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"The Father-Thing" is a 1954 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story, told through third-person narration but focusing on the child, concerns the replacement of a boy's father with a replicated version. At first, only the child sees the difference and has to recruit other children to help him reveal the truth. The story is typical of Dick's short stories of the period.^[1]

The premise was widely used in fiction of the time. Works like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, especially popular in the 1950s, expressed the fear that people are not what they seem to be. Dick's story is typically more personal because it is not about the invasion of a community, but of a family.^[2]

The Father-Thing is the US Underwood-Miller (1987) and UK title of the third collected volume of Dick's short stories,^[3] retitled Second Variety after "Second Variety" was moved from Volume 2 by Citadel.^[4]

Adaptations

In 2017, writer-director Michael Dinner adapted the story as an episode of the TV series Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, starring Greg Kinnear as the Father.^[5]^[6]

References

^ Farrell, Henry (16 January 2018). "Philip K. Dick and the Fake Humans". Boston Review. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
^ The Father-Thing (Forward). RosettaBooks. 2010. ISBN 9780795317132.
^ "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 3: The Father-Thing". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
^ "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 3: Second Variety". goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
^ Film Crit Hulk (13 January 2018). "Phillip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Recap: Daddy Issues". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
^ Ryan, Maureen (11 January 2018). "TV Review: 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams' on Amazon". Variety. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

External links

The Father-thing title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This article about a science fiction short story (or stories) published in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Farrell, Henry (16 January 2018). "Philip K. Dick and the Fake Humans". Boston Review. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

[2] The Father-Thing (Forward). RosettaBooks. 2010. ISBN 9780795317132.

[3] "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 3: The Father-Thing". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

[4] "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 3: Second Variety". goodreads.com. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

[5] Film Crit Hulk (13 January 2018). "Phillip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Recap: Daddy Issues". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

[6] Ryan, Maureen (11 January 2018). "TV Review: 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams' on Amazon". Variety. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

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+{{short description|1954 science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick}}
 {{For|the collection of [[Philip K. Dick]] stories named after this story|The Father-Thing (collection)}}
+"'''The Father-Thing'''" is a 1954 [[science fiction]] short story by American writer [[Philip K. Dick]]. The story, told through third-person narration but focusing on the child, concerns the replacement of a boy's father with a replicated version. At first, only the child sees the difference and has to recruit other children to help him reveal the truth. The story is typical of Dick's short stories of the period.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Farrell|first1=Henry|title=Philip K. Dick and the Fake Humans|url=http://bostonreview.net/literature-culture/henry-farrell-philip-k-dick-and-fake-humans|website=Boston Review|access-date=2018-02-28|language=en|date=16 January 2018}}</ref>
-{{Unreferenced|date=July 2007}}
-'''The Father-Thing''' is a 1954 [[science fiction]] short story by [[Philip K. Dick]]. The story, written from a child's point of view, concerns the replacement of a boy's father by a replicated version. Only the child sees the difference and has to recruit other children to help him reveal the truth. The story is typical of Dick's short stories of the period, and also reminiscent of some of the short fiction of [[Ray Bradbury]].
-The premise was widely used in fiction of the time.  Works like ''[[Who Goes There?]]'' and, most famously ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', especially popular in the 1950s, expressed the fear that people are not what they seem to be. Dick's story is typically more personal because it is not about the invasion of a community, but of a family.
+The premise was widely used in fiction of the time.  Works like ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', especially popular in the 1950s, expressed the fear that people are not what they seem to be. Dick's story is typically more personal because it is not about the invasion of a community, but of a family.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Father-Thing (Forward)|date=2010|publisher=RosettaBooks|isbn=9780795317132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUAqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|language=en}}</ref>
-''[[The Father-Thing (collection)|The Father-Thing]]'' is the US [[Underwood-Miller]] (1987) and UK title of the third collected volume of Dick's short stories (retitled ''[[Second Variety (1991 collection)|Second Variety]]'' after "Second Variety" was moved from Volume 2 by [[Citadel Press|Citadel]]).
+''[[The Father-Thing (collection)|The Father-Thing]]'' is the US [[Underwood-Miller]] (1987) and UK title of the third collected volume of Dick's short stories,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 3: The Father-Thing |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165913.The_Collected_Stories_of_Philip_K_Dick_Volume_3|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2018-02-28}}</ref> retitled ''[[Second Variety (1991 collection)|Second Variety]]'' after "Second Variety" was moved from Volume 2 by [[Citadel Press|Citadel]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 3: Second Variety|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14186.The_Collected_Stories_of_Philip_K_Dick_3|website=goodreads.com|access-date=2018-02-28}}</ref>
+==Adaptations==
+In 2017, writer-director [[Michael Dinner]] adapted the story as an episode of the TV series ''[[Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams]]'', starring [[Greg Kinnear]] as the Father.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Film Crit Hulk|title=Phillip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Recap: Daddy Issues|url=http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/electric-dreams-recap-season-1-episode-7-father-thing.html|website=Vulture|access-date=2018-02-28|language=en|date=13 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Ryan|first1=Maureen|title=TV Review: 'Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams' on Amazon|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/philip-k-dicks-electric-dreams-amazon-review-janelle-monae-1202661582/|website=Variety|access-date=2018-02-28|date=11 January 2018}}</ref>
 ==See also==
-[[The New Mother]]
+* "[[The New Mother]]"
+* [[Human disguise]]
+* [[Capgras delusion]]
+* [[The Hanging Stranger]]
+* [[Folie à Deux (The X-Files)]]
+== References ==
+{{Reflist|1}}
 ==External links==
@@ Line 18: / Line 28: @@
 [[Category:1954 short stories]]
 [[Category:Short stories by Philip K. Dick]]
+[[Category:Science fiction short stories]]
+[[Category:Fiction about alien invasions]]
-{{sf-story-stub}}
+{{1950s-sf-story-stub}}