I really enjoyed this one. Like all Philip K. Dick it makes you think about the nature of reality. Ostensibly this book is about drugs. The drug that is popular is called Can-D and it "translates" you into a little doll and the doll's play set. The drug is popular on the worlds colonized by earth, and for most it is the best escape from the dreary landscape of their new planet. In fact it is the closest thing they have to being on earth again.

The book starts by focusing on the company that produces the "layouts" for the dolls so the Can-D translation can be more accurate. They take actual products from earth and "min" them for the layout. This company also illegally distributes the drug throughout the solar system. Soon word comes in that the titular character has returned from another solar system called Prox and he has brought with him a drug called Chew-Z that is supposed to be much better than Can-D. What Chew-Z does and who Palmer Eldrich is become the focus of the book.

This book doesn't seem to be at first, but it is very religious in nature.