Philip Dick

PHILIP K. DICK

Philip K. Dick's life resembled his own bizarre science fiction stories. Despite suffering from a variety of psychological problems, including schizophrenia, hallucinations, and paranoia (he claimed his cat's litter box was bugged, for instance), Dick managed to create haunting, provocative science fiction that has twice made it to the silver screen.

Many of Dick's novels and short stories focus on his own personal obsessions, among them religious doubt and the frightening implications of artificial intelligence. He was particularly fascinated by the idea that reality was a slippery, relative concept, made up of shifting individual perspectives, making truth nearly impossible. In Dick's fiction, main characters tend to realize that they've been deceived by appearances, often with dramatic consequences.

Dick's style and subject matter easily recommend his books to Hollywood, which has seized the opportunity to create two films with stunning special effects. In 1982, director Ridley Scott dazzled audiences with Blade Runner, based on Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Although initial reception was mixed, the movie became a cult favorite that has grown more popular over time. This June, director Steven Spielberg will debut his latest movie Minority Report, based on Dick's short story about a cop who must outwit his own precognition-based crime-prevention system to save his life.

Dick's own life was often in danger from an addiction to excess, which fed his paranoia. Writing in marathon sessions, he stayed up days at a time, popping amphetamines. He boasted that he had pumped everything into his body: "uppers," "downers," hallucinogens, and every sort of narcotic. Dick's California house became a notorious hangout for flower children and druggies during the 1960s and '70s, despite Dick's conviction that the CIA was watching him.

Dick was married five times. He repeatedly attempted suicide and was committed to asylums, and he believed that the end of the world was at hand. Not surprisingly, most of Dick's "heroes" are sad and neurotic, overwhelmed by a universe of malevolent powers that may be real--or the product of a troubled mind.

Dick never found psychological peace or worldly success. When he died in 1982, his body rotted by drugs and liquor, readers outside his small coterie of fans were just beginning to discover his works and his dark, fascinating world.