Im reminded of a Philip K Dick book (famous 70's sci fi writer) inwhich the inhabitants of MARS end up with Doll houses and dolls.When they take the drug 'Chew E' they become their doll, namley 'Perky Pat', and are able to live a short life in fantasy, untill the drug wears off. The people collect dollhouse items for their 'Perky Pat layout' (The title of the book escapes me..!)
The story was "The Days Of Perky Pat", and it was written in the early 1960's. It was actually bookended in with "The Minority Report" in 1987. (I'm getting this off the internet; don't think I actually know this!)
Here's something interesting that PKD had to say about that story:
"It was the Barbie-Doll craze which induced this story, needless to say. Barbie always seemed unnecessarily real to me. Years later I had a girl friend whose ambition was to be a Barbie-doll. I hope she made it."
"The Days Of Perky Pat came to me in one lightning-swift flash when I saw my children playing with Barbie dolls. Obviously, these anatomically super-developed dolls were not intended for the use of children, or, more accurately, should not have been. Barbie and Ken consisted of two adults in miniature. The idea was that the purchase of countless new clothes for these dolls was necessary if Barbie and Ken were to live in the style to which they were accustomed. I had visions of Barbie coming into my bedroom at night and saying, 'I need a mink coat.' Or, even worse, 'Hey, big fellow... want to take a drive to Vegas in my Jaguar XKE?' I was afraid my wife would find Barbie and me together and my wife would shoot me."
The Perky Pat story also found its way into a book by the same author, titled "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch." Martian colonists used the Chew-Z drug to project themselves into the lives of their dolls, and escape the dullness of their own existence.
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Looks like some people I know!
Im reminded of a Philip K Dick book (famous 70's sci fi writer) inwhich the inhabitants of MARS end up with Doll houses and dolls.When they take the drug 'Chew E' they become their doll, namley 'Perky Pat', and are able to live a short life in fantasy, untill the drug wears off. The people collect dollhouse items for their 'Perky Pat layout' (The title of the book escapes me..!)
The story was "The Days Of Perky Pat", and it was written in the early 1960's. It was actually bookended in with "The Minority Report" in 1987. (I'm getting this off the internet; don't think I actually know this!)
Here's something interesting that PKD had to say about that story:
"It was the Barbie-Doll craze which induced this story, needless to say. Barbie always seemed unnecessarily real to me. Years later I had a girl friend whose ambition was to be a Barbie-doll. I hope she made it."
Say, yeah!
Here's something else PDK said about "Perky Pat":
"The Days Of Perky Pat came to me in one lightning-swift flash when I saw my children playing with Barbie dolls. Obviously, these anatomically super-developed dolls were not intended for the use of children, or, more accurately, should not have been. Barbie and Ken consisted of two adults in miniature. The idea was that the purchase of countless new clothes for these dolls was necessary if Barbie and Ken were to live in the style to which they were accustomed. I had visions of Barbie coming into my bedroom at night and saying, 'I need a mink coat.' Or, even worse, 'Hey, big fellow... want to take a drive to Vegas in my Jaguar XKE?' I was afraid my wife would find Barbie and me together and my wife would shoot me."
has anyone read the story? if so can you email me a review or post one here?
xx
The Perky Pat story also found its way into a book by the same author, titled "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch." Martian colonists used the Chew-Z drug to project themselves into the lives of their dolls, and escape the dullness of their own existence.
As a matter of historical interest, yesterday (3/02/06) was the aniversery of PKD's death. Strange how these things work out.
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