In one Philip K. Dick's earliest stories, an unnamed narrator fears that the Earth has been invaded by aliens after reading a book left on a bus. To prove his case, the narrator reads excerpts that are replete with laughable idioms and cliches, some of which would send a contemporary editor (like me) reaching for the red pen. For example, "his eyes slowly roved around the room", "...she asked him if he would remove his arm. He did so immediately." and "...I'm afraid there's no doubt about it. Poor Bibney has lost his head again" followed by "...and Bob says he has utterly no guts."

Clearly, these humanoid aliens can detach parts of their anatomy at will! Oh, the horror! As the narrator tells us, "I have no stomach for it." ( )

This brief story takes a novel perspective of a person who finds a book on a bus, and while reading it, assumes it was written for (and by) aliens. The reader takes this as a sign of an impending alien invasion. But perhaps all is not what it seems. The wordplay makes this a fun read. ( )

A mildly amusing short story. Given that I didn't feel impelled to read a deeper meaning into the text (other than perhaps the protagonist developing an illness if he had only recently developed an idiom intolerance), the joke felt rather belaboured.

A very short story by Dick which plays with the English language's tendency to talk about body parts as moving, roving, and acting independently. By taking the figurative language literally, the narrator determines there are aliens living on Earth undiscovered. ( )

Great fun with idioms. ( )