Dimension of Miracles

Dimension of Miracles #1

by Robert Sheckley

'Hilarious SF satire. Douglas Adams said it was the only thing like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, although written ten years earlier. It's wonderful' Neil Gaiman

This madcap cosmic farce relates the adventures of the hapless human Carmody, as he attempts to make his way home to Earth after winning the grand prize in the Intergalactic Sweepstake, encountering parallel worlds, incompetent bureaucrats and talking dinosaurs on the way.

'The greatest entertainer ever produced by science fiction ... a feast of wit and intelligence' J. G. Ballard

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Fantasy, Comedy, Science Fiction Fantasy

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

One of science fiction's great humorists, Sheckley was a prolific short story writer beginning in 1952 with titles including "Specialist", "Pilgrimage to Earth", "Warm", "The Prize of Peril", and "Seventh Victim", collected in volumes from Untouched by Human Hands (1954) to Is That What People Do? (1984) and a five-volume set of Collected Stories (1991). His first novel, Immortality, Inc. (1958), was followed by The Status Civilization (1960), Journey Beyond Tomorrow (1962), Mindswap (1966), and several others. Sheckley served as fiction editor for Omni magazine from January 1980 through September 1981, and was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absurdists have their own philosophy…

The right to be wrong is fundamental throughout the cosmos.

If there is a mess on earth, the cosmic mess is much messier… And Robert Sheckley was the one to open our eyes:

You provincials are all alike, filled with impossible dreams of order and perfection, which are mere idealized projections of your own incompletion. You should know by now that life is a sloppy affair, that power tends to break things up rather than put things together, and that the greater the intelligence, the higher the degree of complication which it detects.

And cosmic reason is much more profound:

Order is merely a primitive and arbitrary relational grouping of objects in the chaos of the Universe…

And those who play the role of God have their own cosmic theology:

I am doubtless as vain as the next God; but the endless fulsome praise finally bored me to distraction. Why in God’s name should a God be praised if he is only performing his Godly function? You might as well praise an ant for doing his blind antly duties.

And of course galactic bureaucracy acquires a cosmic size so there are miles and miles, well, there are light years of red tape.
“The artificial consciousness personalizes me, which is very important in an age of depersonalization,” – this is exactly our modern computerized epoch…

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is similar to the Hitchhiker's Guide series in construction, and nearly as good, but hardly anyone has heard of it. If you're an HHTG fan who's still in withdrawal following Douglas Adams's untimely departure, consider reading some Sheckley. Mindswap and the short story collections are equally brilliant.

Dimension of Miracles contains a brilliant and haunting idea which I often think about. The hero, Thomas Carmody, has been taken from Earth to receive a Prize in the Galactic Sweepstakes. Unfortunately, there's a catch: the rules of the competition don't provide for a return ticket. He has to find his own way back.

It turns out to be harder than he thought. First, there's the comparatively trivial problem of Where, which involves travelling a few tens of thousands of light-years. Once he's located his home planet, he's faced with When, since he also needs to find the right moment in history (he initially lands some time in the late Cretaceous). But the last question, Which, is the hardest one. Of all the many alternate parallel Earths, how can he recognise his own home? And all along, he's being pursued by a fiendish and inexorable enemy, the Predator.

After many adventures, Carmody does finally solve Where, When and Which and returns to the world he came from. But he doesn't like it, and leaves again. He is now doomed to a terrifying existence where he will for ever have to flee the Predator through increasingly unlikely Earths. His companion, the Prize, asks him what he thinks he will do with his life.

"I will live it," replies Carmody.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big fan of both The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Neil Gaiman, so when I saw that this was one of Neil's recommended/produced audiobooks, and that it was very similar to HHGTTG (though it came first), I decided to give it a listen.

And it was... interesting. It was quirky and different, and some parts of it had me giggling, but I didn't like it nearly as much as I'd hoped to. I thought about this book for a full day before writing this review, trying to figure out what I thought about it rather than just doing a knee-jerk review (as is my usual style), but I don't think it made a difference, or at least not one in favor of the book. The more I think about it, the more disappointed I am in it.

For one, I think there's just something about British humor (is it "humour" when it's British?) that just does it for me. If I had to put my finger on exactly what it is that makes it so appealing to me, but I think it's the sheer outrageousness combined with a straight-faced "Yeah, I said it. What? You know you want to laugh. Go on, then. Laugh." quality. It's just so dry and almost serious that that in itself makes me laugh because it's so absurd. And that makes me happy. I love it.

Dimension of Miracles is American, which can be funny too, and while it was certainly absurd and quirky, it just didn't strike that funny nerve in me. There were some things that did, like the toddler T-Rex, but on the whole, it just didn't really mesh with my sense of humor. (No "u" this time. I'm American.)

Secondly, DOM is short. Very short. The audio was 5 hours, and the book is around 190 pages, depending on which edition you look at. I felt like it should have been longer, a little more fleshed out, a little more... something. HHGTTG is the trilogy that just won't quit, which gives the story time to grow and fully be something other than just random slideshow pauses.

"...And here's when I visited wrong Which Earth #3. That city was so dull and naggy! Nag nag nagnagnag! Pretty! Yes, pretty, and I could have and do anything I wanted, because I was the only one there, but my goodness was that city controlling. And then I couldn't take the nagging and passive-aggressiveness anymore and I left.

And wrong Which Earth #4 is..."

Dull. That's what it was.

There are quite a lot of similarities to the two stories, like how worlds are created, and the atheistic leaning, and interesting physics and philosophy questions, though again I have to say that I prefer HHGTTG's storyline to DOM's, because, oddly, it seemed more realistic. I found it a little hard to believe that a Galactic Lottery system would be able to select a winner out of billions of possible entities, locate that winner, teleport a messenger to alert the winner, who never even knew the lottery existed, let alone entered, transport said winner back to the Galactic Lottery headquarters for processing (promising that they'd be returned afterward, mind you), award the prize, and then not be able to actually return them because there's a rule against calculating where/when/which coordinates for non-winner-selection purposes. I mean, it's ridiculously bureaucratic enough to be realistic, but I remain unconvinced. Carmody should have asked for a supervisor, and then their supervisor, and so on, until he got his ride home.

But he didn't. And so he tries to find his own way. Or, that's the most succinct way I can think of to say that he's entirely useless and that well-meaning aliens/people/gods/whatever shuttle him around space & time in search of his Earth, repeatedly saving his ass from a Predator that spawned out of the out-of-true nature of the universe because Carmody isn't where he's supposed to be, and will hunt him until he either returns to his proper Earth or is eaten.

Carmody is accompanied throughout space & time by his Prize, which is sentient, rather annoying, and I-still-don't-know-what-it-was-other-than-that. Really. The Prize is the damn catalyst for the story, and I have no idea what it actually was. Why was it worth winning? What is its value? I know its value to Carmody as a companion, now, but what is the value that the Galactic Lottery folks thought that they were giving away? Honestly, if it weren't for the Prize's constantly referred to self-aware prizedom status, I'd swear that the Lottery folks "awarded" away their irritating know-it-all intern just to get him out of their hair or something.

Finally, the ending of the book just really annoyed me. I get it, and I get that it's supposed to be profound and brave, and whatever, but I just can't help thinking that it's pretty damn selfish and entitled, and any small liking that I had for inept and dull Carmody was wiped out with his final decision. At this point, Carmody has discovered his Where and When coordinates, and is being assisted in the Which selection by a being who, beyond all reason, wants to help Carmody find his home. He teleports him through alternate Earths, and it's up to Carmody to decide if that's HIS Earth. If not, he just has to say it's the wrong one, and they'll go on down the list. There could be billions, trillions of them, but only after 3 or so Carmody stumbles on the right one... only he doesn't like it anymore. He no longer wants to live that life, and so he pretends that this is another wrong Earth and abandons it. This means two things:
1) That he's prevailing on the time and generosity of a being who owes him nothing at all to continue chauffeuring his ass around the universe in search of a home that Carmody's rejected. Which, of course, extends to the additional responsibility of getting him out of trouble when his Predator shows up and Carmody is too stupid to get himself out of the danger.
2) That he doesn't give a shit about his wife, or friends, or job, or commitments or responsibilities, or anything at all. That he's content to let his wife worry and wonder and fear and grieve him when he just decided that he was bored and didn't want to go home anymore is pretty fucking despicable.

So, yeah. I wanted to like this one quite a bit, but that ending ruined it.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is this not more well known? This is like the granddaddy of absurd intergalactic misadventure tales, published over ten years before Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

The story follows an unlucky schlemiel trying to return home to Earth (and the correct one among an infinity of alternate universe Earths) after unsuspectingly winning the galactic sweepstakes. During the journey he gets a behind the scenes look at the absurd inner workings of the cosmos, the nature of god, reality and everything in between. Most of which he finds somewhat tedious. And all the while is pursued by a deadly predator of sorts. Good sci-fi comedy is hard to pull off, but Sheckley manages a superb job, in what feels like should be an enduring classic.

From Neil Gaiman's blog http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2013/03... -

"It's been one of my favourite books for years, and I remember Douglas Adams telling me how shaken he was to read Dimension of Miracles and watch someone doing something a lot like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a decade before he did."

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Order is merely a primitive and arbitrary relational grouping of objects in the chaos of the Universe.

Absurd in a Hitchhikeresque way, published a decade before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Absurd and sometimes hilariously funny, sometimes convolutedly philosophical.

Carmody was a quiet man, of a predominantly melancholic humour, with a face that neatly matched the elegiac contours of his disposition. He was somewhat above the average in height and self-deprecation. His posture was bad, but his intentions were good. He had a talent for depression.

Carmody has won a Prize in the Intergalactic Sweepstakes, and is taken to the Galactic Centre to collect it. He then somehow has to get back to Earth, which is no mean feat. And so his adventures and temporal, spatial and philosophical meanderings begin. Earth isn’t where it was when he left; if he gets back comes the question: when does he get back – in his own time or not (not) and of the possible Earths, which is his? Infinite (im)possibilities.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1968, Dimension of Miracles is likely Sheckley's best-known novel because of similarities noted between it and Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker books, and because of Neil Gaiman's later endorsement. It's a comedic romp, a fanciful farce of a man who's won the main prize in a Galactic Lottery and has an absurdly difficult series of adventures as he tries to get back home. It's filled with amusing multi-dimensional characters that he encounters as he faces the problems of where, then when, and finally which is his Earth. Recommended for Ron Goulart fans. The Dell original edition has a nice red Paul Lehr cover painting. It's a fast, fun read. Interestingly, Sheckley wrote a sequel called Dimension of Miracles Revisited that he self-published in a very small edition late in life (before such things were common), which has never been available otherwise in English.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sheckley's finest. The writing equivalent of stepping in sun-baked gum on hot summer asphalt. The kind of plot even the editorial team of Superman Family would reject. But hey, talking dinosaurs with day jobs and interstellar bureaucracy. Sheckley: wanted by the consistency police for plots against humanity.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckly is the original Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. I mean it is the definitive comedy space opera novel. It follows the interstellar adventures of typical American businessman Tom Carmody after he very surprisingly wins the Intergalactic Sweepstakes. A messenger takes Carmody to the Galactic Center to claim his Prize, but Carmody has no clue how to get back home; the where, when and which of his Earth is required information he lacks. So together with his Prize they seek help getting back to the correct Earth, appealing to Gods, Planet Contractors, and others, all the while pursued by Carmody's personal Predator. The humor can't be done justice in a review, of course, you have to read it for yourself; several parts had me laughing out loud and the rest is an amusing, thougt-provoking page-turner.
Here are a few sample quotations:
"Very few humans (except the insane ones) accept the premise of insanity in favor of a startling new hypothesis."
"Machines! We have many of them, some exquisitely complex. But even the best of them are like idiot savants. They do adequately on tedious straightforward tasks like building stars or destroying planets. But give them something tough, like solacing a window, and they simply go to pieces."
"In short, Earth is a diseased place. I blieve it is being phased out of the Galactic Master Plan on the basis of chronic cosmic incompatibility. The place will then be rehabilitated and turned into a refuge for daffodils."
"An error exists by virtue of it's consequences, which alone give it resonance and meaning. An error which is not perpetuated cannot be viewed as any error at all. An inconsequential and reversible error is the merest dab of superficial piety. I say, better to commit no error at all than to commit an act of pious hypocricy!"
"This is what has happened to you, Carmody. You have left your normal habitat, which also means that you have left your normal predators. No automobiles can stalk you here, no virus can creep into your bloodstream, no policeman can shoot you down by mistake."
"The rules, doctrines, axioms, laws, and prinicples of science are there to help you, not to hinder you. They're there in order to provide you with reasons for what you do. Most of them are true, more or less, and that helps."

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Tour de force of masterful absurdity, the treasury of paradoxes, the bliss of irony and humor. I first read Dimension of Miracles some 30 years ago as a teenager and enjoyed it back then, but now I am totally infatuated with it's sheer brilliance. It was written before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Douglas Adams claimed he read it only after he wrote the Guide, but the similarity of tone and mood is amazing. This may be a dangerous thing to say, but I think that Dimension of Miracles is deeper and richer beneath the same light tone sparkling with paradoxes and irony it shares with the Guide. It's a short book, but it has multiple dimensions(just like it's title) and is packed with thought provoking delights.

It's a shame that with the exception of the recently released audio book Dimension of Miracles seems to be more easily obtainable and better known in many non-English speaking countries of Europe (France, Russia, Italy, Spain) than in US or UK.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic science fiction isn't a genre that appeals to me that much, but this was as charmingly dated as a Bradbury story and as fresh and current as an episode of Rick and Morty. I listened to the audiobook, terrifically read by John Hodgman; if anyone would like it, holler at me and I'll Dropbox it to you.

[Waco Glennon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a spectacular book. I have read Sheckley before, but not this novel. I was in for a real treat. Due to an error, Tom Carmody has won an intergalactic lottery. Please disregard the fact that Carmody had no clue there was any life outside of Earth, let alone they had contests and he was someone an entrant. Carmody takes this news with poise and he collects his Prize after a challenge from another contestant. Oh yeah, the Prize....is sentient.

From here, Carmody goes on an adventure to find three pieces of information about home. He needs to know the Where, the Which, and the When. There are people who hold him up and help in equal measure. He constantly encounters beings who are far more powerful but seem unable to avoid meddling.

Add to this he is being pursued by a predator.

In the end, this is a novel about the peculiarities of life and how it drives all players crazy. I find Carmody's final response to be incredibly sane.

By the way, this book is often cited as Hitchhikers' Guide before there was a Hitchhikers' Guide. If you like Douglas Adams, try this book. One last thing, I listened to the audiobook of this novel. It was introduced by Neil Gaiman and narrated by John Hodgman. Stellar!

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billed as the unknown precursor to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this book was set to be one of the funniest things I’d ever read. And while it was good, smart, occasionally funny, and in the same vein, I didn’t find it to be better. Perhaps I’d indulged in too much hype before reading. Better than average but not among the best books I’ve ever read.

[Oleh Bilinkevych · Rating 3 out of 5]

Сюрреалістична мандрівка світами, яка збіса добре перегукується з текстами Дуґласа Адамса. Хоч другого, власне, можна і назвати натхненником, адже «Путівник по Галактиці» вийшов у світ на десятиліття пізніше книги Шеклі.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why Dimension of Miracles, first published in 1968, is referred to as a precursor of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Both feature Some Guy from Earth going on a picaresque and dangerous adventure across outer space, where he meets planetary terraformers, bureaucrats, and chatty AIs. Sheckley's version is weaker on the characterisation than that of Douglas Adams, instead featuring more existential musings. Both are very funny, despite Dimension of Miracles featuring a genuinely chilling predator hunting the protagonist Carmody. The creepiest moment was when it disguised itself as a subway station. The dialogue is great:

"I never thought of it that way," Carmody said politely enough. But he was beginning to grow annoyed at the glib civil servants of Galactic Centre. They had an answer for everything; but the fact was, they simply didn't do their jobs very well, and they blamed their failures on cosmic conditions.
"Well, yes, that's also true," the Clerk said. "Your point (I took the liberty of reading your mind) is well made."

I also appreciated this creation myth:

A tall bearded old man with piercing eyes had come to me and ordered a planet. (That was how your planet began, Carmody.) Well, I did the job quickly, in six days I believe, and thought that would be the end of it. It was another of those budget planets, and I had cut a few corners here and there. But to hear the owner complain, you'd have thought I'd stolen the eyes out of his head.
"Why are there so many tornadoes?" he asked. "It's part of the atmospheric circulation system," I told him. (Actually, I had been a little rushed at that time; I had forgotten to put in an air-circulation overload valve.)
"Three-quarters of the place is water!" he told me. "And I clearly specified a four-to-one land-to-water ratio!"
"Well, we couldn't do it that way!" I told him. (I had lost his ridiculous specifications; I never can keep track of these absurd little one-planet projects.)
"And you've filled what little land you gave me with deserts and swamps and jungles and mountains."
"It's scenic," I pointed out.

I found Dimension of Miracles a quick, fun read with a philosophical bent. The characters aren't as memorable as The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy's, but the situations are equally madcap. I'm not convinced about the ending, though.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Douglas Adams, there was Robert Sheckley. Before "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy," there was "Dimension of Miracles."

This is a very strange book to read. Strange not only because the plot is so twisted and weird it's pretty much impossible to tell with a straight face--it involves a lottery ticket that was never purchased, a prize that rivals the Major Award in "Christmas Story," and lots of other things--but the writing...oh my goodness The Writing!

To compare the writing to Douglas Adams would be a disservice to Sheckley since he came before Adams, but they are definitely of the same cloth. In short, if you enjoyed HHGttG, then you will love DoM. If you didn't, you won't.

[Jakub · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a crazy journey this was. Sheckley does a great job at making up conceptually rich scenarios, where he can clearly express his opinions on some aspects of reality. deep dialogues set in a simple, absurd cosmos, make for a truly wonderful combination. with a slight hint of psychedelia, this was entertaining, stimulating and insightful.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q:
Wherever you go in the galaxy, you can find a food business, a house-building business, a war business, a peace business, a governing business, and so forth. And, of course, a God business, which is called 'religion,' and which is a particularly reprehensible line of endeavor. (c)

[Gil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book I really wanted to enjoy. I mean, a comic science-fiction romp through the galaxy that kept getting uniformly compared to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for its absurd humor? I dove right in.

First things first: this book is really not too much like Hitchhiker's. Its plot has a few parallels here and there, and it has the same kind of absurd spirit to its humor. But Dimension of Miracles takes itself extremely seriously. Whereas Hitchhiker's might sprinkle a bit of playful philosophy in to set up a punch line, Miracles is quite set on discussing the philosophical conundrums its protagonist keeps falling into.

The key word there is discuss. This is a book about people talking. And talking. And talking. And I don't mean dialog, because that would imply that one end of the conversation would be more than just "Ah", "Okay", "I see what you mean". The bulk of the book is effectively monologues in which various "wacky" characters lecture the protagonist about how the galaxy really works, and the protagonist doing the conversational equivalent of nodding his head.

And none of this monologuing is really all that funny or interesting. It's like listening to a 60-year-old weird druggie uncle ramble on and on. If you're a philosophy major, maybe you'll get something out of the zany proofs the characters conjure up, but I just wanted something interesting to happen.

Interesting. There's another thing. A book's protagonist should be interesting (exception: if the protagonist is meant to be uninteresting, that uninterestingness itself should be interesting to the reader). The protagonist here is dull as paint. He has no real life or spirit. I feel like Sheckley wrote him as if he thought his character was better-defined than it was. He's supposed to be an everyman, but he occasionally bursts out in remarkably convenient feats of philosophic thought that the text doesn't really express any surprise at (one of these outbursts is later justified, but the other is meant to be a character note, I guess). Neither he, nor any of the other characters, pop off the page.

Ultimately, the book is so full of unfunny gags and poorly set-up scenes that when it starts trying to wrap things up, nothing really has any meaning anymore. Every once in awhile, Sheckley comes up with a funny premise. These moments are clear, because he wastes no time running these premises precociously into the ground.

The book's conclusion should have been touching and significant. But so much absurdity has happened to that point that as a reader, I had nothing to ground myself in. It was like someone telling a joke but messing up the punchline and asking me to laugh anyway.

The audiobook is read by John Hodgman, who does what he can to liven up the characters. His presence adds an element of (and I hate to use this word) hipsterdom - that we're supposed to like this book because it's not widely known, and therefore cool. Hodgman, who has built a career out of playing a character who is smarter than you, enhances this notion. I can't help thinking of him reading my review, clucking his tongue, and saying, "Man, you just don't get it.". No, I guess I don't.

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Изданието съдържа заглавното произведение и два кратки разказа.
Измеренията на чудесата:
Според УЙкипедия, това е сатиричен роман с елементи на абсурдизъм. Това е и моето впечатление, обаче... Прекрасният хумор на Шекли не успява да го спаси съвсем. Абсурдът често прекрачва границата към хаоса и се задържа прекалено дълго отвъд нея, като едва ли е от превода, който прави добро впечатление. Приликите с десет години по-късно написаният "Пътеводител..." са доста, макар и Дъглас Адамс да твърди, че не е чел тази творба преди издаването на първата част на неговото най-известно произведение. Има доста интересни идеи и философствания. И тъп финал. 3
На поклонение до Земята:
Четен разказ, който макар и не невероятен, си спомням доста отчетливо. Планетата е най-големият увеселителен парк в човешките владения. Младеж отива да търси любовта и я намира... 4 минус
Демони:
Единственото класно произведение в книгата! Демонологията се преплита по един доста забавен начин със застрахователната наука, а накрая почти няма губещи! 5!

Имайки предвид, че от 206 страници обем на самите творби, 180 се заемат от най-слабото от тях - трябва общата оценка да е неговата. Бих препоръчал само последния разказ, който е наистина добър.
Обща оценка - 3

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, there was Robert Sheckley. As I read “Dimension of Miracles,” I kept thinking that Carmody really needed his bath towel and a little of Rincewind’s creative cowardice. Sheckley was well known in science fiction circles, but he never had the high culture profile of Pratchett or Adams. His wit has more bite than theirs though his style is not as polished. He is well worth a read, and “Dimension” is a good place to start.

[Rick Caster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carmody has a visitor appear and award him a prize.... The Galactic Prize, that is. Things get stranger with every turn of the page. My favorite science-fiction writer from my youth and this is my favorite of his books. I think he was the inspiration for Vonnegut's Kilgore Trout and Douglas Adam's acknowledged this short novel as the blueprint for the Hitchhikers Guide books.

[Chip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read most of Sheckley's books and short story collections and I believe that the highest density of Sheckley style humor lies between these covers. Maybe onmy rivaled by the his great parable "Journey Beyond Tomorrow".

[Gert De Bie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Dierbaar Doolhof (Dimension of Miracles) uit 1968 maken we kennis met Tom Carmody, een wat kneuterige ambtenaar die plots wordt uitgenodigd in het Galactisch Centrum omdat hij een prijs gewonnen heeft.
Na wat absurditeiten en misverstanden ontvangt Carmody zijn prijs, maar blijk hij met geen middelen meer te weten hoe hij weer op aarde moet geraken. Wat volgt is een verrassende en amusante trip door het universum waarop Carmody verschillende figuren op evenzoveel planeten ontmoet. Elke situatie die Tom Carmody meemaakt, verhoudt zich wel op absurde, satirische of ironische wijze tot de minder aangename kanten van onze maatschappij.
Dierbaar doolhof leest zo vlot weg als een speelse en kritische blik op de rauwe kantjes van onze samenleving: ongebreideld consumeren, vervuiling, een heilig geloof in technologische vooruitgang, ... en krijgt van de auteur een kort, licht spiritueel slot mee.

Aangenaam leesvoer, verwant aan het ultieme, absurdistische ruimteavontuur 'The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy' van Douglas Adams dat 10 jaar later verscheen. Volgens Douglas Adams las hij Sheckley's boek pas nadat de eerste hoorspelen van The Hitchhiker's guide uitgezonden werden.

Wat er ook van zij: een aangename verwantschap, een fijne leestrip en pijnlijk te constateren dat onze maatschappij 50 jaar later nog steeds met een pak van diezelfde pijnpunten geconfronteerd wordt.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up from Audible when I had some cash on my account that was about to expire. It caught my attention, because it was one of the Neil Gaiman Presents selections. I really like Gaiman's work and I figured I would probably also like a book that he recommends. I was right.

Dimension of Miracles was amusing, witty, and well-written. In many ways, it was like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, only it came first. It begins when Tom Carmody is whisked away from his New York apartment upon accidentally winning the galactic lottery. In his exploits thereafter, he meets a number of strange characters on several interesting worlds as he attempts to return to Earth.

My favorite part was probably when Tom was transported to Earth during the dinosaur age and proceeds to have a very charming conversation with a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

John Hodgman was an excellent choice to narrate this novel. I thought his tone perfectly embodied the author's dry wit.

Overall, the novel was quite enjoyable. The story was light and amusing, but still had some deeper points as well. It won't go down as my all-time favorite, but it was still a fun read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a comedic sci-fi story.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audiobook is part of Neil Gaiman presents, a series of books selected by Neil Gaiman for Audible for which Gaiman selects the narrator.

I can't believe I never discovered Robert Sheckley during the 70's when science fiction was the only genre I ever read. This book has all the elements I most enjoyed about science fiction of that time in which the possibility for out-of-this-world adventure provided the perfect environment for introspection and critically appraising our lives.

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this long before I ever heard of Douglas Adams, and I find Sheckley to be funnier--- less self-conscious or precious, a bit edgier. This must be long out of print, but it's worth finding. Utterly hilarious.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Computers are infallible. When they make a mistake, it is in fact correct, as the design included the probability of the error, and it performed as designed. Perfect.

[Andriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Знайшла цікавий екземпляр в нашій домашній бібліотеці, поки пробувала відсортувати все російськомовне барахло. Українське видання Шеклі, 1991 рік, 7 карб (сказала мені матера, що це було достобіса дорого).
Жовте, потерте, малочитабельний шрифт. Але Шеклі все ж як завжди: висміює бюрократію, технократію, показує слабкості людей - жадібність, дурість, страх перед невідомим, усе це він, як білочка, акуратно загортає в сатиричну обгортку, змушуючи сміятися, а потім задумуватися. В чоловіка був дар писати просто про складне

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

Racist dinosaurs?

[Kshitij Khandelwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

More satire than space opera, but manages to be a most entertaining account of the human condition. The philosophy can sometimes feel a little gaudy. Sheckley’s style of writing is very witty and makes the book go fast!