Books › Dr. Bloodmoney
Dr. Bloodmoney
or, How we got along after the bomb
First published 1977 · 314 pages
A surreal, darkly comic stumble through a post-nuclear California where the end of the world is just another bizarre inconvenience.
What it feels like
A surreal and darkly comic exploration of life after the bomb, this novel feels less like a traditional survival story and more like a collective fever dream. The pace is meandering, drifting through the fractured psyches of a bizarre cast of survivors in Marin County, including a mutant with a twin inside his body and a stranded astronaut orbiting the irradiated Earth. The prose is classic Philip K. Dick: utilitarian, slightly manic, and perfectly suited to delivering absolute absurdity with a straight face. The mood is a strange cocktail of Cold War paranoia, uncanny dread, and a surprisingly resilient, if twisted, domesticity. It will delight readers who love the satirical bite of Kurt Vonnegut and the philosophical mind-benders of classic, weird science fiction, offering a journey that is as disorienting as it is strangely profound.
- Mood
- uncanny
- absurd
- bleak
- feverish
- Tone
- satirical
- paranoid
- darkly comic
- surreal
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- post-apocalyptic survival · Cold War paranoia · fragility of reality · guilt and responsibility · human mutation
- The writing
- Utilitarian and slightly manic, characterized by abrupt shifts in perspective and a matter-of-fact delivery of the bizarre.
- The arc
- Moves from disorienting apocalyptic shock to a bizarre, darkly humorous acceptance of a fractured new reality.
- Who it's for
- Fans of classic, weird sci-fi who enjoy philosophical mind-benders and dark, Cold War-era satire over action-packed plots.
Content notes
- nuclear fallout
- death
- body horror
- paranoia
About the book
Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb is a 1965 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.[1]
Dick wrote the novel in 1963 with working titles In Earth's Diurnal Course and A Terran Odyssey. Ace editor Donald Wollheim however suggested the final title which references the film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).[2]
Description from Open Library.
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