edie Keller, Bonny’s daughter, and Walt Dangerfield. Hoppy uses artificial limb extenders to accomplish tasks, both ordinary and extraordinary. Edie converses with her unborn twin resident in the area of her appendix. Walt Dangerfield and his wife circle Earth in a capsule on their way to start a settlement on Mars. Aside from the effects of radiation poisoning, life is fairly normal in 1981, when the novel opens. Then bombs begin falling and the world is reduced to ruble. The novel fast forwards to the end of the decade, where we see how people live in the post-holocaust world that appears to have been created by limited nuclear warfare.

      This is an odd world, where people gather round a radio to hear stranded Walt read to them, almost as if hearing the word of God, or the word of the way it was. It’s also a world where the once weak, Hoppy in particular, acquire frightening power, and where a girl and never born child must bring him down. It’s also a world where normal life and commerce emerge from the destruction, where there is yet hope for a better future. (Of course, it would be much better for all if we could control ourselves and not blow up the world we have, imperfect as it may be. Something to thing about when pundits spout off about tactical nuclear strikes, as they have been lately on news shows.)

      Dick fans, if they haven’t already read it, will like it. Others who wish to discover why people like Dick so much might be better served by starting with The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly, or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, three of his best known works, each filmed, as well.
    • 2/5
      Love PKD and the COVID19 pandemic should be a perfect time for this, but the story just missed in many ways.
    • 3/5
      This was a typical Philip K. Dick novel. I felt that the themes that he bases his work upon were metered by his post-apocalyptic setting that he bases his story in. The characters are the heart of his novel here, rather than the plot line- or at least I thought so. The setting that he bases his story in drives the characters towards their destinations and, ultimately, their fates. I felt that this was a decent Philip K. Dick novel but that he did not take full advantage of his setting. Many other post-apocalyptic novels are better, but I believe this was his version (his take) of it. Overall, not a bad read.

      3 stars.
    • 2/5
      Was it Vietnam or THC which led to the paranoia? The literature of the late 60s and early 70s certainly follows the fear of Fifth Columnists of early Cold War and Red Scare. Appearances are deceptive. Advances in psychiatry and marketing challenged assumptions about autonomy. The Frankfurt School hinted that, what’s inside is just a lie. Thus the turbulence of the time gave birth to Dhalgren and Gravity’s Rainbow. I refuse to assert that Dr. Bloodmoney deserves such company. The sentiment remains similar. Dick’s novel uses different POVs to convey an uncertainty. A nuclear attack has occurred and survivors attempt to reconstruct as a stranded astronaut reads Somerset Maugham to the world over the radio. There’s psychosis and telekinesis along with garden variety racism and fear of the disabled. I kept waiting to be punched on the chin but was instead busy tsk-ing. Reading reviews, I do sense the optimism despite the charred earth setting for the novel.
    • 4/5
      The usual PKD collection of everyday characters with bizarre twists. Post nuclear apocalypse people continue to get along. Enjoyable read and amazingly creative.
    • 5/5
      One of Dick's most disturbing and funny and poignant novels. This is not your typical post-apocalyptic story. Feels like a religious allegory that holds nothing but contempt for religious allegories. As Californians struggle to rebuild the old civilization after armageddon, they are faced with creatures, beings and states of consciousness that are completely new. Rats have learned how to use carts. Dogs can talk. Humans are living inside of other humans. Yet, in Dick's deft hands, it is not only plausible, but proper.
    • 1/5
      I usually come to decisions during long showers… I run all this scenarios in my head… and eventually end up picking the one that “feels” better for me… I haven’t got time to take long showers lately… anyway the other night when my so call “friend” decided to delete me from his goodreads friend list I was hurt! I mean I was actually hurt! There I am thinking that this guy is just joking around and being funny when he said all those horrible things to me… I was laughing at this guy’s wits thinking he was the coolest… but right there when I saw that It hit me! He was not joking! He actually meant all those things! Now that is funny! (for me maybe not others*) anyway back to the book! I was thinking about reading this one cuz I promised him to read it… even tho it sucks I did promise a friend I was gonna read it! And besides he always recommended some really good shit… maybe it was going to get better on the last 40 pages I had to read of it… but you know what? Fuck it! I aint finishing this piece of crap! The characters are boring, the plot feels retarded to me… I think this shit was in part inspired by some drug that I remember the used on the 70 or 60 I don’t remember! That made a lot of people give birth to disfigured people… I remember watching some videos of the devices they try to built for little kids who didn’t have arms and legs… (just in case I don’t think this is funny) and bla bla I don’t care! Anyway the reason why I said what I said first… is because I don’t want nobody to think that I’m giving this book that I’m not even going to finish a bad review just to hurt somebody to hurt me… I don’t roll like that! This book is crap and I can’t think of a good reason to torture myself with it… so there! This book sucks and I don’t like it but it has nothing to do with the fact that Seth thinks he is better than everyone else and do a lot of shit that actually hurts people when he is feeling like he is better than us because of the amount of pages he manages to add a week. There I said it!




      p.s. seriously dude… that was a bitch move!
    • 4/5
      Set after a nuclear accident and then a nuclear war, civilisation partially broken-down, starting to rebuild. Some typical PKD characters: Working Man; Bitch Woman; and some typical motifs: merged bodies/personalities; the madness and psychoses of certain characters that actually do reflect, or affect, the reality of other characters. Still, it's a cracking book which is keeping me guessing about which way it's going to turn out - probably badly for most of the characters!
    • 5/5
      PKD showcases a fabulous example of a post apocalypse world. I liked the descriptions of society where they rode around on horses and wood fired cars. The traveling eye glass trafer was interesting also. Lots of parallels to PDK's life also, w the 'twins', psychiatrists, and immoral women.
    • 4/5
      One of several things I enjoyed about Phililp K. Dick's novel Dr. Bloodmoney is that the bulk of the story takes place in Point Reyes Station, California. Point Reyes Station, in the western side of Marin County, is a terrific place to set a story that takes place after the fall of civilization. It's a small town in the country side with an active farming/ranching economy, far enough away from nearby San Francisco to imagine it has already survived the apocalypse. In fact, I suspect the people of Point Reyes Station already believe they have done just that-- that they are the last outpost of civilization in a fallen land. (I mean that in the nicest possible way. I love Point Reyes, myself.) I think many people in Marin County, heck in California, look at the rest of America and get the sense that the end has already come.But this is a case of Philip K. Dick reading me when I should be reading Philip K. Dick.One thing that makes Philip K. Dick stand out among all the many, many people who have written about the end of the world is his focus on how the common man survives. Dr. Bloodmoney is a good example of this. The main characters at the opening of the book are a group of men who work in television sales and repair. The author is very interested in depicting their work-a-day lives, so much so that we almost begin to worry that the novel will be about television sales and repair instead of the end of the world the cover art has promised us. When the end does come, through a series of bomb blasts that destroy property more than they do human life, the salesmen and repairmen find their way from the Berkeley shop where they work to Point Reyes and its rival township, Bolinas, in Marin County on the other side of the San Francisco Bay. The survivors there have set up a barter economy which allows them to carry on their lives much as they did before the end came. Now, instead of selling televisions, they sell small robots built to exterminate mutant life forms and other post-apocalyptic threats. The fly in their ointment is that the scientist who designed the bomb which brought about the end of the world has also taken up residence in Point Reyes. However, this does not seem to bother anyone. He raises sheep now, and causes no problems, so why worry about him. Things in Point Reyes go along without too much trouble, people make or grow the things they need and trade them among the townspeople in peaceful, ordinary coexistence until towards the end of the novel when the scientist starts to work on another bomb and threatens to detonate it. But by this point in the novel things have descended into a through-the-looking-glass type of chaos that reminded me of the closing sections of Samuel R. Delany's novel Dahlgren. Society just becomes more and more chaotic as all of its structures break down, one by one, leaving nothing to guide anyone's actions.But even in this chaos, our salesmen heroes are looking to make a deal somehow, to find a way to keep themselves well stocked with goods they can trade, to keep themselves alive from one day to the next just like they did before Dr. Bloodmoney's bombs went off and wrecked it all. That salesmen will survive the apocalypse comes as no surprise, they have as much chance as anyone else does. That they continue to seek out a living in sales says something about them, too.Or is Mr. Dick simply having me on? Philip K. Dick often writes about alternate realities, so much so that you can never be sure when his characters will wake up from the dream they've been having that we all thought was the novel. I kept expecting this or something like it to happen in Dr. Bloodmoney. The crazier things got, the more I questioned the reality of it all. Was Mr. Dick leading me down the garden path? Just how seriously am I supposed to take these post-apocalyptic salesmen? In the end, I'm not sure. No one work from a dream, I simply finished reading the novel and had to return to my own rather ordinary life.
    • 4/5
      Superb. Typical Dick at his raging best. A study of egomania & solipcism in nuclearised California. The handicapped Hoppy Harrington, born phocomelus, would doubtless be considered taboo in the current climate, as it portrays someone disabled in a non too flattering manner.
    • 4/5
      Strange, bathetic characters play out their tragic lives in a post-nuclear holocaust world. Horrific, extremely weird, and mesmerizing.
    • 5/5
      one of my favorite pkd novels.