They say that if a leaf falls in Canada, the population of kangaroos in Australia are affected. I think that's an exaggeration, but there is something to the ripple effect.

What if Philip K. Dick's attempts at mainstream fiction in the early 1960s had been successful? Would he have returned to science fiction? How about the genre's New Wave, which erupted a few years from then? No author was more influential to the movement than Dick.

How about horror fiction? Surely Stephen King read Philip K. Dick. It had to have affected his writing.

We wouldn't have Blade Runner, or any mind-expanding SF movie. Instead we'd be stuck with Star Wars and Star Trek.

Even literary fiction would be different. Dick could have, goddamnit, he should have, had the success of someone like Vonnegut.


Perhaps Philip K. Dick did have a successful career as an award-winning literary lion. Maybe it's only in my reality that he was confined in a generic ghetto. In your universe he might be as respected as John Updike.


Waitaminute. Who's John Updike?


Spending time in Dick's mind makes me question the nature of everything.


One thing I do not question is the brilliance of Philip K. Dick. I always held him in the highest esteem. In my late youth I read everything by him I could get my hands on. Pretty much all of the SF novels, and then his literary novels were being published. Confessions of a Crap Artist was the first, and it was the only one that saw print in his lifetime. Other than the last book Dick wrote, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, which is a non-SF masterpiece.

I lost sight of my science fictional roots as I was assimilated into the world of horror in the early 80's. I still read a little here and there, but for a solid twenty-five years I stuck with horror and suspense, with a little mainstream thrown in for good measure.

I read several of Dick's so-called serious works along the way. I mostly liked them, but I did not consider the books to be among his most important contributions to the world. One of the later books to get published was The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike. I finally got around to reading it this week.

I am most happy to report that, other than The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, I like The Man Whose Teeth All Exactly Alike more than any of the other posthumous mainstream novels.

The story deals two couples living in a small community. Leo Runcible is a Jewish real estate broker trying to establish respect in a WASP-y environment. He means well, but is ruthless about making money, and can be extremely temperamental. His wife, Janet, is a non-functioning alcoholic who suffers from depression and low self esteem. She has explosive episodes while drunk, and her intermittent spells of sobriety are even worse.

Right next door lives Walt Dombrosio, a man making a decent living as a designer and manufacturer at an ad firm. His wife Sherry comes from a wealthy family. She digs at Walt's fragile pride and degrades him whenever possible.

When Walt decides to invite a black mechanic to dinner, it sparks off a domestic feud. Runcible approves of equality, but is enraged when the sight of a person of color in the neighborhood costs him a lucrative sale. The two men enter into a passive war with each other. At one point a fake neanderthal skull is fabricated by Dombrosio and buried in Runcible's yard as a prank to make him look foolish.

The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike is very funny and extremely cynical. It's a portrait of society on the cusp of modern living. The bomb hovers over everything, mass media is influencing the minds of people, and societal roles are changing. The woman are particularly interesting, as they both repeatedly make efforts at rebellion before retiring to their positions of submission.

There are devastating observations that are as accurate today as when Dick made them in 1960. I'm no expert on popular fiction of the time, but I don't believe too many writers were doing this kind of thing. In the seventies, sure, there were more social satires along these lines, but The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike seems to be to be way ahead of the curve in that area.

If you are interested in Philip K. Dick but are reticent about reading science fiction, The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike would be a perfect place to begin your Dick Trip. It's a milder buzz than most of his books. You can move on to the harder stuff later on.

Written by Mark Sieber

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