The Hanging Stranger: Short Story
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About this ebook
When Ed Loyce heads to work at his TV repair shop, he is startled to find the dead body of a complete stranger hanging from a lamp post outside. But when he calls attention to the morbid display, the strange reactions of his friends and neighbours bring him to a disturbing realization.
Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, “Beyond Lies the Wub,” was published shortly after his high school graduation. Some of his most famous short stories were adapted for film, including “The Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” “Second Variety” (adapted into the film Screamers) and “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (adapted into the film Total Recall).
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Philip K. Dick
Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.
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Reviews for The Hanging Stranger
5 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Read on Serial Reader--a 2-issue short story. It all starts with a hanging man only one other man seems to notice. A stranger, dirty, a little beat up. Where did he come from, and why does no one seem perturbed?Creepy and clever.
Book preview
The Hanging Stranger - Philip K. Dick
THE HANGING STRANGER
Philip K. Dick
HarperPerennialClassicsLogo.jpgCONTENTS
The Hanging Stranger
About the Author
About the Series
Copyright
About the Publisher
The Hanging Stranger
Ed had always been a practical man, when he saw something was wrong he tried to correct it. Then one day he saw it hanging in the town square.
Five o’clock Ed Loyce washed up, tossed on his hat and coat, got his car out and headed across town toward his TV sales store. He was tired. His back and shoulders ached from digging dirt out of the basement and wheeling it into the back yard. But for a forty-year-old man he had done okay. Janet could get a new vase with the money he had saved; and he liked the idea of repairing the foundations himself!
It was getting dark. The setting sun cast long rays over the scurrying commuters, tired and grim-faced, women loaded down with bundles and packages, students swarming home from the university, mixing with clerks and businessmen and drab secretaries. He stopped his Packard for a red light and then started it up again. The store had been open without him; he’d arrive just in time to spell the help for dinner, go over the records of the day, maybe even close a couple of sales himself. He drove slowly past the small square of green in the center of the street, the town park. There were no parking places in front of LOYCE TV SALES AND SERVICE. He cursed under his breath and swung the car in a U-turn. Again he passed the