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As a long-time reader and fan I broadly agree with the highlighting choices. My only further suggestion would be, maybe for the final "body and soul" category o
by ttctciyf 4y ago
As a long-time reader and fan I broadly agree with the highlighting choices. My only further suggestion would be, maybe for the final "body and soul" category or maybe for those who already have some familiarity with the author, Radio Free Albemuth.
This has an interesting history: PKD declined to make changes requested by the publishers who appeared unhappy with the novel's political content - it is in part a biting satire on Nixon era politics - and it languished until Dick's friend Tim Powers made a MS available which was published posthumously in 1985.
The novel itself was written in 1976 and was PKD's first attempt to process the unusual experiences which inspired his later "VALIS" fiction. As such it contains autobiographical elements: some of Dick's real-life experiences happen to protagonist Nick Brady, who swaps theories about them with his scifi author friend "Phil".
Because of this, apart from its value as a novel, there's lots to interest those curious about the author himself. For example, one episode in particular puts the existence of PKD's letters to the FBI condemning Stanislav Lem as a commie agent of some kind, which I read somewhere were retrieved by the FBI from his garbage, in an entirely new light!