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Philip Kindred Dick ( December 16 1928 – March 2 1982), often known by his initials PKD, or by the pen name Richard Phillips, was an American science fiction writer and novelist who changed the genre profoundly. Though hailed during his lifetime by peers such as Stanislaw Lem, Dick received little public recognition until after his death, when several popular film adaptations of his novels introduced him to a larger audience. His work is now some of the most popular in science fiction, and Dick has gained both general acclaim and critical respect.Discarding the optimistic and simple world-view of Golden Age science fiction, Dick consistently explored the themes of the nature of reality and humanity in his novels, which were populated by common working people, rather than galactic elites. Foreshadowing the cyberpunk sub-genre, Dick brought the anomic world of Northern California to many of his works. His acclaimed novel, The Man in the High Castle (1963, winner of the Hugo AwardThe Hugo Award is given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy stories of the previous year, and for related areas in fandom, art and dramatic presentation. The award categories have changed over time, as the field of science fiction has grown), is a pioneering work bridging the genres of alternate historyAlternative history or alternate history is fiction that is set in a world in which history has diverged from history as it is generally known, or simply put "What If?". While to some extent, all fiction can be classified as alternative history, this genr and science fiction. He also produced a tremendous number of short stories and minor works which were published in pulp magazinePulp magazines often called simply "pulps", were inexpensive text fiction magazines widely published in the 1930s 1950s. The first "pulp" is considered to be Frank Munsey's revamped Argosy of 1894. Most of the few pulps still thriving today are science fis.
His works are characterized by a constantly eroding sense of reality, with protagonists often discovering that those close to them (or even they themselves) are secretly robotFor the 2005 computer-animated movie see " Robots (movie) Definitions In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs automated tasks, either according to direct human supervision, a pre-defined program or, a set of general guidelines, us, alienFor the 1979 movie, see Alien (movie). For live organisms which are not from Earth, see Extraterrestrial life Aliens are foreigners to their surroundings. The word is commonly used in law to denote non- citizens of the country of their whereabouts, and ins, supernaturalThe supernatural refers to conscious magical, religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily be perceived except through their effects. This word is often used interchangeably with preternatural or paranormal. Unlike natural forces, these putative sup beingsCryptozoology is the study of rumored or mythological animals that are presumed to exist, but for which conclusive proof does not yet exist; or are generally considered extinct, but occasionally reported. Those who study or search for such animals are cal, brainwashed spies, hallucinating, or some combination of the above.
Dick experimented with mind-altering drugs, though he often denied that they were influences on his work.
1 Youth
Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago, to Dorothy Kindred Dick. His father, Edgar Dick, was a fraud investigator for the United States Department of Agriculture. He had a twin sister, Jane. Both children were born six weeks premature, and the girl died on January 26, 1929. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to California.
Dick's parents divorced when he was young; he grew up with his mother.He was diagnosed with asthma as a child and precribed methamphetamine, a drug now regarded as a dangerous stimulant which leads to psychotic states indistinguishable from schizophrenia. He went to high school in Berkeley and briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in German. He sold records and was a disk jockey before selling his first story in 1952. He wrote full-time, more or less, from that time forward. He sold his first novel in 1955. The 1950's were a hard-scrabble time for Dick, so much so that, as he once said, "we couldn't even pay the late fees on a library book." He associated with the pre-1960's counterculture of California and was sympathetic to beat poets and the Communist Party. In 1963, he won the Hugo Award for The Man in the High Castle. Though Dick was hailed as a genius at this time in the SF world, the literary world as a whole was as yet unappreciative, and so he could only publish books at low-paying SF publishers. Consequently, while he would regularly publish novels for the next several years, he continued to struggle financially and psychologically. Dick was opposed to the Vietnam War and had a file at the FBI as a result.
