One of Dick’s (1928–1982) most popular novels , which inspired the film The Truman Show.
The protagonist, Ragle Gumm, has a peculiar way of making a living: every day he takes part in a local newspaper contest and always wins. However, this existence leaves him feeling bored, and he finds no meaning in his life: he has no steady job, is not married, has no children, and has no home (he lives with his sister’s family). This situation leads him to idle away his time and become an adulterer.
Gradually, Ragle begins to suspect that his world (1959) is nothing more than an illusion, until he discovers that the world is actually in 1998, in a war between the inhabitants of Earth and the inhabitants of the Moon, and that he has been placed inside an illusion... from which he tries to escape.