Synopses & Reviews
and#8220;A great and calamitous sequence of arguments with the universe: poignant, terrifying, ludicrous, and brilliant. The
Exegesis is the sort of book associated with legends and madmen, but Dick wasnand#8217;t a legend and he wasnand#8217;t mad. He lived among us, and was a genius.and#8221;and#8212;Jonathan Lethem
Based on thousands of pages of typed and handwritten notes, journal entries, letters, and story sketches, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine. Edited and introduced by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, this is the definitive presentation of Dickand#8217;s brilliant, and epic, work.
In the Exegesis, Dick documents his eight-year attempt to fathom what he called and#8220;2-3-74,and#8221; a postmodern visionary experience of the entire universe and#8220;transformed into information.and#8221; In entries that sometimes ran to hundreds of pages, in a freewheeling voice that ranges through personal confession, esoteric scholarship, dream accounts, and fictional fugues, Dick tried to write his way into the heart of a cosmic mystery that tested his powers of imagination and invention to the limit.
This volume, the culmination of many years of transcription and archival research, has been annotated by the editors and by a unique group of writers and scholars chosen to offer a range of views into one of the most improbable and mind-altering manuscripts ever brought to light.
Review
"A brilliant, idiosyncratic, formidably intelligent writer . . . Dick illuminates. He casts light. He gives off a radiance." -- Washington Post "A terrific cross-section of Dicks shorter fiction . . . essential for new fans." -- The Onion A.V. Club
Review
“I have always enjoyed Jake Arnotts glam-rock gangster novels, but they hardly prepared me for
The House of Rumour. Confirming that the inter-linked short story is the coolest literary form du jour, Arnott shuffled narratives about science-fiction, Scientology, Eighties pop stars, doomed love, nuclear physics and the occult into a knowing, clever and intricately woven collection that deserves to rain on
Cloud Atlass parade or accompany Jennifer Egan on a visit to the goon squad. Brilliant and oddly moving, The House of Rumour deserved to win every prize going, including Eurovision.
—James Kidd, “Books of the Year,” The Independent“A conspiracy thriller filled with bewildering connections, dark conjecture and arcane information, The House of Rumour perhaps most resembles The Da Vinci Code, rewritten by an author with the gifts of characterisation, wit and literacy.” —Guardian
“Like Jennifer Egans A Visit from the Goon Squad or David Mitchells Ghostwritten, its form uses interlinked—short stories….The House of Rumour is a brilliant achievement that invites repeated readings.” — Independent
“A virtuoso blurring of fact and fantasy... Highly entertaining and perhaps even mind-expanding, Arnotts high-class conjuring act shows that truth really is stranger than fiction.” —Sunday Times
Synopsis
Preserved in typed and hand-written notes and journal entries, letters and story sketches, Philip K. Dick's Exegesis is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine. The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick will make this tantalizing work available to the public for the first time. Edited and introduced by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, this will be the definitive presentation of Dick's brilliant, and epic, final work.
Synopsis
One day the contents of my mind moved faster and faster until they ceased being concepts and became percepts. I did not have concepts about the world but perceived it without preconception or even intellectual comprehension. It then resembled the world of UBIK. As if all the contents of one’s mind, if fused, became suddenly alive, a living entity, which took off within one’s head, on its own, saw in its own superior way, without regard to what you had ever learned or seen or known. The principle of emergence, as when nonliving matter becomes living. As if information (thought concepts) when pushed to their limit became metamorphosed into something alive.
Synopsis
"A great and calamitous sequence of arguments with the universe: poignant, terrifying, ludicrous, and brilliant.
The Exegesis is the sort of book associated with legends and madmen, but Dick wasnt a legend and he wasnt mad. He lived among us, and was a genius."—Jonathan Lethem
Based on thousands of pages of typed and handwritten notes, journal entries, letters, and story sketches, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine. Edited and introduced by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, this will be the definitive presentation of Dicks brilliant, and epic, final work. In The Exegesis, Dick documents his eight-year attempt to fathom what he called "2-3-74," a postmodern visionary experience of the entire universe "transformed into information." In entries that sometimes ran to hundreds of pages, Dick tried to write his way into the heart of a cosmic mystery that tested his powers of imagination and invention to the limit, adding to, revising, and discarding theory after theory, mixing in dreams and visionary experiences as they occurred, and pulling it all together in three late novels known as the VALIS trilogy. In this abridgment, Jackson and Lethem serve as guides, taking the reader through the Exegesis and establishing connections with moments in Dicks life and work.
The e-book includes a sample chapter from A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick.
Synopsis
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick contains twenty-one of Dick's most dazzling and resonant stories, including "The Minority Report," the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," the basis for the film Total Recall. With an introduction by Jonathan Lethem, Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.
Synopsis
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick contains twenty-one of Dicks most dazzling and resonant stories, which span his entire career and show a world-class writer working at the peak of his powers.
In “The Days of Perky Pat,” people spend their time playing with dolls who manage to live an idyllic life no longer available to the Earths real inhabitants. “Adjustment Team” looks at the fate of a man who by mistake has stepped out of his own time. In “Autofac,” one community must battle benign machines to take back control of their lives. And in “I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon,” we follow the story of one man whose very reality may be nothing more than a nightmare. The collection also includes such classic stories as “The Minority Report,” the basis for the Steven Spielberg movie, and “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the basis for the film Total Recall. With an introduction by Jonathan Lethem, Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a magnificent distillation of one of American literature's most searching imaginations.
Synopsis
A dazzling, decades-spanning novel that features fictional characters and actual historical figures making their way through a labyrinth that connects WWII spycraft, the occultism of Aleister Crowley, the Jonestown massacre, pulp science fiction, Latin American revolutionaries, and new wave music.
Synopsis
Mixing the invented and the real, The House of Rumour explores WWII spy intrigue (featuring Ian Fleming), occultism (Aleister Crowley), the West Coast science-fiction set (Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and Philip K. Dick all appear), and the new wave music scene of the 80s. The decades-spanning, labyrinthine plot even weaves in The Jonestown Massacre and Rudolf Hess, UFO sightings and B-movies. Told through multiple narrators, what at first appears to be a constellation of random events begins to cohere as the work of a shadow organization—or is it just coincidence? Tying the strands together is Larry Zagorski, an early pulp fiction writer turned U.S. fighter pilot turned "American gnostic," who looks back on his long and eventful life, searching for connections between the seemingly disparate parts. The teeming network of interlaced secrets he uncovers has personal relevance—as it mirrors a book of 22 interconnected stories he once wrote, inspired by the major arcana cards in the tarot. Hailed as an heir to Don DeLillos Underworld by The Guardian, The House of Rumour is a tour de force that sweeps the reader through a centurys worth of secret histories.
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About the Author
Over a writing career that spanned three decades,
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned toward deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film; notably:
Blade Runner (based on
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?),
Total Recall,
Minority Report, and
A Scanner Darkly. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, Dick was inducted into theandnbsp;Science Fictionandnbsp;Hall of Fame in 2005, and in 2007 the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated intoandnbsp;more than twenty-fiveandnbsp;languages.
JONATHAN LETHEM is the author of nine novels, including Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, and Gun, with Occasional Music.andnbsp;Dissident Gardens is his most recent novel.