In Milton Lumky Territory
| In Milton Lumky Territory | |
|---|---|
 Dust-jacket from the first trade edition |
|
| Author(s) | Philip K. Dick |
| Cover artist | Barclay Shaw |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Dragon Press |
| Publication date | 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 213 pp |
| ISBN | 0-911499-09-1 |
| OCLC Number | 12195177 |
In Milton Lumky Territory is a realist, non-science fiction novel authored by Philip K. Dick. Originally written in 1958, but rejected by prospective publishers, this book was eventually published posthumously in 1985 by Dragon Press. It was published in two editions. Fifty copies were bound in quarter leather and included a signature from one of the author's canceled checks but were not jacketed. Nine hundred fifty copies were published with a cloth binding and included a dust jacket. It was reprinted in paperback in 2006.
[edit] Plot summary
It's 1958 and Bruce Stevens is a buyer for a national warehouse chain who passes through his hometown of Montario, Idaho whilst enroute to Boise on business. His reason involves hormones more than nostalgia, however, as a one-time girlfriend named Peg lives there now. It is at a party at her place where he meets, and quickly falls into a relationship with, a strangely familiar older woman who turns out to be one of his former, and least favorite, elementary school teachers, Susan Faine. She simultaneously hires him on as manager of her typewriter shop. Travelling salesman Milton Lumky informs Bruce of a warehouse full of imported, Japanese-made surplus typewriters, and so Stevens drives to Seattle to see this potential bounty for himself. He belatedly discovers that the typewriters all have Spanish language keyboards, and so he tries to pass these hot potatoes down along the line to his former warehouse employer. He reveals his nefarious intentions to Susan, who passes the information onto the warehouse chain which nevertheless decides to take them off his hands at a fair but unprofitable price for Bruce. He then enters a period of waffling and indecision which the author apparently intended to both amuse and infuriate the reader at the same time. Stevens and Susan initially open up shop in Montario but ultimately move to Denver following the purchase of an expanded facility there and then presumably live happily ever after.
[edit] References
- Brown, Charles N.; William G. Contento. "The Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984-1998)". http://www.locusmag.com/index/b136.htm#A1817.69. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- Andrew Butler: The Pocket Essential Philip K. Dick: Harpenden: Pocket Essentials: 2007: ISBN 1904048927
- Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd.. pp. 201.
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