Philip Kindred Dick, popularly known as Philip K. Dick, is an American author who has written many novels and short stories. Most of his books were on paranoid fiction and science fiction where he has talked of serious social issues like authoritarian governments and monopolistic corporations.
However his later writings represented his personal curiosity in theology and metaphysics. In fact, most of his novels drew upon the writer's personal experience on issues like paranoia, drug abuse, schizophrenia, along with transcendental experiences. His career of writing flourished during 1952-1982 and by this time, he has written 44 novels and 121 short stories (approximately).
Joseph Edgar Dick and Dorothy Kindred Dick gave birth to this famous writer on December 16, 1928. He also had a twin sister named Jane Charlotte Dick. He had to travel to different places due his father's profession. He finally completed his schooling from the Berkeley High School, which is in California.
From his childhood, he was interested in science related subjects, but he was equally concerned with philosophy. It is said that Dick had a different outlook about life from the very beginning that later influenced his writings.
He used to describe the human being as cosmic panentheist as he believed that this universe exits only because God is in charge of it. Philip also described once that a man exits following his/her internal perceptions only, and this does not always correspond with his external reality.
The writer used to discuss all these issues with his contemporary- Ursula K. Le Guin, who is also a famous writer of science fictions. After reading several works by Plato, Dick came to the conclusion that the world we live in is not a real place and to some extend it is difficult to prove whether it exists at all or not. This was a persistent theme in some of his early novels.
These are some of the popular works by this writer. Let's read about these famous books in detail
Beyond Lies the Wub: Beyond Lies the Wub was Dick's first published short story, which actually appeared in the magazine -Planet Stories in July, 1952. The story is about a spaceship that is ready to visit planet Mars with a pig-like creature, which is here described as Wub. Peterson and Captain Franco are the two main characters of the story. Peterson is fond of the creature as he and the other members of the crew considered it as an intelligent creature. Captain Franco was afraid of it before, but finally he realizes the power of the Wub. This book earned a mixed review from the critics. Here in this book Philip has made an interesting comment that most men think like philosophers but actually live like fools.
The Variable Man: This book is referred as a novella because it is not as big as a novel but not as short as a short story. The book was first published in Space Science Fiction in July, 1953. However, the place of publication is not confirmed yet as some record says that it was first published in the UK, whereas others say that the book was published in the US first. This book is about a system - Terra system and a man called Thomas Cole, who is actually the variable man here. The Terra system works negatively and Cole, who is a man from the past (a man who used to exist before the First World War) tries to keep that the system in control. Cole had the ability to control the system because he belonged to a period when human beings had the natural capability to invent things and to solve all kind of problems.
The Second Variety: This is an influential short story written by Philip K. Dick. The magazine, Space Science Fiction first published the book in May, 1953. The theme of the book is a nuclear war, between the West and the Soviet Union, which has transformed the world to a barren land. Western forces have initiated autonomous robots to fight on their behalf and all these incidents have turned the surface of the earth as uninhabitable. Zack Handlen, a critic, has described this book as grim and suspenseful.
The Philip K. Dick award is actually a science fiction award that has been named after this great fantasy and science fiction writer. The award is handed every year at Norwescon and the Science Fiction Society of Philadelphia sponsors the award-giving program. Philip K. Dick trust supports the award and it is given to the best science fiction story by novel writers. Andri Sneer Magnason won this award last year for the book- 'Love Star'.