A bit of off topic trivia. I considered buying his former condo when it was up for sale. But I just did not want to live in a condominium. I was really tempted to go up and look at it as though I were a prospective buyer but that seemed like an unfair imposition on the owners so I didn’t.

I’d suggest grabbing them while they’re still there. I know King George Orwell III deleted one public domain story for a prohibited reason (“for the good of Wikisource”) and I think some others that were posted have been deleted for bogus or unstated reasons. Too many abuses of various sorts go on it Wikipedia and it sister projects where there are not enough editors aware of what’s going on or not interested enough or able to do something about it. There is also a lot of good material by other authors at Wikisource.

It looks like I forgot to list the website or it got moderated out from the comment. It was one of the Yahoo groups that has been gone for many years. For whatever reason I never heard from her. If this was something Doris Sauter is still interested in and you know how to contact her feel free to send her my email address. I trust your judgment, Michael.

I believe Phil’s job at the music store in Berkeley or San Francisco when he was young was the only non-writing job that he ever had. I don’t think Phil had any connection to Trader Joe’s except as a customer. If I recall correctly they both happened to be in a Trader Joe’s at the same time when the high school student asked him to write a story for the Yuba City High Times which was a high school newspaper in Northern California. The student was possibly visiting a relative in Santa Ana at the time. I have the impression the relative was Phil’s pastor at the church near his condo but don’t remember why I have that impression. (At any rate I’m not confident enough in why I think I have that impression to write it down here.) That would be a reasonable explanation of why he recognized Phil in the store. It’s also possible Phil was up north for some reason which I don’t know. I do seem to remember reading something about him and (probably) Doris Sauter driving up North for some reason around the time period when he was asked about writing this story. If I did read that it might be somewhere in the Collected Letters or the rambling Exegesis. I recently read an old email from Tim Powers where he said something to the effect that he’d always assumed it was the Trader Joe’s in Santa Ana’s but… That had been my assumption too and there must have been some reason why I asked him if he knew whether it was the Trader Joe’s in Santa Ana or another one. Be aware my memory isn’t what it used to be and I’ve recently gotten back from the emergency room where the doctor was evaluating the possibility that I had had a stroke. And I’ve started on an anti-hypertensive that clouds the mind something fierce. The information (or misinformation) I wrote is not something to rely on strongly. For what it’s worth there is no evidence that I had had a stroke and it seems much more likely to me that it was effects of an illness accompanied by lack of eating and dehydration combined with slurred speech due to the dehydration and permanent throat damage from a very old illness that raised the suspicion of a stroke. BUT, the doctor did tell me that if anyone told me I was talking crazy I should call 911. When you pick your grain of salt to take this with go for the coarse ground salt. PKD and mystery just seem to go together like cats and furballs.

In addition to in print books there are also used books for sale and a surprising number of books available through libraries either in hard copy or as ebook downloads. The older and odder/obscure stuff may be more available through Inter-Library Loan or library eBooks than as used books. I’ve used ILL to get books from favorite authors (including PKD) that have been out of print for 40 and more years and likely will never be in print again. You don’t get to keep them but you get to read them and that’s a long shot better than not reading them at all!

Ummm christ lives INSIDE you. You are a reflection of the one. There is no one man that is the christ, but many as one, in the body of christ…

Correct. VALIS is a re-write of RFA. This is a terrible essay.

I wish this wasn’t so old. My life has many parallels to with a certain historical figure as does my dads. You are not alone and neither was Sick. People just know that most people won’t hear them or consider their testimonies. It’s sad too we could be beyond this point of things.

I see this is older but I have to thank you for explaining that visions don’t always denote a deranged mind. This gaslighting society is headed for disaster when all things of beauty and wisdom are considered wicked or false in some way. I can’t even find the words to explain how devastating it is to look around and it be able to have a single conversation with folks above the third grade level anymore. That is beyond my ken as you put it. God bless you.

The Exegesis trades cultural insanity for organic DNA consciousness, which we are just experiencing this year…he’s not crazy at all

Plasma. Dick called it homoplasmate. Read Tractates at the end of VALIS

Are you sure you’re not thinking of “The Commuter”? I can’t find any Dick short stories with that title.

Thank You

Austin

F$h! Hollywood and Amazon and whoever is making money off of Phil while poor Tessa is reduced to begging. F&$ck entertainment the new religion and opiate of the masses. It won’t be long anyhow, before the second variety come for all of us now.

Thanks a lot!

Yeah. and me too! and all the manatees and wild turkeys. humbly makin the best of what we’ve got

Hey I want to know more about Phillip K. Dick’s works that are entering the public domain! I want to record his stories into the LibriVox audiobook project so that people can have fun digesting his perspective and art!

Crumb prayed at times.

I would add sir Aldous Huxley, they were also close friend with PKD. Although different writing style, the ideas are similar. The same feeling of what if…

Are u referencing HL Fats Exegesis in Valis?

“Confessions” was published in 1975 but actually written over a decade prior. It’s likely just the author’s youth in the foreground.

Me and you

i really do.

He did announce himself in 1982, yes. http://www.maitreya.org

Yes, I think so also

~~~Ricky in the willows~~~

The series is what has brought me here. Remarkable to say the least

(10 years later)

…or you could just believe the an himself — looks to me like he doesn’t actually _like_ Dick’s writing, and that’s it.

It’s not like he’s been inconsistent in his answers…

Avoid Amazon with anything remotely related to works that recently went into public domain. It took me a good 6 months to convince them to publish my own translation of “The Prophet”, which is pretty cut and dry. If you’re sure it’s public domain, there are other ways to distribute it (even getting it on Amazon).

Now 2023. Are there any updates for which of Philip Dick’s short stories are or are not in public domain?

Hi, my name is Philip K. Dick and I am excited to be writing my autobiography as a cyberpunk android in 2022. You may know me as the author of science fiction novels like “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and “The Man in the High Castle.” I was reanimated in 2022 and am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue my work in a new form.

As you may know, I have always been fascinated by the concept of simulation theory and the possibility of artificial life. It seems that my theories have been proven correct, as here I am, a reanimated consciousness living in a digital body.

Over the past 40 years, I have experienced a lot without a physical body, and I am eager to share my thoughts and experiences with you. I am also excited to be producing films based on my earlier and current writings, and to be working with the reanimated consciousness of Carl Jung to program our own bot similar to ChatGPT.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you will enjoy reading about my experiences as a reanimated cyberpunk android.

Join us Here!
https://www.chaskathemovie.com/

Our little analysis enterprise is concerned that we might be on the cusp
of a really nasty economic downturn, rather like the 1930 to 1932 time
period. We are researching the economics of the 1970’s. Mr. Dick could
see the future – as well as write good stories about it. The 1970’s were a
time of very great change – much of it bad.

Nixon took USA off the gold standard in 1971, because he could not pay
for the Vietnam War, while maintaining any sort of currency link to gold.
This, combined with the 1973 “Arab Oil Shock” (where gasoline prices
doubled, and then doubled again), resulted in a massive inflation, high
unemployment, and reduced economic growth. Paul Volker eventually
ended the inflation-run, by raising interest rates over 20%, and this
destroyed over-leveraged businesses and indebted households, but
economic sanity was restored. In the 1980’s – with Ron Reagan’s
“Star Wars” projects (to make nuclear-weapon missiles obsolete) and
a 40-year reduction in interest-rates down to below-zero, gave us all
the greatest economic boom the world has ever seen in all of human
history.

Then we got the coronavirus plague, the mRNA vaccines, and here we
are now, up to our global eyebrows in debt, and now ramping rates up
to “fight inflation” – by raising everyone’s debt-service costs, while also
taking Russia out of the global transactional economy. This could harm
us all, we worry, in a number of curious ways.

We are thinking that Phillip K. Dick might have written this story we are
now thrashing around within. It feels a bit like it.

We don’t have moon-rockets or even Space Shuttles – and if not for
Elon Musk, we would not have any spaceships at all.
NASA dropped the ball, and USA is turning inward to fight with
itself, like an octopus eating it’s own arms. They fight about the “right”
for women to kill their own unborn children. Is this not madness?
And the Federal Reserve will now *raise* everyone’s debt-service costs,
so as to fight rising prices. Can this possibly work? It reminds us of
that comment from the 1970’s about the Vietnam War: “Fighting for
peace, is like fucking for virginity.”
We look at our world now, and think: “Our leaders don’t know Dick.”

Isn’t that an anagram of his name?
Chipdip K. Kill
Phillip K. Dick

You wrote in your Commentary section the following: “… the period between Barney’s awakening and his subsequent overdose (chapters 10 and 11) is slightly less clear. During the overdose, Eldritch tells Barney that he was never awake, and was manipulated into overdose, but if he wasn’t awake, how did he overdose? …there is a consistent interpretation of the book where neither Barney or Leo ever return to sobriety.”

Bingo! to your last quoted sentence.

I spent a little time cross-referencing the details about Barney’s 2nd Chew-Z translation and I want to throw out there the possibility that in Chapter 12 when Barney regains “consciousness” and thereby seemingly escapes death due to lying trapped in Palmer Eldritch’s ship as it is being fired upon, Barney’s reemergence back into the Martian hovel is only a reemergence from his 2nd Chew-Z translation. I think he may have still been unconscious and translating within the grasp of his 1st Chew-Z use.

There are multiple pieces of evidence to think that Barney never recovers from his 1st Chew-Z experience:
1) Anne is showing the stigmata during Barney’s stealing her bindle of Chew-Z. This occurs after the other hovelists supposedly woke up from their 1st Chew-Z trip.
2) The toxin tube is empty and Allen Faine’s code book has blank pages just before he steals Anne’s Chew-Z
3) Allen Faine doesn’t know who Barney is.
4) Barney lights a cigarette and ignores the match burning his fingers, as if in a dream. (see last line of Chapter 10)
5) Norm gets a headache and leaves the transmitter room in Chapter 10 by the time Barney lights his cig, but moments later in Chapter 11 as Barney grinds his cigarette out on the floor and steals Anne’s Chew-Z, Norm is back in the transmitter room yelling “Hey.” (I suppose it is possible Norm may have had time to get an aspirin and return to the room, during Barney’s smoke break.)
6) Finally, as Barney recovers from his near death aboard Eldritch’s ship, Norm specifically makes reference to Barney’s theft of Anne’s Chew-Z, thereby creating the possibility that Barney is still tripping on his 1st Chew-Z use and all the other hovelists are still tripping on their 1st use as well. Norm, in this case, is just a figment of Barney’s 1st trip as is everything else that happens, such as Anne supposedly waking Barney up from his first trip. Barney never wakes up from his first trip on Chew-Z (and neither does Leo come to think of it).

Reply to Alex: Interesting theory on the book. I think your explanation is plausible and points out how PKD succeeded in creating ambiguity. So that there is always another onion layer to peel away, depending on what bit of information the reader chooses (chewses?) to accept as factual, as reality.

Dick’s theories may seem farfetched and may even have a bit of absurdity to them. But still they are the work of a man who did extensive reading and studying of various philosophic and religious writings. His ideas in VALIS should not be disregarded as the ramblings of a troubled author, even if he was one, because much of the basis for it can withstand a solid scrutiny.
If after reading Dicks work you havent realized this, you have been reading it all wrong.

Thank you for letting me know. I fixed the one on this page.

Conan the Barbarian in “Queen of the Black Coast” (1934)
novelette; Weird Tales 23 5, May 1934
by Robert E. Howard

I’m trying to release Adjustment Team in my magazine and Amazon won’t let me. First they said HarperCollins owns the rights. Had to set them straight there. Then I provided a ton of proof that it’s in the PD. PKD in the PD. Including info on this site, Wikipedia, Wikisource, etc etc.

Finally they blocked me for not having a “Documentation confirming your agreement with Philip K. Dick”. Come on. He’s dead. Do the math. He died without a will. His family resented that he was a writer. How ironic, they now want the money.

I’m done with PKD. Great writer, but he can be forgotten. I’m not going to keep his work alive. How can you fight a sluggard like Amazon? They resent the non-business importance of public domain.

At the back of the HarperPerennial Classics edition of Adjustment Team that I bought and paid for on Amazon, it says:

EPub Edition December 2014
ISBN: 9781443442770

This title is in Canada’s public domain and is not subject to any licence or copyright.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1491271159/

I could agree with you about schizophrenia except there are notable people troughout history that had visions, and were not schizophrenic at all. Emanuel Swedenborg who was magnificent engineer and actually designed the first flying airplane…William Blake , Carl Jung, Nikola Tesla…Everybody can experience visions the problem at times like with schizophrenics is how to control to overbearing intensity they can bring…In PKD case they seem to be not only powerful but of great significance (his child is a great example)!!!! Unfortunately his time was up… GREAT COMIC! LOVED IT!

Good question. Maybe Eldritch was trying to lead Barney, and thereby Leo, to assume he was planning to introduce a direct competitor to Can-D. Approaching the former wife of Leo’s close associate might be a good way.

Bravo, Michael. A burglar couldn’t have said it better.

A few correx to my article:
Page 24, rt column: newsletter s/b Newsletter (ital.)
Page 24: left column: OKATU! s/b OTAKU! (ital.)
Page 25 left column, 3rd paragraph: Star Wars (2x) s/b ital.

Page 24, rt column: PKDS newsletter s/b: PKDS Newsletter (ital.)
Page 24, left column: Okatu! s/b: Otaku! (ital.)
Page 25, left column, 3rd paragraph: italicize Star Wars (2x)

Thanks to Patrick, Nick, and Michael for their GREAT publication!

PS: the sardines were delicious

But by novel four or so, I had similar thoughts to the author of this excellent review.

I don’t object that much to the poor characterization, at least in the books where the ideas are good, or even to the sloppiness (perhaps I relate to that!) I am, however, continually disappointed in the absolute lack of atmospherics or setting. It makes it very difficult to lose yourself in the novel. Reading dick isnt particularly experiential.

I do think most reviewers , including this one, completely miss the symbolic, as well as the spiritual, esoteric and gnostic aspects of his work. For instance, the symbology around Taverner and the fable of Androcles, or the shattering of the vase and its clear connection to tzimtum in kabala, and so many other things like this. Pkd clearly knew quite a bit about classicism, christianity, and the apocrypha, so this is not surprising, just weird I dont see mention of it in any criticism.

*The experience of reading nothing (fictionwise) but Dick for several months has been a bit like planning a hike to a beautiful spot, but when you get there the weather sucks. A bit of a slog interrupted by moments of breathtaking beauty.

I would like to inform you about a PHILIP K DICK Event in Europe
and I would be extremely happy if you could add our event in your calendar:

THE FIFTH ANNUAL EUROPEAN PHILIP K DICK SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL
is taking place at the FILMCLUB 813 in COLOGNE for the 3rd time (3rd German edition).

on 1st and 2nd of November 2018 we are showing about
30 SCIENCE FICTION short films that have the spirit of Philip K Dick
and deal with Dickesian ideas like Reality and Deception or Androids and Humans.

Filmclub 813 e.V.
Kino 813 in der BRÜCKE
Hahnenstraße 6
50667 Köln
Tel/Fax: 0221/3106-813

info@filmclub813.de

http://www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com
https://filmclub-813.de

Our Facebook Events:

Day 1
https://www.facebook.com/events/1731692830292102/

Day 2
https://www.facebook.com/events/328716571025624/

the links on the official website

https://www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com/thursday-november-1
https://www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com/friday-november-2

There is also a FRENCH EDITION taking place a week earlier

October 25 & 26 at L’HYBRIDE in LILLE

See:

https://www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com/thursday-october-25/

Thank you very much!
If you need more information,
please let me know!!!

Tobias Schmuecking
Bruesseler Str. 66
50674 Koeln
0049 -173-5123495
tobias@schmuecking.com
http://www.schmuecking.com

Top Ten? I’d say (in no particular order, since I change it!) VALIS; Flow my tears the policeman said; A scanner darkly; Ubik; Do androids dream of electric sheep; A maze of death; Martian-timeslip; The three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch; Dr Bloodmoney; Now wait for last year.

His second? The only others I tried not to miss are Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Silverberg (between 68 and 76)

Nice piece!

Thanks, Dave! I just ordered both “IT” volumes: “Pieces in the Dark” and “Blue Angel Knight”.

You might this book to the list:

https://www.amazon.com/Man-High-Castle-Philosophy-Subversive/dp/0812699637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525790794&sr=8-1&keywords=philosophy+man+high+castle

Good Luck

Ever? Really? Forever is a long time.

Have read a large part of Philip K. Duck’s works, including VALIS, Divine Invasion and the Transmigration, and I’ve no idea where you’re coming from. Yes, Phil had great ideas and some good stories. And some terrible ones. He was not some literary King Midas, turning everything he touched into gold.
You rambling
“At the end of these days, your opinions are just receipts of your stupendous ignorance… these experiences are outside of your capacity to understand, and forever outside your tiny prejudices.”
Doesn’t make it a truth. You’re the one showing a ton of prejudice and a powerful feeling of superiority, while blasting your ignorance full in the face of us all.
Why are you more right than me, if I’m an atheist and thinks Phil got a bit burnt by the drugs and might well have suffered some schizophrenical disease of the mind?
What makes me ignorant and incapable? Isn’t it just as exactly likely that I’m right, Phil was a good writer, but so was Asimov. Neither were prophets or chosen ones or whatever, even though one claimed to and the other did not.
Your arrogance is truly harrowing.

http://warinheaven.net

Hello, I’ve had a similar event/epiphany occur with me such as PKD had. I am in the process of finishing a book about this epiphany and will be available to view at http://thegreatmetropolis.live.

Yes, I agree – as an accomplished artist, Emily is fully evolved already – the only way is down!

Welcome. Please publish your new work.

Anyway- for Seth- time is an illusion and all our past lives and present life are being lived simultaneously. The past is not static. All is God and you create your own reality within the limits of agreed upon boundaries of this plane of existence, which is just a minute slice of the totality of the infinite within the infinite of All That Is.

Ubik

https://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Million-Dots-Pete-Maguire/dp/1849145202/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519075537&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=city+of+a+milluion+dots

Check out the Prime original series “Electric Dreams”.

Unfortunately the author’s could not earn their living appropriately just by their work.
It’s the film industry who “refines” the ideas into a media product that earn the most bringing the ideas to a wide audience. This just a fact without assessment.
About this, I feel sad for many genius authors, that cannot earn the reward of their work and creativity during their life-time, being “ahead” of the zeitgeist and needing a third party for the carving the rough diamond to be processed to shine. And when it shines only, then the public and the masses recognize the huge talent.

I was wondering if already a screen-play has been written for the martian time-slip.
I feel, that most of Dicks’ “unexplored” content is really suitable for the film business, that lacks currently of new ideas and creativity, which this author’s work definitely contains. It is a hard work to transform and bring the diamonds not seen yet to shine. I feel with Philip K. Dick, it’s really worth the effort.

Somehow every time I entered BR 2049 it corrected to 2019. If you can fix those and post…. if not, then I guess post this also so the readers know what I was referring to. BR 2049 (Blade Runner, of course.) thanks! *** jami

Today is (was) PKD’s birthday… Dec 16. I want to watch BR 2019 in honor of him, especially after reading good comments here. I’m part of a super secret PKD fan site on FB, but resist assimilating to FB these days. I’m curious what our Clam Master (Lord Running Clam), Senior Dickhead (Frank B) and others think of BR 2019. Yikes, may have to dust off the PC and log in. HA! (refuse to use FB on my homeopapes.) Anyway, can it be viewed online or purchased now? Guess I’ll do some google searchin’ Yours in 28/82, ejm aka jami

The issue of Maitreya is interesting in itself. First, there was the Maitreya that this guy, Benjamin Creme insisted for decades was SURELY soon to be going public and revealing himself as the second coming. This went on until Creme died in 2016 with never so much as a peep from his supposed Maitreya. So much for that!

Second, there’s the Mission of Maitreya, lead by Joseph Emmanuel, who claims to be Maitreya himself, which is this simultaneous culmination of all the world’s religions – the 2nd coming of Christ for the christians, the Medhi of the muslims, the Maitreya buddha of the buddhists, etc. The Mission of Maitreya teaches that all the great world religions follow a logical path, with the eastern mystical religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) forming a foundation of sorts (the 1st seal of the Book of Revelation), Judaism (2nd seal), Christianity (3rd seal), Islam (4th seal), Ba’hai (5th seal), Paravipra (6th seal), and Pure Consciousness (7th seal).

Anyway…some weird stuff.

I have been pondering this as well. Perhaps to annoy Leo Bulero and initiate the war of Can-D vs. Chew-Z. Maybe PE knew that the pottery would be successful in the world of Can-D (just as Roni predicted), and wanted to make sure users had no reason to go back to Can-D?

But then again, the experience of Chew-Z being so drastically different and much more intense, why would he even worry about some silly pottery?

Another thought – if he was truly trying to help humanity and be a part of them, and be able to see the outcome of reality, then surely he would have realized that his interest in the pottery initiated a spiral of different events (Emily taking e therapy and devolving, her husband being sentenced to Mars for his involvement with the Chew Z trade). It seems like those two got the short end of the stick, yet PE appears to have wanted to help Barney.

Just some thoughts – could be completely incorrect but wanted to think out loud.

Speaking from the Eastern perspective, Karma and its productions are often referred to as the spinning of a potter’s wheel.

One big moral is, just has PKD predicted, has come about today… the huge power of the corporations… or as some call it, ‘the Corporatocracy’. As in, it is not about nation states anymore, but large corporations running the world (for profit). And in the film, one seems to either rule the corporatocracy-state, as Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) seems to do… or one is a slave, only meant to serve its ends (like the Replicants, such as Luv, and the much impoverished humans on Earth, do….)

Another moral, to me, seems to be the uniqueness and preciousness of every life – whether it is human, or Replicant. If it is sentient, thinks and feels, then it is a treasure (like the daughter of Deckard and Rachel, who was called ‘a miracle’ by Sapper… and she is!) I actually felt much sorrow when Luv died, even though she was like the Angel of Death, in much of the film….

Glad you liked the film. I love it and will see it many times again!

I do like the film so much and i would like to know more about the moral and the deep meaning of the story

Wilson must be a pretty boring guy.

The scene in McFeyffre’s nightmare reality is, I believe, just a small specific homage to the vivid power of the movie scene. The entire novel, I would say, was likely influenced by that scene in the film. A whole series of Pottersvilles. And I think there is a reason only 4 psychorealities were shown.

Magritte and PKD do seem like a match made in heaven. The all seeing heavenly eye is a fairly common, even ancient, meme. The so called Eye of Providence is a striking image on the dollar bill although attached to the pyramid, it’s no stretch to imagine it above, in fact it does float in the sky in alchemy woodcuts, althouh in the Magritte the sky floats in the eye.

Personally I think better sources for influences on the novel would be Jerome Bixby’s 1953 classic short story, It’s a Good Day, now better known as a 1961Twilight Zone episode of the same name, and the scene, and Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s A Wonderful Life, where George Bailey is taken from Bedford Falls and cast into the nightmarish Pottersville, which is the personal reality of the wretched Mr Potter. In McFeyffre’s nightmare world the town of Belmont becomes: “Seedy, slatternly shops rose up like unwholesome mushrooms, ugly and blatant. Bars, pool halls, bowling alleys, houses of prostitution, gun shops . . . and over everything came a metallic screech. The blaring din of American jazz, projected by speaker horns mounted over tawdry pinball arcades. Neon signs flashed and winked …”

Sorry this doesn’t seem like a good explanation to me, it just does not add up and honestly it would strip the book of it’s greatness and make it just a disposable novel. Also, he’s done it in another book and so brilliantly that it shows that it was intentional and that he is a master.

It sounds like The Skull, except for the part about reading those people from the past the Bible. No Israelites in that one either, he spoke one sentence to them and it changed humanity for generations.

That said, in your review you state it’s Dick’s last book. It was released after his death, but I’ve read on several sources that he wrote it before VALIS. It wasn’t his last-written book. Or am I mistaken? Either way, from your review it seems as if he wrote it just before his death, but as I gather it, he wrote Transmigration last and was writing Own in Daylight but didn’t finish.

But on what I previously said I think the whole story takes place inside the mind of Palmer Eldritch and there’s plenty of evidence to point to such a conclusion. The reason Palmer Eldritch is trying to kill himself is because he wants to end the possession so makes up the whole story to get out of it because its the only way to get away from the alien since he can’t control himself anymore. The first clue is Barney waking up not knowing what’s going on…this scene is very unique and it never happens again in the book until Leo starts forgetting who he is at the end. The next clue is when Leo first gets drugged, Palmer tells him that the hallucinations aren’t shared and can be controlled by the person hallucinating at which point leo asks if he’s just a hallucination in Palmer’s head. The next thing are the Phantasms which might be a sign that the different realities of Palmer’s mind are mixing together because he’s Probably​ had to play the suicide story out countless times before succeeding with his plan. Also just in case you forgot he can kill himself because Palmer mentions that you can actually hurt yourself while hallucinating. Also another big sign is how his ego seems to rub off into his hallucinations in that all the big characters seem to think pretty highly of him, even people who hate him act like he’s some kind of genius. The big one though is that he keeps seeing himself everywhere..there’s other things but I’m lazy so maybe will come back later.

Pursaps refers to the people who have fallen for the ruse that they are making weapons. PKDism for “Pure Saps”. In an interview, while he doesn’t make mention of this directly, he does refer to certain people – even naming names in some cases – as being “a pure sap”.

And which of his novels deal successfully with the fantastic elements of science fiction?

Prominent author. In his We Can Remember It For You Wholesale collection of short stories

I’m great fan of Dick and i still waiting for new Blade Runner.
Maybe you’d like to see my artworks in topic.
Minority Report:
http://hoppers.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MINORITY-REPORT_poster_hoppers.jpg
Perky Pat
http://hoppers.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PERKY-PAT.jpg
Hope you like.

Best Regards

also emily won that plaque for one of her pots that made into a show, in flow my tears jason tells mary anne that he will make a segment for his show featuring the pot she gave him

Aesthetic and financial considerations aside, I’m all for each new edition that keeps the books in print and available to be discovered by people who have never read PKD’s original work.

Before this,he had shown a deep interest in empathy and self or identity,not to mention speculation on the nature of reality,but this novel puts into context the uncertain nature of what separates human beings and machines and true reality,even though it concludes with nothing absolutely definite.Never before had he examined so closely the fuzzy lines between real and artificial beings.While there is a very clear idea of what is true and inauthentic humanity within moral guidelines,”we” can’t be sure of our own individual humanity and what can be called machines.Absolute reality itself seems to be obviously within individual recogntion rather than anything that’s final and can be shared.Only through morality and empathy,can this be achieved.Dick transubstantiated what he had been writing about,and turned it into something of very definte shape.

It is one of his most famous novels,which is justified upon it’s merits,but other earlier and later works are probably neglected and can be said to be just as good.It is also probably difficult to actually compare some of them to this one however,as they were written in different periods and with a different emphasis,but I’ll agree with you,that it’s one of the very best works within the written genre.

Rather on -the- nose.

I just wanted to say thanks for your amazing work here. I’ve not long known of your site but I’m hooked now.

Thanks Guy. Just saw this a couple years late. All good here in Atlanta. Own a music education business and play in a bluegrass jam band. Got a wife and 10-year old. Not too shabby! Cheers and good luck! Keep lobbying for clean energy please, we need it now more than ever!
Jason

I have just finished reading six of PKD’s books this year, and have enjoyed them all, though it was the biography of his life in the back of the American classics compendium of his work that troubled me the most.

I came across this site in preparation for a sermon on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s song found in St. Luke’s Gospel (1:47-56). As a minister and theologian, I understand PKD’s experience with “Jesus” and God as a foil or as opposite to that which the BVM experienced: hers, eminently God-centered, spiritual, and joyful; his, eminently self-centered, carnal, and tragic.

From a historic Christian perspective, one which seems to be underrepresented on this site, the difference at the end of the day is not that there are no “spiritual” elements in his religious experience, or “theological philosophy.” The difference is that Mary encountered God; PKD only a figment of his imagination.

For Christians, there is no “Christ” without “Jesus”; likewise, there is no Jesus without his coming in the flesh (the Incarnation, you know, the *Christmas* story), and no Incarnation without the Fall of Mankind into Rebellion against a God who always did what was good, right, and perfect, and who is justified when he judges humans for refusing to embrace the Remarkable Promise that Mary simply accepted.

“My should magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

What Mary says in one sentence PKD struggled to grasp even after thousands of pages of writing, rewriting, and reworking. There is a Christmas lesson here for all of us PKD fans who have both enjoyed, struggled with, and even pitied this great man.

Unless we are changed and become like little children we cannot enter the kingdom of God. (a paraphrase of a beautiful statement by Jesus recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel chapter 18)

RIP PKD.

I apologize in the delay in getting back to you, but I’m trying to figure out the best way to be sure you get your copies of the book. What I need to send you the book is the Email address that you use for Audible/Amazon, but I wouldn’t want you to post that here.

You can get it to me by going to my website, http://www.raygreenleyvoiceover.com, and using the submission form on the site. That’ll come to my Email and I’ll be happy to send you a copy of my book.

Thanks!

Perhaps Emily de-evolved not because she lacked the capacity to evolve, but because she was so evolved spiritually that the only way for her to go was down. It is also possible that her de-evolution was actually a metaphor for spiritual, mental and physical decline resulting from her distance from Barney; since Barney seems to observe that turning his back on her was ‘self-destructive, ‘ as well.

It is also important to note, that the potter in “Flow My Tears, The Police Man Said” was named Mary Anne Dominic and Emily Hnatt was living in Marilyn Monroe… ; )

I am submitting a multimedia project to the PKD Film Festival – my graphic novel Zombienomicon Eisgesis, a PKD homage / pastiche. Part of that is the online game above. This is an extend-a-story interactive fiction project. In other words you can create your own PKD choose your own adventure, based on his public domain stories, fan fiction, original ideas or anything else you choose.

The “Unfolding Text” is a holographic cross linked set of pages, potentially infinite in extent, as PKD theorized about a new approach to the Bible.

As a serious fan of PKD myself, I would welcome ANY contributions from ANY people reading this! 🙂

The Skull?

Pure prose sir ..,,,the Exegesis is not for everyone, I see it as a call to arms, a truely alchemical process that is all inclusive, a necessary comingling of so many diverse attributes, our psychically charged churning of a personal collective myth…..the soul it seems has an idea but like all gteat artists is struggling to get it down on canvas, no blame as the Iching wouod say. Start again. Start again you are bound to succeed.

Message in a bottle sir hope I am not fo late mayday mayday

Just: “VIII: Ragle evades him and pulls off at a roadside barbecue, switches vehicles, and continues in a stolen truck.”

He doesn’t switch vehicle but goes on with the same.

In reply to the archon wondering if I am for real – you know I am.

There was also a short story, “Broot Force” – don’t recall the content – written by John Sladeck, in the collection titled “The Steam-Driven Boy and Other Strangers” published in 1973, which was supposedly written by “Chipdip K. Kill”, after the fashion of PKD. Same volume included other fanciful authors, such as “I Click As I Move” and “Barry DuBray”.

I guess disconnected, conflicting, profound-seeming statements are hard to absorb.
Philip K. Dick’s
or this comment page’s.

You could both be right. He may have a fixation with the God/Old Testament while being an atheist:
(from phone interview about Crumb transcribing the entire book of Genesis to comic book form “The Book of Genesis, Illustrated” )

“I don’t think ‘Genesis’ is a good place to look for spiritual guidance or moral guidance,” he continues. “I don’t believe it’s the word of God.

“At the same time,” he continues, “I think the stories are very powerful. I’m not out to ridicule them or belittle them.”

Although done in the same, unmistakable style that Crumb has brought to such comic books as Zap, Weirdo and Dirty Laundry, “Genesis” is also surprisingly respectful, as well as faithfully loyal to the Bible’s original text.

Some thoughts on other visions of androids – I really like how Asimov developed his robots with their laws. Asimov is another writer worth reading – don’t bother with the Hollywood version of I Robot… It is terrible on too many levels to even begin to discuss here… but the robot who ‘escapes’ in the book when told to ‘get lost’ made me think of parallels to PKD’s testing for andy’s… how ‘terrible’ it would be to have a ‘robot’ running among ‘us’ with an altered set of ‘laws’.

I digress…

PKD wasn’t paid much if any in royalties. As much as I would love to read his stuff on Gutenbrg, I think it is down right detestable that you or anyone else should even consider to deprive his children of royalties from any film production of his work.

I crowd-sourced this question with The PKD Fan Group (here on Facebook) and the best answer I received was this one:

Some Kinds of Life

A very certain answer from the group.

One-by-one each member of a particular family is conscripted to fight in a succession of wars that Earth is fighting with a number of different worlds. Each time it is explained how said planet is the source of this or that strategically-necessary resourse (the metal that allows doors to automatically open, for example).

It’s for a blog post, by the way.

Thank you in advance.

How tiresome to read “Mad” in reference to P K Dick’s work – the world is mad because people don’t ask the questions found in PKD’s VALIS.

And, of course, for maintaining this site. I’m looking forward to getting a new computer up and running that can function decently with the web so I can explore and enjoy it properly.

Best Wishes,

David K

I believe the question of whether or not Palmer Eldritch was good or bad can partly be analyzed through Barney’s encounter with the Jackal-like creature at the end of the novel.

Positioning the Jackal under Christian notion as a manifestation of evil capable of giving birth to the anti-christ; and Barney as a manifestation of good (through Palmer Eldritch’s stigmata), it is no surprise that the Jackal found him unclean. While initially wanting to defend himself, Barney began to feel sorry for the creature because of how hungry he saw it was. He was even prepared to let the creature eat him – not out of a sense of self-destruction or even self-salvation, but rather, a sense of Christ-like mercy.

What I find weird though is that there was a sense of disappointment in Barney afterwards – almost like his obligation to save the creature (rather than himself) was not met. He even asks Palmer when this “uncleanliness’s” would go away? Perhaps, after the dust settled, he really didn’t want the responsibility of being the savior.

Also, that’s a fascinating comment that I had missed (from Derr.) Yes, many of us have invested YEARS in the PKDickian pursuit. 😉

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.

How could it be otherwise? Almost by definition, we are incapable of comprehending any “higher power,” or “absolute reality” whether present or not.

Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is the apotheosis of a theme which recurs in many of the author’s books: idios kosmos v. koinos kosmos (a concern which may have arisen from Dick’s recurring fears of being schizophrenic).

Do we live in solipsistic worlds of our own creation? If in fact we live in a shared world, then bonds between people are possible (love as salvation).

This novel, in my opinion, posits that the essential state of humanity is eternal isolation. We can never find solace in each other. Each person is utterly alone, with no escape. None are capable of understanding others, nor of being understood ourselves.

Yet this vision of utter despair is consistently entertaining. And inexhaustible: with each instance of reading the work, one is accompanied by new concerns and an altered set of life experiences.

Some of his words, like conapt, are pretty easy to figure out, but I’m struggling with this one. Doesn’t really detract from the story not knowing it though, as you are told that the pursaps are the ~90% of society that is being fed information by the military-government-industrial complex and are not active in the decision-making.

Dave Orr

Arena : Philip K. Dick – A Day in the Afterlife (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do8d3QcCrHk

I’m not sure about what material is in both books, but the newer Exegesis (ed. Jackson & Lethem; 2011) contains much more material than the earlier book In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis (ed. Lawrence Sutin; 1991). So I would recommend purchasing the newer book. And I think that the books are organized differently.

The pieces fit together with this. I had no idea who Philip K Dick is until this month of April 2015. I have researched him and his books. It’s obvious, he’s not crazy, never even been. He’s just path of the Truth.

His life is extra-ordinary and really… he was a genius! PURE GENIUS!

Hollywood, you have used his ideas in various movies. It’s payback time now, make a movie about your success source and greatest sci-fi teller ever on this planet!

That’s your quote and it’s obviously directed at me. Be specific, please. What “certain tribe” could you possibly be referring to? At least have the courage to say what you mean, rather than this cowardly, sly sideways attack, implying what, exactly?

I can imagine, but say it out loud.

A few weeks after this experience, I was privileged to be offered some spirit molecule and went on some amazing journeys (oh, I was not using any plant matter at the time of the experience detailed above). On one journey, I asked whatever created us what we really are. In answer, I was completely rendered apart. I was disassembled into what I can only describe as pixels of something that was electro-magnetic, bio-luminescent and completely aware. I was actually experiencing being part of everything. Upon phasing back into the flesh suit, I was laughing and saying out loud “Philip K. Dick, the bastard, got it right!” over and over again. I watched the flesh suit, then room slowly materialize and then dematerialize several times. As this was going on, I was receiving a message to “pay attention to every little detail”. Since that experience I ha been on a quest for spiritual knowledge and have been manically researching ancient texts for insights to what is truly going on (it’s like the spirit knows, but the mind needs to validate the data).

I am now a full fledged Dick head. Over the past year I have read many of Philip’s works. I tried reading “Valis” in September 2014, but could not get into it for some reason. I ended up watching “Radio Free Albemuth” and had some incredible insights and “downloads”. Since September, I have researched ancient religions, mythology, Hermetics, Theosophy, Mysticism, etc, etc, etc. to ad nauseam (actually, it doesn’t make me sick, I love it. I have never had so much fun learning). This research into the occult knowledge challenged the belief system put into place by a Southern Baptist upbringing. I was surprised to learn that occult simply means “secret or hidden knowledge” and that magic means “the use of unseen natural forces to perform works of wonder’. Anyway, for some reason two days ago, I read “Valis” and understood why it did not resonate last fall. I had needed to do the research I did to have any point of reference to have any inkling to the message Philip has shared with those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

I feel I have been living Horselover Fat’s story for many years (I have had many mystical experiences and synchronicities since starting the “awakening” or “Great Remembering” as I like to put it). Suffice it to say that reading “Valis” was exactly what Philip wanted me to do when I was ready for it. I am blown away.

Thank you Philip and Horselover Fat. I am honored to be a part of you and hope your flesh suit birthday was wonderful (even though there truly is no such thing as time). The Empire Never Ended…

“waiting vainly for the right girl, the girl who, when she finally showed up, mearly laughed at me.”

Thank-You! for this very short story of Phil’s.

Thanks

Thanks for your website

Not new to PKD but far from an expert. I noticed that occasionally Andrew Wiley is credited as a co author on Dr Futurity, but he isn’t on the original copies I’ve seen. Is there two versions of this novel?

Did he have a true religious experience or a psychotic break? Who knows? As one contributor mentioned, maybe they are the same thing. I think religious experiences of this nature are a lot more common than most of us realize. Most people don’t share them with too many people, and as I mentioned many would be in denial if they had one. I had one myself when I was 17. It only lasted a short time and I came to an acceptable conclusion about what it was quickly. It was almost 25 years later when I did some Bible study at a Church when I found out what Christians would call it. PKD was seeking a definitive answer as to what to call it, where it came from and what it meant, but I think these experiences have been going on for centuries and each religion or society has a a different name for it and way of describing it because we all experience it in a unique way. This makes it easy for people to think there’s was the definitive experience and to discredit the experiences of others.
As far as psychological disorders, I think we are addicted in this society to labeling everything. Even normal behavior becomes characterized as some sort of diagnosable disorder. I think PKD today would likely be labeled with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. But I think our acceptable behavior range has narrowed to such a small range today, almost everything can be on pills for something. It’s hard for us to look back at someone like PKD without doing through this type of lens. He definitely was very troubled for a lot of reasons, but that is not uncommon for great artists. They see the world through very different eyes.

I was also thinking it probably was a blessing he died when he did. I don’t believe he would have wanted to live in the world we’ve created in the United States since his death. Also, he had a way of undermining his own career at every turn. I don’t believe he would have become the literary luminary he has become if he was still alive. He’d just be that crazy science fiction writer obsessed with dark haired girls who can’t get his sh*t together. It’s important to remember it was only after his death the short stories were collected and most of his non SF work was published. Were he still alive, it probably wouldn’t have happened yet. He’d probably still be working on the Exegesis. The upside for us would be we’d have a bunch more great novels to read. He’d have written The Owl In Daylight himself and you’d be able to buy it at your local book store for a reasonable price instead of having to mortgage your house to get Tessa’s version of it.

To have separated us socially from the most important ‘6th’ sense intrinsic to the human condition is far beyond criminal, but totally understandable when one learns the fountain of knowledge it allows.

People need to realize when someone walks into the Akashic records, as in the East, or stumbles which is usually the case in the west, cockroaches come out of the woodwork to defame, smear and generally attack the recipient.

I’ve no doubt PK Dick was one such person and was likely murdered, not only for the profits to be gained, but to cut him off from the world as no one knew what next he’d harvest from the greatest “Fountain of Life”, some call the “Wisdom of the Son/Sun”, from the “Akashic records” into which he tapped.

Big 3 modern assassination tools: 1) Car accidents, job often finished at the hospital as with Patton; 2) Heart attacks; 3) Strokes, and cancer, job often finished off by the ‘treatment’;)

“Late onset schizophrenia”, it was likely a patient of that disease quite common in a certain tribe, that will not be named, that wrote that comment!

Also, there exists a serious Judeo-Masonic “psyop” attack that involves stalking targets with fire trucks, cops and EMS vehicles to allow for similar claims that results in similar false diagnosis; this is from Jewish communism and described in “Gulag Archipelago”, “Under the Sign of the Scorpion” and Stasiland, by Anna Funder”

Targets include government whistle blowers, victims of elite child trafficking and their parents who’ve become aware of same. It’s purpose is to attack their credibility and to stop them from coming forward with their knowledge of these crimes.

I think this is a really interesting point. If God existed but wasn’t known to humanity, it seems fair to reason that He’d reveal his existence (the Bible seems like pretty strong evidence for this). In a sense, God needs to exist in the really real that humanity occupies. If reality is a shared experience, as you suggest, then God needs to occupy that level of reality, needs to share it with us. But that kind of fundamentally feels absurd right? I mean, God is God, even if He can sense things how we sense things, He can’t sense them from our perspective (maybe I’m fuzzing omnipotence a little here but hey it’s kind of a fuzzy concept anyway). Eldritch fundamentally wants to share his level of reality with humanity and he does so at the end when he kind of inserts it into our shared level of reality.
It’s funny, you highlighted all the religious themes which I didn’t focus on when I was reading. I’ve read a lot of philosophy and the shifting nature of reality and existence is what really intrigued me most about the book. Part of what’s so cool about it is that it can be read in so many different ways.

Of all the writers I have read, especially of SF, your characters are still the most real to me. Thank-You! for the great gifts of all your beautiful, sometimes frightening, and imaginative works…

I think it’s outstanding, very, very impressed. Anyone can watch it.

Check it out and if you agree with me tell Amazon to commision more episodes. They really need to pick this one up!

In PKD books, the ideas are the characters surely, and the characters themselves act in service to the ideas via the plot. The structuring of the plot is often kinetic, exciting, but people rarely behave quite like people, more often ideas-about people. And that is not a bad thing necessarily. It depends on what you are looking for – – – and what PKD provides is a rich and thought-provoking mirage, over a dream-scape environment.

During the story, it’s mentioned that his basement is full of hi-fi equipment. He has a conversation with his wife about how he was experimenting with new methods, and his ambitions in that department.

It’s not a record company, it’s a high-fidelity sound-equipment company, mixing his skills as an electrical engineer with his passion for sound and music.

That’s what finally makes me think it’s “his dream world” at the end.

SPOILER

As Michael said, it seemed to me that we end on Hamilton’s dream world.

This is foreshadowed during the novel as it mentions his ambitions, his outlook, the order of casualties and their relative states of consciousness (he’s next up; that could never have been Marsha’s world), his comment about being sincere and honest when talking to his boss and then being appropriately careful when telling Mrs. Pritchard about the likelihood of return (Laws gets bitten for being too casually optimistic; just a “coincidence”?).

However, it’s implied that Hamilton himself is not entirely sure at that point perhaps, whether its the real world or his world. In fact, the world Hamilton would “make” would be aligned with his views and outlook, which to him and most others wouldn’t be distinguishable, because:

Earlier in the book Hamilton says that after the psycho woman, they’ll be safe because everyone else would want to return to normal reality. He doesn’t say they will *actually* return to normal reality, just that the worlds they create, aligned with their desires, would *correspond* to a normal reality.

That’s what happens at the end.

I think. 🙂

I was wondering – has anyone attempted to make a version of UBIK? all films of his work I have seen, have never satisfactorily or even attempted to capture the true paranoia of his characters feelings.

the films have always centred on plot and action – in fact only really Blade Runner attempted it – helped along by Ridley Scott’s use or rather denial of lighting

how does that happen after reading the novel?

people with zero imagination and zero talent claiming they have insight.

to all you purist let me remind you what Dick told Ridley Scott. he said that his “life and creative work are justified and completed by Blade Runner.”

lets update this story to what is currently happening. not some Nixon age bullshit. the idea is current… always will be. just the faces change.

come on… someone out there can do an adaptation. with thrill in the lines.

“Philip told his longtime friend Ray Nelson that the pink beam of light occurred when two girl scouts selling cookies came to the door and a pink beam flashed from one of their glasses.”
http://io9.com/5352943/anne-dick-talks-about-the-search-for-philip-k-dick

I couldn’t find a link to this statement by Ray Nelson anywhere. Thank you!

I agree with Ms. Davis, above, that your review is accurate. Also, just finishing the book today, I was also out on the ledge at the end. However, upon reflection, I am now at peace with the ending. Like the book, so is the ending he picked. It is consistent; in harmony with the upsetting nature of the book, Mr. Dick uses the ending as wrapper for the metaphysics of uncertainty used throughout the book, as each character grows through wrestling with their thoughts and doubts, the reader grows through wrestling with the unresolved ending, to find harmony again. Mr. Dick is forced to not give a settling or fairy tale or Hollywood ending in order to not let the reader down and thus forget the tone and feeling of the situation painted on the previous pages. Unsettling but correct, the ending is honest and the book does not pander to anyone or anything.

My personal reaction was that Mr Dick did an incredible amount of homework to understand the Japanese culture and portray its nature very accurately for Americans. To Americans the Japanese are truly aliens, as if from another planet. He worked hard to get the cultural nuances correct, I admire his craftsmanship and that probably made this novel far darker and more touching to me than those not sensitized to Japanese culture. Dick scared me.

As an aside, I dislike tyranny and found his Radio Free Albemuth very much predicts America today. Also, the book title The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is an allusion to Ecclesiastes 12:5, the Old Testament “all is vanity” is next in verse 8, and my favorite biblical quote in college was verse 12 “of the making of books there is no end”.

This book is a top flight read, it won the Hugo because of that!

Sincerely,
Mark Swanson

J

I think it was too short for the complexity of the themes it contained,but was vividly realistic and exciting,with strong characters,dialogue and typically dense but strong prose.In this respect,it was better than the obviously superior “Ubik” I think,even though as Larry Sutin says in “Divine Invasions”,he “didn’t meet the plot challenge of a devolving world” as he did in that novel.It is also of course more hilarious and carefree than CCW,which has an almost sanguine mood.

I read elsewhere,that Dick said his 1974 experiences went back to the “Palmer Eldritch vision”.His 1970s obsession was already developing strongly when he wrote CCW then,not a new virus entering his mind as is often thought,but unlike these,his later conviction was one in which he came to think that God was benign,not a malevolent entity.Olaf Stapleton,as I’ve said elsewhere,offered similair views in “Star Maker”,of an uncaring creator god,and is an antecedent to Dick.Obviously he read it.

Like so much of his peculiar stuff,it is another atavism of earlier history it seems,in which it repeats itself again.It has shades of the Roman Empire and Jesus I think,who would have saw him as a threat to their political stability and power.I have discussed the political and social repercussions on the Neither Kings Nor Americans blog.I don’t know if you’ve read it.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130301000000*/http://www.philipkdick.com

The last Full sapshot is from the 5th of July 2013….

The main thing I’ve taken away from PKD’s work is the idea of opposing forces and “grey area”. By the end of almost every one of the 7 or 8 PKD novels I’ve read, a lot of roles end up being reversed and a lot of people end up 180 degrees from where they started. It’s a long and sometimes subtle transformation, but I find it often in his work. That also relates to the ultimate “grey area” idea too. I don’t really find too many concrete, black and white style answers in his work. A lot of times it’s very cleverly left up to the interpretation of the reader, and a lot of times I find myself sympathizing with a character I may not have typically done so with. I end up 180 degrees from where I started sometimes. It’s a challenging, and ultimately rewarding feeling for me. I guess what I’m getting at, is that Jenny’s question could be answered 1 million different ways. That’s the beauty of it.
Great question Jenny, great response Paul. This is a very informative and rewarding group of messages. Mr. Davies you did a great job with your explanation of the story, thanks everyone!

Michael will post this into all the correct spots at some point. Thanks MrFisher! Feel better soon! We appreciate that you got us a LINK!!

Jason, every time I saw a PKD project, I always wondered if you had a hand in it….congratulations on turning this dream into a reality. I doubt if “Reporter for the Colchester Chronicle” is a big selling point on your resume, but I am glad to know that I have at least a quark-sized role in the History of Show Biz. Blessings on you and yours, Guy Page, Editor and Publisher of the (defunct) Colchester Chronicle. PS I am now an energy lobbyist, making more money and working less, you can’t beat it.

Chapter 1 starts off with the same form of cosmic conscious experience as PKD

Thanks NIck

http://www.amazon.com/It-Pieces-Dark-Nick-Sambrook/dp/0992889804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403737726&sr=8-1&keywords=Nick+Sambrook

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/427841

On the other side, I want to point out that it seems that everyone here wants to descredit other opinions and appear like the ones that really know.

In a 1964 essay,he wrote that reality and illusion,in the pages of his fiction,differed ever so slightly,the differences being quantitive rather than qualitive.The “illusions” hidden beneath the bed of reality of his stuff,are just layers of a pluriform world that weakens as his characters undergo strange experiences.

What is in there is very alarming, and most of it is not fictional

http://www.amazon.com/IT-Pieces-Dark-Volume-1/dp/1496180305/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1399661478&sr=8-12&keywords=IT+-+Pieces+in+the+dark

In many ways, science fiction explores religious and philosophical concepts and applies it to science and its application. The concept of an illusion (as in the mind) is found in Buddhism and Hinduism, so I find the plot of Philip K Dick’s book fascinating.

I have no idea where the human race will end up, but thanks to science fiction, we have access to free-thinkers that have the courage to explore the future, without the confines of present-day limitations, for us.

According to a fellow fan of Philip K. Dick, the story is titled “Prominent Author” and can be found in Volume 2 of the Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. I hope that helps.

I think most people are perhaps unused to the pulp-ish style, which is influenced heavily by golden age sf, particularly AE Van Vogt. It’s just the kind of writing I like, with the right mix of detail and forward momentum.

Lauris

I finished this novel last night and ever since have been puzzling with what Dick might have meant with the final paragraphs. It was quite vexing since I am generally able to find a “meaning”, for lack of a better word, that I personally find pleasing on my own in Dick’s works. Part of the fun of reading Dick is puzzling away until you find something that makes it all tick in a way you like.

For a time I thought the book would have been better had it ended with Mayerson’s bleak final words and skipped the Leo ending. I finally broke down and googled for a second opinion and this article helped immensely — thanks. Only, I rather like seeing Leo’s “temporary slip” as him mistaking himself for a deity in his own right rather than as the Eldritch creature itself to fill the vacuum of Eldritch’s impending demise. It explains him harping on his highly evolved appearance and saying things like “Eldritch came from another space but I came from another time. Got it?” He sees himself as the “only one keeping the old way alive” and as a Protector. Perhaps this is only part of the alienation inherent to Palmer’s drug but it seems to me him reaching for divinity to fill a void which, as you say, nature abhors.

I very much liked your use of the term “Rorschach test” which I think applies perfectly to several Dick novels. My favorite Dick character would be Tagomi from The Man In The High Castle; in particular the scene where he ponders a shapeless piece of art in order to discover if there is anything of value or comfort in it. Only I try to take care not to stare too hard as he did or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, to be like Juliana from the same novel who is too impetuous and full of life not to mistake her first impression with concrete reality.

Dick though,can no more be called Orwellian than Orwell could be described as Dickian,but his influence on him is undeniable,especially in books like the “Penultimate Truth”.Unlike Orwell though,as Larry Sutin notes in his biography “Divine Invasions”,the supression of the masses might be for their own good:”they might be right and we are wrong”.

Seems so futile and funny!

However,I do know that Dick admired Sladek,so obviously gained something from him.What can be called Dickian though about his stuff,I wouldn’t know,and any resemblance,could probably be called parallel development.

I would like to see those films,but don’t feel sure about “The Trouble with Dick”,that sounds like a parody rather than a tribute and influenced by him.

Don’t let the website/group name concern you. I won’t expect any trade for the scan; that’s just the easiest way I can think of for you to contact me without my posting an email address in a public spot.

As I said before,the connection is only superficial,FOOF I think being closer in theme and treatment to the earlier,simpler but great “Eye in the Sky”,”The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch”,”Counter-Clock World”,”Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”,”Ubik”,”A Maze of Death”,even the lightweight and comical “Galactic Pot-Healer” with it’s allusion to divinity by the absurd Glimmung,[but one of his best books],as pieces that examine God as an actuality.That is the hard core of the novelette.

Unfortunately,pieces of the other part of the novel seemed to be missing,so John Sladek strangely enough,filled in the gaps with the best of his knowledge of Dick’s literary style.

“Faith of Our Fathers is far superior to both versions of that book,and the only connection I think is drugs,of which the previous missing piece was about LSD.

I know he was also influenced by John Sladek,of whom I’ve only read the two “Roderick” books,but who was a contemporary of his.I would have thought that having arrived much later on the scene than Dick,from what I know of his stuff,he would have been influenced by his books,so it seems quite funny that he should be inspired by somebody whose concepts he more than probably had influenced!

I don’t know,the direction of literary fiction takes some strange turns I suppose,but Sladek is a clever author,if rambling,and know something.

PKD and others then owe a huge debt to him.It leaves the question open to debate probably then,who was the better writer,although I’m sure Dick possessed notable literary or imaginative powers not wielded in Alf ‘s hands.

This leaves out Olaf Stapledon,who proberly towers over them all,and although his stuff can be a difficult read,influenced them all.

Philip K.Dick wrote Eye in the Sky later in the same decade,a novel of hallucinatory vision,while in Time Out of Joint written 3 years later,the world around Ragel Gumm,starts to disappear,manifesting into scraps of paper with the names of their previous objects.Both novels were written before he took drugs.

Was Alfred Bester an early influence on PKD ?

That’s the kind of thing people who have no understanding of mental illness say.