Editing Galactic Pot-Healer

{{short description|1969 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox book | 
| name          = Galactic Pot-Healer
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = GalacticPotHealer(1stEd).jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = First edition
| author        = [[Philip K. Dick]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = Sanford Kossin 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        = 
| genre         = [[Science fiction]] 
| publisher     = [[Berkley Books]]
| release_date  = 1969
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages         = 144 
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}} 
'''''Galactic Pot-Healer''''' is a [[science fiction]] novel by American writer [[Philip K. Dick]], first published in 1969. The novel deals with a number of philosophical and political issues such as [[Authoritarianism|repressive societies]], [[fatalism]], and the search for meaning in life.

Dick also wrote a children's book set in the same universe, ''[[Nick and the Glimmung]]'', in 1966. It was published posthumously in 1988.

== Plot introduction ==
The story concerns a man who thanklessly heals pots in a [[totalitarian]] future Earth, only to be summoned by a godlike alien known as Glimmung, who has recruited him as part of a multispecies specialist team sent to "Plowman's Planet" (or [[Sirius]] Five) for a mystical quest, which is to raise the sunken cathedral of Heldscalla from a surreal alien ocean.

==Plot summary==
The novel opens in a dismal future [[United States|America]], the Communal North American Citizen's Republic.  The [[United States government]] has become extremely intrusive and repressive, [[Surveillance|monitoring]] the actions, speech and even thoughts of its citizens.

The protagonist, Joe Fernwright, is a pot-healer, one who can perfectly restore [[pottery]] to brand new condition.  Joe finds himself constantly depressed and idle at the opening of the novel. He is unemployed and on a war veteran's [[social security]] benefit, given that ceramic pottery has been replaced by plastics, and his profession is not in great demand.  He longs for purpose and [[meaning of life|meaning in life]].  His one entertainment is to call various friends on the worldwide telephone network and swap puzzles. These puzzles are created by translating a common English proverb or phrase into another language by using a language translation computer, and then translating it back to English the same way. The object of the game is to guess the original from the double translation.

Joe finds meaning when he is summoned to "Plowman's Planet"/Sirius Five by a mysterious highly evolved alien, Glimmung, with seemingly godlike powers.  Along with other similarly talented but depressed and alienated people and creatures from all over the galaxy they are employed by Glimmung, in a grand endeavor to raise an ancient sunken cathedral from the ocean floor.

Glimmung is also in a struggle with the Kalends, a species gifted with [[precognition]] who are constantly writing a book that supposedly foretells the future, one which inevitably is proven right.  Glimmung is determined to continue with his struggle, even when the book predicts certain failure.

At the conclusion of the book, Fernwright and his companions are offered the opportunity to join a [[wikt:gestalt|gestalt]] or [[Group mind (science fiction)|hive mind]] that also encompasses Glimmung. Fernwright and an unnamed octopoid companion alone refuse the offer. Fernwright is then given various options, such as going back to earth, going with the octopoid to its planet, going to Mali's planet (a young humanoid female he had become romantically involved with and who chose to become a part of the collective conscious) or stay back on Sirius Five. The octopoid also suggests to him that he should start creating pots with the tools Glimmung has given him instead of just healing them. The story ends by saying the first pot he created was "awful".

==Bibliographic information==
''Galactic Pot-Healer'' was originally published in 1969 by Berkley Medallion Books. A hardback edition was issued in 1969 by the Science Fiction Book Club (Nelson Doubleday, Inc.). It is currently published in the United States by Vintage Books, {{ISBN|0-679-75297-8}}, and in the United Kingdom by Gollancz.

An [[audiobook]] version of ''Galactic Pot-Healer'' was released in 1998 by [[Blackstone Audio]]. The audiobook is read by [[Grover Gardner|Tom Parker]]. Another version released in 2013 by Brilliance Audio, read by Phil Gigante, is unabridged and runs 6 hrs 10 minutes.
<references/>
{{Philip K. Dick}}

[[Category:1969 American novels]]
[[Category:1969 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Philip K. Dick]]
[[Category:Berkley Books books]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Fiction about unemployment]]
[[Category:Novels set on fictional planets]]
[[Category:Novels about mass surveillance]]
[[Category:Fiction set around Sirius]]