"The writing is humorous, painful, awesome in its effect on both mind and heart . . . There are few modern novels to match it."—Rolling Stone

On an arid Mars, local bigwigs compete with Earth-bound interlopers to buy up land before the UN develops it and its value skyrockets. Martian Union leader Arnie Kott has an ace up his sleeve, though: an autistic boy named Manfred who seems to have the ability to see the future. In the hopes of gaining an advantage on a Martian real estate deal, powerful people force Manfred to send them into the future, where they can learn about development plans. But is Manfred sending them to the real future or one colored by his own dark and paranoid filter? As the time travelers are drawn into Manfred's dark worldview in both the future and present, the cost of doing business may drive them all insane.

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From Library Journal

Dick's 1968 novel offers a world in which water is a precious commodity and schizophrenia is the norm. For all sf collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The fact that what Dick is entertaining us about is reality and madness, time and death, sin and salvation -- this has escaped most critics. Nobody notices that we have our own homegrown [Jorge Luis] Borges. -- Ursula K. LeGuin