"The Builder" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published in the magazine ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

'', in December, 1953-January 1954, with illustration by

Ed Emshwiller Edmund Alexander Emshwiller (February 16, 1925 – July 27, 1990) was an American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but sometimes used E ...

. Levack, Daniel (1981). PKD: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography, Underwood/Miller, p. 85. Dick had submitted many short stories to magazines and made approximately fifteen sales before becoming a client of the

Scott Meredith Literary Agency Scott Meredith, born Arthur Scott Feldman (1923, New York City, NY – 1 July 1992, Manhasset, NY) was a prominent American literary agent, and founder of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. His clients included famous and successful writers ...

. This was his first SMLA submission, received by SMLA on July 23, 1952. His second SMLA submission was '' Meddler'', received by SMLA on July 24, 1952. The SMLA file card for "The Builder" shows it was submitted to mainstream magazines ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and '' Harper's'' before it was submitted to ''Amazing Stories'' and has an SMLA sub-agent's notation, "IT ISN'T SCIENCE FICTION".

Plot summary

The story centers around a man named Elwood living with his family in 1950s suburbia. He builds a boat in his back yard, to great annoyance to his wife and neighbors. When they ask him why he builds it, he tells them he doesn't know. Elwood exhibits post traumatic stress disorder, and shuns most people around him, including his family and co-workers. One day, he decides to go home in the middle of his job to work on the boat. He gazes at the boat, wondering why he's building it. As it starts raining, he finally realizes why.

Reception

According to Steven Owen Godersky: "Phil Dick's third major theme is his fascination with war and his fear and hatred of it. One hardly sees critical mention of it, yet it is as integral to his body of work as oxygen is to water."The Collected Stories Of Philip K. Dick, Volume 1,

The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the January, 1954 edition of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' and later in ''Beyond Lies the Wub'' in 1 ...

, (1990), Citadel Twilight, p. xvi,

References

External links

*
The Builder
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Short stories by Philip K. Dick 1953 short stories Works originally published in Amazing Stories {{1950s-sf-story-stub