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Fair Game
"Fair Game" centers on a man who believes he is being watched by something "god-like".
13 pages, Unknown Binding
First published September 1, 1959
60 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Dick
1,450 books22.6k followersPhilip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 1, 2020
Although first published in If (September 1959), this story was written in 1953, and it definitely shows its age. It begins well, and develops in an exciting fashion, but its O. Henry surprise conclusion is just so—well, dumb--that “Fair Game stands out for its superficiality, leaving the reader disappointed.
Its hero, nuclear physicist Anthony Douglass, recuperating from a tough day in the lab, is startled when he looks out his window and sees an immense eye staring at him through the window of his living room. He feels he is being studied, as it under a microscope, and speculates that this may be the sort of being who in earlier years visited mankind and was worshiped as a god. Douglass, a man of science, is prepared to accept this, but he soon realizes that he is not just a specimen: he is a target. He flees in the family car, but finds he cannot escape, and the story ends with a revelation that surprises both Professor Douglass and the reader.
I hated this story’s ending. It reminded me of a rejected Twilight Zone episode. Still, though, I have to admit that it is humbling to humankind’s inflated view of itself—a classic Dickian theme.
Still, though: although it is short, and won’t take very long it read, I’d advise you to read something else.
June 6, 2018
A Flash in the Pan?
It took Dick about six years to get his 1953 short story Fair Game published, and when you have read it, I am pretty sure you will come up with a dead-sure conclusion as to why it had taken him so long.
We are given the story of the nuclear scientist Professor Anthony Douglass, who is the leading man in his field of research. When Douglass one day notices a big eye in the sky watching him as through a microscope, he is, understandably, worried and first believes in a Communist plot or some kind of students’ hoax. Unfortunately, the appearance of that giant eye is not a single event, and he soon finds himself the target of clever attempts at capturing him. After having let in his friends on these strange occurrences, they come to the conclusion that he is targeted by extra-terrestrials who want to tap into his superior knowledge on nuclear science. After all, why else should they take so much effort to watch and to catch him? Is he not head and shoulders above other nuclear scientists, so much so that even alien civilizations could only profit from his experience and work?
By PKD’s own standards, the ending of this story seems quite silly and overdone, although the tale starts well and interestingly and the idea behind it is definitely original. The alien watchers are very good at guessing what temptations might prove most apt to draw the professor out – an odd ingot of gold lying on the road, a damsel in distress whose breasts are heaving with excitement, a diner with tempting coffee smell –, and the idea that the professor’s vanity and idea of his own importance are utterly ridiculous given the more elementary reason for the aliens’ interest in him may tell us this about life, namely that it can be hard on us and treat us ill even though we are nothing special. As bitter as it is, our sufferings do not make us any special nor do they help us matter more.
At the same time, the story is slightly illogical in that it is hardly believable to me that those extra-terrestrials would go through so much trouble to catch Douglass, Dick also offers an idea of what might be behind human’s experiences of epiphany, but this idea cannot be taken really seriously because the existence of aliens entering our universe from a parallel one through a kind of hole is not any better an explanation of an epiphany than taking the epiphany for granted. I can hear Ockham’s razor slashing merrily away on Dick’s theory.
All in all, Fair Game is an interesting little story, but rather middle-of-the-road compared to most other Dick stories.
It took Dick about six years to get his 1953 short story Fair Game published, and when you have read it, I am pretty sure you will come up with a dead-sure conclusion as to why it had taken him so long.
We are given the story of the nuclear scientist Professor Anthony Douglass, who is the leading man in his field of research. When Douglass one day notices a big eye in the sky watching him as through a microscope, he is, understandably, worried and first believes in a Communist plot or some kind of students’ hoax. Unfortunately, the appearance of that giant eye is not a single event, and he soon finds himself the target of clever attempts at capturing him. After having let in his friends on these strange occurrences, they come to the conclusion that he is targeted by extra-terrestrials who want to tap into his superior knowledge on nuclear science. After all, why else should they take so much effort to watch and to catch him? Is he not head and shoulders above other nuclear scientists, so much so that even alien civilizations could only profit from his experience and work?
By PKD’s own standards, the ending of this story seems quite silly and overdone, although the tale starts well and interestingly and the idea behind it is definitely original. The alien watchers are very good at guessing what temptations might prove most apt to draw the professor out – an odd ingot of gold lying on the road, a damsel in distress whose breasts are heaving with excitement, a diner with tempting coffee smell –, and the idea that the professor’s vanity and idea of his own importance are utterly ridiculous given the more elementary reason for the aliens’ interest in him may tell us this about life, namely that it can be hard on us and treat us ill even though we are nothing special. As bitter as it is, our sufferings do not make us any special nor do they help us matter more.
At the same time, the story is slightly illogical in that it is hardly believable to me that those extra-terrestrials would go through so much trouble to catch Douglass, Dick also offers an idea of what might be behind human’s experiences of epiphany, but this idea cannot be taken really seriously because the existence of aliens entering our universe from a parallel one through a kind of hole is not any better an explanation of an epiphany than taking the epiphany for granted. I can hear Ockham’s razor slashing merrily away on Dick’s theory.
All in all, Fair Game is an interesting little story, but rather middle-of-the-road compared to most other Dick stories.
February 7, 2021
A neat story with more than meets the eye !( no pun intended)
On the surface, Fair Game imagines a fish's life from the perspective of a human . The "eye" and "face" are fishers looking at Douglas from above surface of the water. The bolts of lightening that fail to hit Douglas are fishing spears or hooks. At the end of the story, Douglas is finally captured within a fishing net and taken to be cooked in a frying pan... This really puts fishing in an entirely different perspective..
There is, however, more deeper themes to explore.
First, Dick seems to be commenting on the arrogance of humanity. Douglas is extremely arrogant about his superior academic abilities and thinks that he being chosen to be taken by the "aliens " because of his knowledge of physics. One of his colleagues even suggests that it may be God trying to communicate with him. It turns out, however, the "aliens" neither care or even care about Douglas' intelligence, they only care that he is their next meal.
Also I thought that the use of "baits" that Dick choses are interesting. They represent three key human desires. The gold is the desire for wealth. The girl is the desire for sex. And the diner is the desire for sustenance. It is interesting that these three "bait" attempts by the "aliens" are not he thing that does Douglas in. Rather, it is Douglas' own feeling of helplessness that does..
Very deep story with lots to think about.
On the surface, Fair Game imagines a fish's life from the perspective of a human . The "eye" and "face" are fishers looking at Douglas from above surface of the water. The bolts of lightening that fail to hit Douglas are fishing spears or hooks. At the end of the story, Douglas is finally captured within a fishing net and taken to be cooked in a frying pan... This really puts fishing in an entirely different perspective..
There is, however, more deeper themes to explore.
First, Dick seems to be commenting on the arrogance of humanity. Douglas is extremely arrogant about his superior academic abilities and thinks that he being chosen to be taken by the "aliens " because of his knowledge of physics. One of his colleagues even suggests that it may be God trying to communicate with him. It turns out, however, the "aliens" neither care or even care about Douglas' intelligence, they only care that he is their next meal.
Also I thought that the use of "baits" that Dick choses are interesting. They represent three key human desires. The gold is the desire for wealth. The girl is the desire for sex. And the diner is the desire for sustenance. It is interesting that these three "bait" attempts by the "aliens" are not he thing that does Douglas in. Rather, it is Douglas' own feeling of helplessness that does..
Very deep story with lots to think about.
June 18, 2020
A surprisingly enjoyable and quirky tale, looking at other reviews it seemed I enjoyed this more than the norm.
A very Dickian take on addressing humanity’s position in the grand scheme.
The twist at the end is cute and unexpected, in some ways it is very PKD, but in others very not PKD. It all does make a kind of sense.
I quite enjoyed the characters going through logical leaps to try explain and even justify what was occurring, only to be proven short-sighted in the conclusion. Their explanations were sufficient to explain their observations but reality didn’t consider them necessary.
At first I had thought this was continuing along the lines of “prolific author”, and in some ways it is, but the unique take on the difference in scale is a pleasant surprise.
Somewhat less serious than some of PKD’s other stories but still fitting within the larger narratives that PKD often explored.
Another species interested in humanity - not for our intellect - but as sporting game to play with.
A very Dickian take on addressing humanity’s position in the grand scheme.
The twist at the end is cute and unexpected, in some ways it is very PKD, but in others very not PKD. It all does make a kind of sense.
I quite enjoyed the characters going through logical leaps to try explain and even justify what was occurring, only to be proven short-sighted in the conclusion. Their explanations were sufficient to explain their observations but reality didn’t consider them necessary.
At first I had thought this was continuing along the lines of “prolific author”, and in some ways it is, but the unique take on the difference in scale is a pleasant surprise.
Somewhat less serious than some of PKD’s other stories but still fitting within the larger narratives that PKD often explored.
Another species interested in humanity - not for our intellect - but as sporting game to play with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2020
It's not one of his best. I don't remember PDK so blatantly rely on such a simple trick ending for a short story. The story could have been much shorter while still allowing PDK to have Douglas and his fellow scientists continually and progressively address the strange phenomena through the lens of their overinflated egos. I think the ending would have had more impact in a much shorter story that took less time reaching the twist at the end.
October 6, 2022
Leído para el Club #LectoresInsurgentes
¿Estamos solos en el mundo? ¿Existen universos superpuestos? y ¿Qué tan grande puede ser la vanidad humana? Serán algunas de las preguntas que surgen cuando se lee este corto relato.
A pesar de ser un gran exponente de la ciencia ficción y llevado muchas veces a la pantalla grande, este fue mi primer acercamiento al autor y a pesar de lo corto del relato me gustó su estilo osado y de una ciencia ficción muy bien trabajada.
Relato muy recomendable.
¿Estamos solos en el mundo? ¿Existen universos superpuestos? y ¿Qué tan grande puede ser la vanidad humana? Serán algunas de las preguntas que surgen cuando se lee este corto relato.
A pesar de ser un gran exponente de la ciencia ficción y llevado muchas veces a la pantalla grande, este fue mi primer acercamiento al autor y a pesar de lo corto del relato me gustó su estilo osado y de una ciencia ficción muy bien trabajada.
Relato muy recomendable.
September 4, 2022
Cuento del mes en el club de lectura @lectoresinsurgentes
Es la primera vez que leo al autor y me ha gustado. Espero seguir leyéndolo.
En este relato estás todo el tiempo preguntándote ¿qué está pasando? La persecución que se describe es inquietante y el final, con un plot twist bastante acertado.
Es la primera vez que leo al autor y me ha gustado. Espero seguir leyéndolo.
En este relato estás todo el tiempo preguntándote ¿qué está pasando? La persecución que se describe es inquietante y el final, con un plot twist bastante acertado.
April 25, 2018
Never over-estimate your importance, or over-estimate the love of God. Haha. Another comical story by PKD.
March 21, 2020
Haha, classic. The religious part is something I always find a bit less interesting, but how he represent it, and just how strange a story he can make. Classic.
May 13, 2024
hahaha, that was great. pre-dated the twilight zone episode by three years or so.
November 19, 2024
7/10
Could have been way better with a different ending but eeeehhhhhhhhh its fun i still kinda like it and it doesn't ruin much for me.
Could have been way better with a different ending but eeeehhhhhhhhh its fun i still kinda like it and it doesn't ruin much for me.
March 27, 2025
A little on the precious side, perhaps because we've encountered this story often. Still, there is the funny twist ending.
November 16, 2025
I'm no stranger to weird tales, so I found this to be up my ally. it's a short story, so not too long, and I felt it had a somewhat comedic end. good for a quick breezy read.
January 31, 2025
Lovely ending haha.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews