Here's a bit of trivia about it (I just looked at the article about it on Wikipedia): the magic system used in Dungeons & Dragons (and some other elements of the game) is based on the Dying Earth! Since I played D&D a lot 30 years ago, and still play other roleplaying games, it may seem strangely familiar.
The first segment of the Dying Earth (called the Dying Earth) was one of the first things Vance wrote while he was a merchant marine in the Pacific. It reads somewhat differently than the rest of the series, being a series of shorter stories that deal with disparate characters, the Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith influences are perhaps stronger. I would recommend sticking it out to the second segment, “the Eyes of the Overworld”, where Cugel the Clever is introduced, if the first part doesn’t grab you. And yes, Gary Gygax(who I also am a big fan of) was a huge Vance fan, they became friends, Vance actually used the name “Gygax” in the Alastor series, I believe.
Vance’s big swipe at socialism is Wyst:Alastor 1716, but it is speckled throughout his work.
Freegards