Originally published under the somewhat more reasonable title “Second Variety” in 1987 (Because it was the second in the series), the book was re-titled and re-released in 1990 to cash in on expected the “Total Recall” bonanza. Lest there be any confusion on this point, the full title appears to be “The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 2: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, The Story That Inspired The Hit Motion Picture TOTAL RECALL.” That’s the thing about trade paperbacks from the first half of the 90s: You’re never sure where the title ends and the subscript begins.

I’m a big fan of Chris Elliot. I think. I generally *say* that I am, and more than that I generally *think* that I am, and I’m *pretty* sure that I am, but occasionally - through no fault of his own - I can’t remember why. Then I doubt. Then time passes, workaday life makes my doubts fade, and I’m a fan again, until something causes me to dwell on it, then the doubts remain. The thing that (mostly) convinces me I’m a fan despite my vacillation is that I’ve never said, “Oh, I hate him!”

This is just a fantastic book, and I can’t say enough good things about it. It is most emphatically *not* Science Fiction, but it is - somewhat accidentally - an excellent reference for fans of the Alternate History genre. Presumably it’d be good for writers as well. It’s hard to pour through this thing and not toy with constructing some “Mighta’been” worlds. Be ye Fen or Dane, however, this is just a fascinating, smart, and endlessly neat little reference.

“Ah, but what’s it all about?”

You know, despite the orgies and bloodshed and torture and death and murder and mayhem and mutilation and manipulation and general carnage and awfulness, there’s just something so *sweet* about these books.