"The Days of Perky Pat" 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 by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1963 in ''Amazing'' magazine.

Plot

In this novel, survivors of a global thermonuclear war live in isolated enclaves in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, surviving off what they can scrounge from the wastes and supplies delivered from

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. The older generation spend their leisure time playing with the eponymous doll in an escapist role-playing game that recalls life before the apocalypse — a way of life that is being quickly forgotten. At the story's climax, a couple from one isolated outpost of humanity plays a game against the dwellers of another outpost (who play the game with a doll similar to Perky Pat dubbed "Connie Companion") in deadly earnest. The survivors' shared enthusiasm for the Perky Pat doll and the creation of her accessories from vital supplies is a sort of mass delusion that prevents meaningful re-building of the shattered society. In stark contrast, the children of the survivors show absolutely no interest in the delusion and have begun adapting to their new life.

References in popular culture

David Cronenberg's 1999 film '' eXistenZ'', which involves a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

game that blurs reality and fantasy, visually refers to the Dick short story when its two stars, Jude Law and

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough as Stacy Hamilton in '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). Sh ...

, consume fast food from containers marked "Perky Pat's". In the movie '' Screamers'', Peter Weller's character refers to someone sarcastically as a real "Perky Pat".

References in other works

Elements of the story were later incorporated into Dick's novel ''

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch ''The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch'' is a 1964 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965. Like many of Dick's novels, it utilizes an array of science fiction conce ...

'', written in 1964 and published in 1965, in which a Perky Pat simulation game is induced by drugs and miniature models.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Days of Perky Pat Short stories by Philip K. Dick 1963 short stories Works originally published in Amazing Stories