"Orpheus with Clay Feet" is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by American writer Philip K. Dick, originally published in 1964 in ''

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'' magazine. The story has a self referential

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

theme, and was published under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

"Jack Dowland".

Plot summary

The main character is Jesse Slade, a bored man living in 2040 who visits a time travel tourism agency for a vacation. The agency offers him a trip to the past where he can act as the

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

for a famous artist of his choice. Slade chooses to inspire his favorite science fiction author of the 1960s, Jack Dowland, who is said to be universally acclaimed as the greatest of the three master science fiction authors of his time, the others being

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

and

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

. Slade travels to Purpleblossom,

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, in 1956, where he is to inspire the writing of Dowland's masterpiece, ''The Father on the Wall''. On his arrival, he has difficulty communicating, and is so unable to impress Dowland that he desperately discloses his identity as a time traveller. Dowland is so irritated at this that he becomes cynical about science fiction altogether, and never becomes the master that he might have been.

Self reference

The story makes several references to itself and its author. Dowland's masterpiece, ''The Father on the Wall'', has a title similar to Dick's masterpiece, '' The Man in the High Castle''. Jack Dowland, the fictional author featured in the story, was the pen name used by Dick when the story itself was published. In the story, Dowland takes Slade's tale about time travelling muses and publishes it as a science fiction short story called ''Orpheus with Clay Feet'' under the pen name "Philip K. Dick". After Slade's return to the future, Slade and the time travel agent read Dowland's published story. The agent (who calls it a "wretched story") decides what to do with Slade after he reads about his own actions in the published story, saying "that's how he resolved it in the end". Short stories by Philip K. Dick 1964 short stories American short stories Science fiction short stories Works originally published in American magazines Works originally published in men's magazines {{1960s-sf-story-stub