Mars is a desolate place, in this 1964 novel. Largely forgotten by Earth, isolated communities eke out a living alongside the great canals, dependent on Arnie Knott, the union boss who controls the meager water supply. No one is beyond his reach—certainly not Jack Bohlen, the repairman whom Knott’s mistress comes to love. Neither is Manfred, the autistic child who slips helplessly backwards and forwards in time, or the pitiful natives of Mars, the Bleekmen. Philip K. Dick "creates a world irradiated by schizophrenic perceptions, and moves with frightening intensity — and hilarity — to an elegant transcendent finale" (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction). A visionary, Hugo Award–winning author, Dick was inducted posthumously into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. His stories have been made into such blockbuster films as Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, and he was the first science fiction writer to be included in the Library of America series.