"Printer's Pay"
TTHC 390 : Manuscript received at SMLA Jan 28, 1954
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| Foster, You're Dead | Chronology | War Veteran |
(1956 Oct): SATELLITE
(1969): THE PRESERVING MACHINE, Ace, pb, 67800
(1987): THE FATHER-THING
(1991): SECOND VARIETY, Citadel Twilight only
SRG 44
Philip Dick's inventive mind continually finds new ways of looking at similar subjects, making a shift in "Pay For The Printer." Again the focus is on supply and demand. The Biltongs, benign alien life forms, serve war-ravaged homo sapiens as a modern social service unit would serve at a disaster area. They have the ability to replicate articles with exactitude but short durability. Like children who hold up broken toys and beg, "Daddy, fis it for me," the coddled survivors hold up bottles of Scotch, Swiss watches, cigarette lighters, as well as essential items. In the midst of plenty, they are blind to the frivolous cast of their lives. Only when the Biltongs succumb to decrepitude do the men rediscover their manual dexterity and regenerate the pride of mature accomplishment.