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Philip K. Dick: Legit!

MONDAY MAY 7 2007 9:00 AM

Submitted by PointBlank. Edited By Rahodeb.

TAGS: Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction, Literature

Maybe you know Philip K. Dick as the guy who wrote the book that Blade Runner is based on. Or maybe you know him as the guy who wrote the books behind some really bad, bad movies (hurry now and you might still be able to check out Next before it goes straight to laserdisc!). This week, though, Dick is going to be enshrined in the literary canon with a Library of America edition of four of his greatest works.

. . It�s hard to know what Mr. Dick, who died in 1982 at the age of 53, would have made of the fact that this month he has arrived at the pinnacle of literary respectability. Four of his novels from the 1960s � �The Man in the High Castle,� �The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch,� �Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?� and �Ubik� � are being reissued by the Library of America in that now-classic Hall of Fame format: full cloth binding, tasseled bookmark, acid-free, Bible-thin paper. He might be pleased, or he might demand to know why his 40-odd other books weren�t so honored. And what about the �Exegesis,� an 8,000-page journal that derived a sort of Gnostic theology from a series of religious visions he experienced during a couple of months in 1974? A wary, hard-core Dickian might argue that the Library of America volume is just a diversion, an attempt to turn a deeply subversive writer into another canonical brand name.

The Library of America, founded in 1979, has published 173 volumes from writers such as Mark Twain, William Faulkner and Henry James. With this edition, Dick becomes the first writer from the �pulp� tradition to be enshrined with his own volume (two editions of �Crime Novels� were published in the 90s featuring several authors). So why did they choose P.K. Dick? To be honest, his prose is often stiff and unwieldy and he wasn�t very prescient about the future. What he was, however, was remarkably earnest in his investigations of what it is to be human, and what it is to be real. The characters in his best novels strive to find out what is real in worlds where almost nothing is. Their desire to find meaning and authenticity is what drives the plots, rather than the gimmickry of other pulpy science fiction writers.

The Man in the High Castle, which won the Hugo award in 1963, is perhaps Dick�s best-written book. Set in a world where the Allies lost World War II, it is more than just a simple alternative history novel. In the book, characters are also reading an alternative history where the Allies won and the reader is left wondering which world is the real one. The other three novels featured in the edition are Dick at his speculative best, the most famous of which is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for Blade Runner. Ubik and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch are similar stories, albeit with much different tones, where characters have to sort out the difference between hallucinations and reality.

So what would Dick think of the attention? First the news that there is a biopic in the offing, and now literary respectability? Well, he�d probably think that it was all a put-on, or that he was a character in some film, or maybe that he isn�t really dead at all, and that he was just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

The Library of America edition of Four Novels from the 60s by Philip K Dick will be available on May 10th.

21 Comments

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RileyStClair

STAFF

Los Angeles, CA

MAY 07, 2007 10:01 AM

kudos!
i'm glad his books are getting some deserved honors, instead of fueling an army of hollywood screenwriters who are utterly bereft of a remotely original idea of their own.

Zoetica

NEWSWIRE

Los Angeles, CA

MAY 07, 2007 10:06 AM

I recently finished "Flow my tears, the policeman said" and liked it just fine. Good for you, mister Dick.

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

MAY 07, 2007 10:08 AM

Zoetica said:
I recently finished "Flow my tears, the policeman said" and liked it just fine. Good for you, mister Dick.

That might be my favorite.

pinknightmare21

Sherman, TX

February 2006

MAY 07, 2007 11:39 AM

"The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch" and "Radio Free Albemuth" are my favorite! I am the biggest geek over PKD!!!!!!!!

MrKillJoy

Corinth, MS

December 2006

MAY 07, 2007 11:49 AM

I have been waiting almost s full year for this collection to be released.

Crissis

Ecuador

January 2007

MAY 07, 2007 01:14 PM

i read the man in the high castle and loved it!!

jbug23

Athens, OH

May 2005

MAY 07, 2007 01:55 PM

I have about thirty PKD books and just picked up another yesterday - along with three Robert Anton Wilson books - they had several more PKDs that I already had, all used. Unprecedented! A great bookstore in Asheville, NC, on Lexington. If anyone wants some suggestions on what to read, lemme know, I am happy to assist.

Though he may not have been the most fluid of authors, his imagination was incredible, and the worlds he created were both fun and terrifying. The way he weaves his personal life into the last several novels is down right mind bending.

If they ruin another of his books with a bad movie, at least for god's sake no Keaneau Reeves. That guy is a tool.

Read on. Long live PKD! Thanks to the folks that did him and do him honor.

- junebug

Flux

SUICIDEGIRL

North Carolina, USA

MAY 07, 2007 02:35 PM

A master and a blessing unto this world. Long live Horselover Fat.

BrokeAccount

United Kingdom

August 2005

MAY 07, 2007 04:00 PM

My favourite is 'Now Wait for Last Year', not one of his more famous works, but definitely one of the fucking best.

What he was, however, was remarkably earnest in his investigations of what it is to be human, and what it is to be real.

The best thing about PKD, is that his answer to the last part (What it is to be real) is, "What is it to be real?"

Hunkpapa

United Kingdom

June 2004

MAY 07, 2007 04:05 PM

I love Phil.

Not sure if I would have picked 'Do Androids Dream...' as part of the four myself, but perhaps the recognition is the important thing here.

chickenlips

Newport, RI

February 2004

MAY 07, 2007 04:24 PM

With this edition, Dick becomes the first writer from the "pulp" tradition to be enshrined with his own volume

What about HP Lovecraft's Library of America volume? He published primarily in Weird Tales and Astounding.

aaronthere

San Francisco, CA

September 2003

MAY 07, 2007 05:20 PM

I'd say valis and scanner darkly as two of his better books. perhaps there is a 70's volume coming out later on that could include these.

Cassiel

Aurora, CO

September 2004

MAY 07, 2007 06:14 PM

Yes! PKD really deserves more attention from the public.

ink_slinger

Edmonton, AB

October 2005

MAY 07, 2007 10:04 PM

Oh god, Ubik is such a piece of dreck. I mean, the concept is cool, but it's so terribly written. On one page, the protagonist has blue eyes, a few pages later, he suddenly has brown eyes. I mean, I hate editing too, but if you're writing a novel, you have to edit! Of course, Dick was pretty much nuts by the time he wrote Ubik, so I suppose he can be forgiven.

Nothingful

San Diego, CA

October 2004

MAY 08, 2007 12:14 AM

BrokeAccount said:
My favourite is 'Now Wait for Last Year', not one of his more famous works, but definitely one of the fucking best.

Oh crap! Its been so long since I've read
the majority of his novels...
But yes, I remember "Now Wait for Last Year"
being exceptional!
I love all his books greatly,
(except for Game Players of Titan I think,
and I started reading one that got reissued
after the Keanu hollywood rush brought
some as-yet un-republished older novels
out.. yeah, "Lies Inc." isn't so good, but
I need to buckle up and finish reading it.
Its been a while since I picked it up.
Busy moving,.etc.

BUT LOVE PHILIP K. DICK!
Probably my favorite author!!!!