SOLVED. Orbiting spaceship stealing memories each night. [s]

[Matt]

I thought this was a Philip Jose Farmer story, but I can't seem to google it. The story opens with people confused that their morning paper has the wrong date...turns out the date is correct, but the orbiting UFOs are stealing people's memories one day at a time. They try to leave themselves enough notes to make progress but as the rate of theft increases, people spend too much of their day catching up with the events of intervening years, and their age, let alone the alien crisis.

It is, to this day, the most terrifying story I've ever read.

[Kris]

Matt, around what year did you read this book?

Is this a short story or a full-length novel?

[Matt]

Late eighties, short story in an anthology of some sort? My memory is not to be trusted, ironically.

[Sarah]

I was interested in the story, did some googling, and think it may be:
Sketches Among The Ruins Of My Mind by Philip Jose Farmer

[Sarah]

Found a report on the story Sketches Among The Ruins Of My Mind here, sure sounds like it:
http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/art...

[Andy]

Yeah, this is definitely "Sketches" - I read it in a collection called Strangeness Strangeness. I seem to recall that Farmer originally planned this as a Star Trek story.

[Matt]

Thanks! That's it.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Matt. Here's the Goodreads link for the short story - Blown: or Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind by Philip José Farmer.

Did you read it in the Strangeness collection by Thomas M. Disch? Here are some cover images: ?

[Matt]

It was this one:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Kris]

Great. Thanks for the update.