This is one of the first books Philip K. Dick wrote in the 50's, but he was never able to publish it. His early novels were all mainstream, he had not started his famous run of SF novels he produced in the 60's and 70's. However, his early mainstream books show the signs of his future obsession: he constantly questions the world around him, either believing that it is an artificial image that is being used to keep mankind in oblivion (a bit like the humans in Matrix) or feeling an existential angst he tries to find the reason for. He frequently ends in conclusions that bring him to the brink of insanity and he has freely discussed the possibility that he is insane in his Exegesis, among other publications.

Voices from the Street is narrating the story of Stuart Hadley, who is a salesman in a TV Sales and Repair shop in California in the 50's. He's constantly worried about the job he is doing, he can not assign much meaning to his life. Although he is married and his wife is expecting their first child, he can not use this event to have more positive thoughts about his life and his future. The novel follows Stuart in his descent to his private Hell, slowly self-destructing. Some of the passages in the book have the style of existential crisis his protagonists have in his SF novels, but instead of having supernatural or extraterrestrial causes, his angst is just the result of his ill-behaved existence in this post-war era and the lack of any values his life can bring him to enjoy.

With the portrayal of life in California in the 50's, the religious sects, McCarhtyism and other evils of the era, Dick has created a grim environment and is obviously getting ready to launch his wide imagination to cover the only theme in his multiple novels over 30 years: we live in a universe which is an illusion.