Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
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Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said breaks from the formula Dick had used in a lot of his earlier books. Instead of a down-on-his-luck everyman, Jason Taverner (blessed with strength, smarts and good looks due to a secret genetic experiment) is the host of a popular television show. After his mistress attempts to kill him, he wakes up in a world where he is no longer famous and evidently doesn’t even exist.

The mystery of how Jason ended up in a parallel universe with no identity doesn’t have a particularly satisfying conclusion, but Dick seems more concerned in this one with exploring ideas of love and grief. Ruth Rae has a long discussion with Jason about the importance of love for pets in spite of their short lives, and in a memorable sequence, the police general Felix Buckman has a nervous breakdown near the end of the book as he processes the death of Alys, who was not only his sister but also his incestuous lover.

Cast of characters

  • Jason Taverner – host of the Jason Taverner Show
  • Heather Hart – Jason’s girlfriend
  • Marilyn Mason – Jason’s mistress who tries to kill him
  • Kathy Nelson – the young girl who forges Jason’s documents
  • Inspector McNulty – Kathy’s police contact
  • Felix Buckman – Los Angeles police general
  • Alys Buckman – Buckman’s twin sister
  • Herb Maime – Buckman’s chief of staff
  • Ruth Rae – Jason’s former mistress who he meets in Las Vegas
  • Mary Anne Dominic – a potter. She helps Jason escape from the Buckman house