Rating: 
Summary: Classic Phillip K. Dick, a must read for his fans.
Review: As always Dick explores the themes: "who and what are real"; "who is crazy and who is sane". Louis Rosen is a former piano salesman whose family company starts to make simulcra (exact robot replicas). Abe Lincoln is their first construct and he soon gains consciousness and begins to ask for his rights vs. a wealthy mars colonizer. Who is and what is human? Our hero meanwhile falls in love with teenage Pris, a refugee from a Federal Bureau of Mental Health hospital. Is anyone sane? From there on things take delightful dizzying Dickian twists. Its a wonderful book for anyone with a healthy measure of paranoia.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Phillip K. Dick, a must read for his fans.
Review: As always Dick explores the themes: "who and what are real"; "who is crazy and who is sane". Louis Rosen is a former piano salesman whose family company starts to make simulcra (exact robot replicas). Abe Lincoln is their first construct and he soon gains consciousness and begins to ask for his rights vs. a wealthy mars colonizer. Who is and what is human? Our hero meanwhile falls in love with teenage Pris, a refugee from a Federal Bureau of Mental Health hospital. Is anyone sane? From there on things take delightful dizzying Dickian twists. Its a wonderful book for anyone with a healthy measure of paranoia.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't quite come together
Review: As others have noted, WE CAN BUILD YOU has two main storylines which never really mesh. Two thirds into the book, the simulacra plotline is simply dropped & the remainder focuses on Louis Rosen's mental health & his 'relationship' with Pris. While Pris is the most coherently drawn character in the book, Rosen's infatuation is rather clumsily drawn & never quite believable. In addition, Rosen makes a somewhat bland protagonist--I found myself more sympathetic to Pris, even if she is a borderline sociopath.A shame the simulacra (manufactured replicas of humans) plotline is abandoned, as it had real potential. In particular, the Edwin M. Stanton simulacrum was a fascinating character (more so than the Lincoln, as it doesn't come with our own preconceptions)--Dick could have taken that character & run with it. I might also note that Dick treats Pris rather harshly, considering this is a mentally ill 18-year-old girl. Hence my sympathy leaning toward her.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't quite come together
Review: As others have noted, WE CAN BUILD YOU has two main storylines which never really mesh. Two thirds into the book, the simulacra plotline is simply dropped & the remainder focuses on Louis Rosen's mental health & his 'relationship' with Pris. While Pris is the most coherently drawn character in the book, Rosen's infatuation is rather clumsily drawn & never quite believable. In addition, Rosen makes a somewhat bland protagonist--I found myself more sympathetic to Pris, even if she is a borderline sociopath. A shame the simulacra (manufactured replicas of humans) plotline is abandoned, as it had real potential. In particular, the Edwin M. Stanton simulacrum was a fascinating character (more so than the Lincoln, as it doesn't come with our own preconceptions)--Dick could have taken that character & run with it. I might also note that Dick treats Pris rather harshly, considering this is a mentally ill 18-year-old girl. Hence my sympathy leaning toward her.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading if you're a PKD fan, but...
Review: I enjoyed reading WE CAN BUILD YOU, and if you like PKD, so will you. That being said, it is not as good as some of his other novels. The two main themes are (not surpisingly) what is Real? and schizophrenia. I thought DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP did the former better; MARTIAN TIME-SLIP did the latter better. Indeed, this book is somewhat similar to MARTIAN TIME-SLIP; unfortunately, it is not as good. The characters in WE CAN BUILD YOU aren't quite as well defined or developed. I did like the presentation of the simulacra, however. And of course, the book reads exceptionally fast, like all of PKD's work.
Rating:
Summary: Dick fan's choice
Review: I have recently read some fifteen books from Dick's lesser known production. In general, they are not as good as the best known books (like Ubik, Valis, Man in the high castle). Oh, they still have that immense amount of original ideas and the typical Dick themes of paranoia and reality vs illusion. But they lack coherence, and the ending seldom matches the expectations set in the beginning.
Not so for this book! "We can build you" is prime Dick. It has everything - except the fame it deserves.
Rating: 
Summary: Much better than people say
Review: I know it's not highly regarded among Dick readers, but this book is very unique and different than the others. The dark and quite humorous dialogue between characters (especially Pris' character) coupled with the wisdom of the Lincoln and intensity of Stanton make for an interesting read. Some might complain that the story doesn't go anywhere, but I would argue that it's not that different from the tradition of putting ordinary characters in insane, yet objectively amusing situations. The interactions, the dialogue, the whole setup, is strangely hilairious and dark but done in a fresh style that doesn't render it the least bit recycled. A good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing for a PKD work
Review: I picked this book up in the hopes of reading another great story from Phillip K. Dick, but it was really disappointing. My previous favorites from him have been "The Man in the High Castle" and "Through a Scanner Darkly". This book has plot elements, but it's really not well put together or entertaining. The main characters aren't very interesting, and the love & rejection the protagonist gets from Pris is so strange, it's almost like Dick is forcing something that had happened to him into the story. Really, would not recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing for a PKD work
Review: I picked this book up in the hopes of reading another great story from Phillip K. Dick, but it was really disappointing. My previous favorites from him have been "The Man in the High Castle" and "Through a Scanner Darkly". This book has plot elements, but it's really not well put together or entertaining. The main characters aren't very interesting, and the love & rejection the protagonist gets from Pris is so strange, it's almost like Dick is forcing something that had happened to him into the story. Really, would not recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Schizophrenic Layout Plot
Review: I read this book because I like the movie Blade Runner and got information about PKD from Amazon.com (Thank you very much !) The first two-third of the book is exciting to read as well as philosophical in theme. You never know what is the outcome of the interaction of the 'unreal' human[Pris}, the 'real' human [Mr. Borrows}, the and the 'most real' non-human [Stanton, Lincoln}. I was surprised to see the story went flaccid all the way after Seattle meeting. Nonetheless, the story as a whole does appeal to me. It centered around schizophrenia, then, simulacrum, then schizophrenia again.
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