Philip K. Dick is universally acknowledged as one of the most imaginative and brilliant science fiction writers of the 20th century. His novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen numerous times – ‘Blade Runner, ‘ ‘Total Recall, ‘ ‘Minority Report’ to name a few – and he has received virtually every award bestowed upon writers, including becoming the first science fiction writer included in The Library of America series.
Collected here are some of Dick’s finest short stories, most of which were published in pulp science fiction magazines of the era. While this collection only represents a small sampling of Dick’s prodigious output (he published during his life 44 novels and over 120 short stories), we are proud to present the stories collected here in their unabridged form, as they were originally published.
About the author
Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and (at least) 121 short stories, most of which were published in science fiction magazines and several of which were adapted into major motion pictures and television shows. An extraordinarily imaginative writer, Dick’s stories explored the nature of humanity, the benefits and perils of technological advancement, corporate power dynamics, alternate realities and time travel, among many other topics. Born in Chicago in 1928, his family moved with him to the San Francisco Bay Area when he was very young. He started his writing career early, publishing science fiction stories in the early 1950’s. He struggled with his writing career until his novel ‘The Man in the High Castle’ (an alternative history novel that imagined a world where Hitler had prevailed in World War II) won him the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1962. He was then 33 years old. Dick never slowed down, writing short stories and novels throughout the 60’s and 70’s. He published ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ in 1968 and followed it up with ‘Ubik’ in 1969, all while continuing to churn out short fiction for popular sci-fi magazines. His 1974 novel ‘Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said’ won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Sadly, Dick also suffered from drug abuse, endured – or enjoyed, depending on your perspective – a number of hallucinatory experiences and married (and divorced) five women during his lifetime. He had a stroke in February of 1982 and, after being admitted to the hospital, suffered yet another stroke from which he never awakened. He died on March 2, 1982 at age 53, four months before the release of the movie ‘Blade Runner, ‘ which was based on his novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’. Other popular adaptations of Dick’s work include ‘Total Recall, ‘ ‘Paycheck, ‘ ‘Minority Report, ‘ ‘A Scanner Darkly, ‘ ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ and the series ‘The Man in the High Castle.’ In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer included in The Library of America series.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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