Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

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Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author Philip K. Dick
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Gollancz
Publication date 1986
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages 199 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-575-03875-6

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a realist, non- science fiction novel authored by Philip K. Dick. Originally completed in 1960, but rejected by prior publishers, this work was posthumously published by Gollancz in the United Kingdom in 1986.

[edit] Plot summary

During the early sixties, Jim Fergessen decides to sell his Oakland-based garage business, which annoys his business tenant, used car salesman Al Miller, who rents a lot from Fergessen to sell his vehicles. Chris Harmon, an entrepreneur, advises Fergessen to invest in a new garage located in Marin Country Gardens, which Jim visits. On his way back to Oakland, Jim has a minor heart attack. Miller is convinced that Harmon is corrupt, and tries to blackmail him about his alleged sale of pornagraphic recordings. At the same time, Al starts a job with Harmon, which he initially believed was selling classical music, but then discovered was related to barbershop music sheets. He disrupts the final contract signing between Fergessen and Harmon, playing on the former's paranoia, and the entrepreneur never gets his chance to close the deal, as Jim dies that night.

Al's used car lot is vandalised, his wife Julie is made redundant from her job, and they run off, while Lydia, Jim's widow, discovers that her late husband's deal with Harmon was not as corrupt as Al pretended. Al is temporarily arrested after Lydia threatens to sue him for fraud, Julie leaves him, and Al starts a new relationship with his real estate vendor, Mrs. Lane.

[edit] References