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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780679740667
ISBN number: 067974066X
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: June 29, 1993
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: June 29, 1993
Sale Popularity Level: 149096
Studio: Vintage
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>On October 11 the television star Jason Taverner is so famous that 30 million viewers eagerly watch his prime-time show. On October 12 Jason Taverner is not a has-been but a never-was -- a man who has lost not only his audience but all proof of his existence. And in the claustrophobic betrayal state of Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, loss of proof is synonyms with loss of life.
Taverner races to solve the riddle of his disappearance', immerses us in a horribly plausible Philip K. Dick United States in which everyone -- from a waiflike forger of identity cards to a surgically altered pleasure -- informs on everyone else, a world in which omniscient police have something to hide. His bleakly beautiful novel bores into the deepest bedrock self and plants a stick of dynamite at its center.
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Rated by buyers -
Aside from numerous technological inventions, Philip K. Dick has accurately predicted a multitude of trends in society, the natural environment and the government. Some of these trends have already come to pass and some may still yet be. His vision in 1974, when Flow My Tears was written, of the police-state that would emerge in 1988 America was essentially only a decade off. What many regarded as PKD's paranoia at the time is actually only inaccurate by the degree to which the U.S. has sacrificed personal freedoms. Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, like many of Dick's greatest works, rings eerily true yesterday under W.'s "Reign of Error," with government wiretapping, citizen databases, legalized torture, labor camps etc. being the reality.
1988 society, like today, are obsessed with famous people's cult of personality. Main protagonist Jason Taverner is an internationally famous television star beloved by millions who wakes up one day to find that he has lost more than his fame. He technically no longer exists, with friends and lovers no longer knowing him, being bereft of all forms of personal identification necessary to function in 1988's police state. But being a "six," from a government program where a group of genetically modified, intelligent and beautiful human beings were created, Taverner is able to find ways of surviving in the dark underbelly of society. Here he encounters a wide variety of unsavory yet memorable characters. All the while hampering Jason's progress in regaining his identity is Police General Felix Buckman, one of PKD's most compelling and complex villains.
An entirely plausible vision of what life in the United States might be like if we continue to go down the current path and excellently written, multifaceted characters are just a few reasons to pick-up this book. Other terrifying ideas PKD raises are genocide or forced sterilization of African Americans, continued social stratification, with the gap gaping ever wider between the haves and have nots, and the ability of future illegal drugs to actually alter reality. Without ruining the conclusion of Flow My Tears, I will say that I feel that Philip K. Dick does not adequately tie-up all lose ends. However, the vast majority of the book is PKD at his best, among my top 3 favorite of his works, and very much deserving of having won several awards. It also clearly influenced darker scenes of other PKD adapted movies such as Minority Report and Bladerunner; Roy from Bladerunner references Buckman, while underworld scenes in Minority Report such as the grey market doctor who swops out Tom Cruise's eyes are reminiscent of Flow My Tears the Policeman Said.
Rated by buyers 
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Ive read many of Philip K. Dick's novels and I dont think I was ever more puzzled by an ending as I was in this novel. It is a superb novel right from the beginning but there is an encounter between Felix and a grey man at a gas station near the end of the book that came quite out of nowhere. Maybe I missed some connection along the way (very easy to do in a Dick novel) but if anyone reads this I would love to hear any interpretation.
Rated by buyers -
Philip K. Dick led American science fiction in innovation and daring. This novel has Jason Taverner world famous one day and a nonperson the subsequent day, ie, someone who never even existed. It's a twisted tale as Taverner tries to put it together. It ends a little too easily pat, almost to a cop out, but man, leading up to it is Dick at his crazy best.
Rated by buyers -
Whether or not Philip K. Dick was involved in the drug scene, "Flow My Tears.." advances paranoid hebephrenia to new levels. And, this is before The Weasel totally abrogated the Fourth Amendment for our personal protection. The theory behind the title is as puzzling as to why my science fiction professor referred to the author as "Phil." Yes, indeed, I had a science fiction professor. Imagine that! Of course, the moral "Don't come to the attention of the authorities" is painfully clear and to be remembered at all times, particularily in this novel of dystopia. This title and my favorite "Dr. Bloodmoney, or how we got along after the bomb" is collected in "Philip K. Dick: Five Novels from the 60s and 70s," now available on Amazon. PKD readers will also be interested in the four volume "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick."
Rated by buyers -
The plot will have you guessing throughout, but always guessing wrong. The reader always guesses consistent with his own prejudiced conception of reality; he's over-matched by the mind-blowing stuff Dick throws at him. Seasoned readers of Dick are perhaps an exception. If you're new to Dick, I suggest re-reading the book a second time, especially if you have to fully "get it" it to be satisfied.
Dick probes the profound mystery of personal identity and its particularly effective because it's set against the backdrop of a neo-Stasi, dystopian America. In this world, existence means a dossier, an ID card, a micro-transmitters, etc. It's inconceivable that existence remains undocumented. Nevertheless, as Jason Taverner proves, it is possible -- somehow! We ought to take note of the implications of this type of society considering the Real ID Act of 2005 will soon require us all to carry National ID cards.
The finale of the story is very provocative and satisfying. I adored all the female characters in the book -- they were all so colorful.
Altogether, and satisfying and trippy read!
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