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In Milton Lumky Territory by Philip K. Dick
01/10/2005 . Source: Sue Davies 
pub: Gollancz. 213 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 7.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-07465-5. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
This mainstream novel was written by Philip K. Dick in 1958 during a period when he was attempting to break into the respectable side of writing. He produced several novels, none of which were published until after his death. Happily for Science Fiction readers, he went back to producing a prolific range of works influenced by his 'practise' novels.
Bruce Stevens is a man largely absent from his own life. A buyer for CBB Discount Warehouse, he travels around brokering deals on other peoples' mistakes. Bruce is the man who buys a whole warehouse of car wax at knock-down price. His car is his home and everywhere he goes it seems he is just passing through. On a visit to his home town, he remembers a girl with whom he had a brief liaison and decides to buy a pack of contraceptives on the off-chance. His intentions uncovered, he retires confused but returns later to collect his jacket. It is then that he makes the acquaintance of Susan Faine. There is an instant attraction. It is only after leaving that he realises she was his fifth grade teacher.
A combination of circumstances result in their marriage and Bruce meets Milton Lumky. He's a salesman who supplies Susan's typewriter business. He also seems to have a sideline in amateur psychology and seems disquieted by the suddenness of the union. As Bruce is now a partner in Susan's ailing business, Lumky helps him with ideas and together they set off on a quest.
This is a strange and moving book. There is a real sense of disturbance and alienation. With the endless movement, travelling between towns and the peculiarly fractured relationships, it creates a very tense and potent atmosphere. Powerful images are used that are vital and discordant especially in the way Susan Faine is described from Bruce Stevens' point of view. The relationship is defined by their physical encounters and it emphasises how awkward and ungainly the marriage is. Bruce's odd interview with his parents just before he introduces Susan is also a whole case study of neuroses.
Milton Lumky seems to be an alter ego of Bruce Stevens. Their association and the journey they make is a mixture of friendship, obligation and just plain curious. The whole book just reeks of the problems of post-war America and of the highly paranoid atmosphere.
Intriguingly, in the author's foreword, Dick refers to it as a 'funny book...the ending is a happy one.' It's funny peculiar with a deep sense of foreboding that permeates the narrative. In other hands this could have been a murder story. There is such violence in the language that the threat of real brutality is always there.
I love this book because I felt that my hands almost stuck to the page. It has texture and a pattern that demands that it be read again. By creating an amazing series of scenarios still bounded by the real world, it produces an unsettling sense of disillusionment and despair. Like any of Dick's later Science Fiction, the narrative leaves the reader with many questions. I would heartily recommend this.
Sue Davies
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