Chuck’s Philip K(indred) Dick Page
Philip Dick
was a prolific writer, he had his first story published “Beyond Lies the
Wub” in 1952. I know it is a common misconception that “Roog” was PKD’s
first published story, but while it was written in 1951 it was not published
until 1953 in F&SF. PKD struggled in life but there was no writer in SF that
was more inventive. I have never experienced another author that I enjoy
re-reading as much as Phil Dick.
Phil was
married 5 times and had three children. He died in 1982. His earlier work went
along some recurring themes. One I call his loss of reality stories
include Ubik, Unteleported
Man, and Maze of
Death. PKD never had just time
travel, it was always Time Distortion. This is a favorite theme of mine.
His later stories took more of a religious, metaphysical theme. They are
considered his best literary efforts. Valis,
Divine Invasion,
The
Transmigression of Bishop Timothy Archer.
Philip K Dick is my personal favorite author.
Click below to see my collection
The following are pictures of the science fiction magazines that contain Philip Dick stories.
To see the Scanner Darkly movie site click here
I realize that my collection is not complete. I am working on collecting every Philip Dick novel and short story in every appearance in every language. It will never be complete. But that is OK. I started reading and collection PKD at an early age. As a child when I received my allowance (50 cents a week for chores including mowing the yard) I would get my Dad to take me to the used book/comic store. I remember the first Philip Dick novel I purchased. Eye In The Sky. I could not resist the artwork, what 10 year old could? A giant eye, people running away in horror! I bought it for the cover but loved the story. I started searching for more PKD, and loved every story I could get my hands on. So when you look at my collection, realize that I bought quite a bit of it on a 50 cent allowance.
Back to my thoughts on completing collections. By the local libraries and the books I could purchase, it took a VERY long time just to be able to read all that PKD had written. It took years. The last book that I had not read was "The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike" I purchased it as part of a larger collection but that book sat on my shelf for over a year before I read it. I told myself it was because I was waiting to get a "reading copy" because this one was mint. But the real reason was because once I read that book, that part of my quest would be over. And in a way, it was sad when I did finally read it.
A friend of mine worked for years on a Major Mattel's Matt Mason toy collection. He finally got every little toy, every accessory, including knock-offs, and even a VHS tape of the old Matt Mason TV commercials. When he finally finished, it was over, that mountain had been climbed. He had me sell it off for him on ebay because he couldn't even look at it anymore. In fact I am still selling a couple of pieces at a time, as soon as I get back from my current business trip I will start listing them again. To see what I am selling click here.