Philip K. Dick/Flow My Tears The Policeman Said

Flow My Tears The Policeman Said is one of Philip K. Dick's finest novels.

It tells the story of Jason Taverner, who is a Six - a genetically improved superhuman - as well as a singer and TV star, living in a future American police state.

He wakes up one day into a world where he is unknown - and without any existence in the records of the State. As an ex-celebrity ex-citizen, he has real problems.

Taverner's story is intertwined with those of Police General Felix Buckman, and his sister (and lover) Alys Buckman. Alys is a heavy user of reality-changing drugs, and the owner of the only Jason Taverner record in the new, altered, world.

The themes of celebrity, genetic enchancement, altered reality and drugs are interwoven with more homely themes to create a novel that works not only as science fiction, but also as literature.

The characters are more fully conceived than in most of Dick's writing, and there is a humanity in the book that makes this one of Dick's most affecting works.

Note: the title reference to Flow, my tears refers to the piece by the 16th century composer John Dowland, setting to music a poem by an anonymous author.