Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Humpty Dumpty in Oakland cover art

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

By: Philip K. Dick
Narrated by: David de Vries
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Puttering About in a Small Land cover art
In Milton Lumky Territory cover art
Our Friends from Frolix 8 cover art
The Broken Bubble cover art
The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike cover art
Now Wait for Last Year cover art
Time Out of Joint cover art
Who? cover art
Crashed cover art
The Gideon Lowry Key West Mysteries: Box Set cover art
The Lasko Tangent cover art
Under the Lake cover art
A Flash of Green cover art
The Snatch cover art
Until Proven Guilty cover art
Runner cover art

Summary

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland is a tragedy, a dark comedy, and vintage Philip K. Dick.

Al Miller is a self-proclaimed nobody, a used-car salesman with a lot full of junkers. His elderly landlord, Jim Fergessen, has decided to retire and has just cashed in on his property, which includes the lot that Al rents next to Fergessen's garage.

Chris Harman is a record-company owner who has relied on Fergessen's for years to fix his Cadillac. When he hears about Jim Fergessen's sudden retirement fund, he tells him about a new realty development that Harman swears is a surefire path to easy wealth. Fergessen sees his chance to finally be a real businessman, well-to-do and respected like Harman.

Al is convinced that Harman is a crook out to fleece Fergessen. Even if he doesn't particularly like Fergessen, Al is not going to stand by and watch him get cheated. Only Al's not very good at this, either. Maybe he's not even right.

©1986 The Estate of Philip K. Dick (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"A fascinating glimpse into how Dick's uniquely warped perspective evolved." ( Entertainment Weekly) (Grade: A)
"It would be a shame to miss this.... We all know that easy money rarely is, but it's a lesson worth reading about again." ( The Kansas City Star)
"This paranoid and ambiguity-filled exploration into the psyche of the small businessman showcases not only Dick's wild imagination and sardonic wit but also, and most notably, his mastery at intertwining perception with reality." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Humpty Dumpty in Oakland

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.