Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
By Philip K. Dick
Thorndike Press - Large Print, (2002)
ISBN: 0-7838-9583-6
Genre: Science Fiction
Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - September 13, 2002
The world famous TV personality, Jason Taverner, whose show regularly has over 30 million viewers has a problem, no one remembers who he is! One night he is on the top of the world, and the next morning he wakes up in a seedy hotel with no idea how he got there. He discovers, much to his relief that he still has wads of cash, however all is identity papers are missing, and without them he is a prime candidate to be sent off to a labor camp.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said is a chilling novel by Philip K. Dick that is set in a United States that has evolved into a fascist styled police state where the 'haves' have it all, and the 'haves not' are lucky if they are allowed to survive to the next day. Huge numbers of people are sequestered in labor camps, and college campuses are virtual prisons, with the students prevented from leaving by national guard troops that have cordoned off all the schools.
When Taverner awakes in the hotel room, he remembers who he is, and is fully cognizant of the danger he is in without his identity papers which proclaim him as one of the upper echelons of society. A fact which is reinforced by the fact that he is a 'six' - a genetically modified human. So he is smarter, healthier, and more handsome than the average man. In short order Taverner hightails it to the nearest forger, who turns out to be an extremely talented young woman with a dubious grasp on reality. As luck would have it, she is also a police informant.
This is a dark novel that follows Taverner as he struggles to reclaim is identity and solve the riddle of why no one remembers who he is. Along the way Taverner is dogged by the ever efficient Inspector McNulty who knows that Taverner is hiding 'something' and Police General Buckman who sees in Taverner the perfect fall guy for some inter- office intrigues. In Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said Dick has created an all too realistic world that will make you question the age-old quandary, "How do you know that what you are experiencing is really real?"
Related Reviews:
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K. Dick.
This surreal book melds drugs and religion into a futuristic ritualistic transformation in which users of Can-D enter the world of Perky Pat, a doll. As Perky Pat or one of her many friends, users can leave their dreary hovels Mars and return to their idealistic versions of Earth. (Large Print)
The Children of Men, By P. D. James
From the pen of P. D. James - not a mystery, but a Orwellian science fiction novel. (Large Print)
