Understanding Philip K. Dick

Philip K Dick (1928-1982) reshaped 20th-century science fiction. Viewing his subject as foremost a novelist of ideas, this book surveys Dick's own tragicomic biography, his craft and career, and the recurrent ideas and themes that give shape and significance to his fiction.

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This is a guidebook into the fantastic world of a science fiction legend. Author of more than forty novels and myriad short stories over a three-decade literary career, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) single-handedly reshaped twentieth-century science fiction. His influence has only increased since his death with the release of numerous feature films based on his work, including ""Blade Runner"", ""Total Recall"", ""Minority Report"", and ""Next"". Viewing his subject as foremost a novelist of ideas, Eric Carl Link surveys Dick's own tragicomic biography, his craft and career, and the recurrent ideas and themes that give shape and significance to his fiction. Link addresses Dick's efforts to break into the mainstream in the 1950s, his return to science fiction in the 1960s, and his move toward more theologically oriented work in his final two decades. Link finds in Dick's writing an intellectual curiosity that transformed his bizarre pulp extravaganzas into philosophically challenging explorations of reality.