Życie Philipa K. Dicka - jak on sam przyznawał - do złudzenia przypominało fabułę dowolnego z jego dzieł, "aż do takich szczegółów jak fałszywa pam...
read full description
reviews
Dec 05, 2009
Erik
rated it: 
It has been customary for my old roommate and I to visit one another at least annually. I usually go in the fall, visiting the Bay area in order to delay the onset of winter by a couple of weeks. I travel light--just a knapsack and a satchel--because I know that my host will have plenty of interest to read during my stay.
In 1994 Michael was living in the Haight, in a avocado-green apartment building next to the more impressive mansion occasionally inhabited by Danny Glover. Now he More...
In 1994 Michael was living in the Haight, in a avocado-green apartment building next to the more impressive mansion occasionally inhabited by Danny Glover. Now he More...
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 17, 2011
Chris
rated it: 
Very readable and quick flowing biography, well-suited for those readers of Philip K. Dick looking to learn more about his life and perhaps structure their reading of his books in a more purposeful/enjoyable fashion.
Personally, I know that I will continue reading his earlier and mid-period SF (probably up to UBIK [published 1969]) and really immerse myself in it before I move onto any of the other, later stuff, and probably never really dip into the non-SF works - but perhaps some of his More...
Personally, I know that I will continue reading his earlier and mid-period SF (probably up to UBIK [published 1969]) and really immerse myself in it before I move onto any of the other, later stuff, and probably never really dip into the non-SF works - but perhaps some of his More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 26, 2007
Michael
rated it:
This biography is very interesting. I knew very little about Dick's life beforehand. The writing's pretty uneven, though, and I'm not the sort of person who appreciates dewy-eyed enthusiasm for the era of recreational drug use (and subsequent self-destruction of the users).
I may need to make a pilgrimage to Dick's grave soon. Since I live in Colorado, I feel obligated!
I may need to make a pilgrimage to Dick's grave soon. Since I live in Colorado, I feel obligated!
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 01, 2010
Remy
rated it:
My love for P K D grew in a bed of mystery. I don't understand his choices as a writer and this thrills me. Maybe it would be conceited to claim to understand most writer's choices, but usually, even if I'm in awe of them, at the end I can understand why they did what they did. But with Dick, it isn't that easy. It isn't easy to define him or why he's so powerful a storyteller, when his stories elude simple definition. So I fall back on the mysterious, the idiosynchratic, the inscrutable.
More...
May 24, 2011
Charles Dee
rated it:
Answer the following True or False questions about the life of Philip K. Dick.
1) PKD's twin sister, Jane, died in the first months of her life from malnutrition and poor home care.
2) Later in life, PDK liked to imagine that his sister was living and a lesbian.
3) In high school, PKD's agoraphobia was at times so bad that he could not go to public events such as concerts. Later he was comfortable in only one Chinese restaurant that had very high sides to its booths.
More...
1) PKD's twin sister, Jane, died in the first months of her life from malnutrition and poor home care.
2) Later in life, PDK liked to imagine that his sister was living and a lesbian.
3) In high school, PKD's agoraphobia was at times so bad that he could not go to public events such as concerts. Later he was comfortable in only one Chinese restaurant that had very high sides to its booths.
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 04, 2010
Ben
rated it: 
4 stars for biographical content, not for enjoyability. pkd has always been my favorite author, now i can't help but think of him as kind of a dick. which is kind of annoying. but whatever.
i don't know why i read this book anyway. learning facts about artists' lives is to my mind never a good thing. colors everything, adds an extraneous real-world slant to the works, which should stand on their own. my bad.
the big fault of this book, as far as i'm concerned, is this: pkd More...
i don't know why i read this book anyway. learning facts about artists' lives is to my mind never a good thing. colors everything, adds an extraneous real-world slant to the works, which should stand on their own. my bad.
the big fault of this book, as far as i'm concerned, is this: pkd More...
Sep 01, 2008
Marion
rated it:
First of all: I actually would have given the book 4 stars if I had only rated the contents. Sutin did a good job, his biography is well written as well as thoroughly researched.
Why did I rate Divine Invasions only 3 stars, then?
Because the blue Gollancz edition is poorly edited. At least in my copy, there are several (like, about 2/3 on every page) punctuation marks missing (such as fullstops, which is very annoying and really distraught my reading).
Apart from this manc More...
Why did I rate Divine Invasions only 3 stars, then?
Because the blue Gollancz edition is poorly edited. At least in my copy, there are several (like, about 2/3 on every page) punctuation marks missing (such as fullstops, which is very annoying and really distraught my reading).
Apart from this manc More...
Sep 21, 2008
Concord Newfree
rated it:
Imagine the difficulty author Sutin must have had.
He had to summarize all of Dick's major works, which he did astonishingly well. Then he had to describe Dick's writing techniques, which he showed us better than anyone has ever done before or since. He also had to re-assemble the guy's whole life from interviews with drug-addled near-transients hobos, ex-wives who hated him....etc. And finally he had to describe the strange and singular phenomenon of Dick's professed experience More...
He had to summarize all of Dick's major works, which he did astonishingly well. Then he had to describe Dick's writing techniques, which he showed us better than anyone has ever done before or since. He also had to re-assemble the guy's whole life from interviews with drug-addled near-transients hobos, ex-wives who hated him....etc. And finally he had to describe the strange and singular phenomenon of Dick's professed experience More...
Jul 31, 2011
Only for the PKD fans - maybe. I had often wondered where he got the inspiration for his characters and settings - disturbingly it was fairly close to home. On a level it detracts from my PKD experience, dropping him from inspired imaginative genius to only a very good writer who was living and writing ahead of the curve.
Apr 10, 2011
Mark
rated it:
I first read this back in 1999 and was impressed with Sutin's thorough and comprehensive biography. Is it warts and all? Yes, but ultimately very sympathetic. Every time I pick it up I want to read more of Dick's books. Includes a summary of his works at the end.
Sep 29, 2007
Debbie
rated it:
An interesting book, although typographically it has issues where (I suspect) it's been scanned from a previous edition and not adequately proofed.
I rarely read biographies, but Dick's work has been so important in my life that I worked up the curiosity to find out more about him. He seems to have led a difficult and troubled life, and wasn't what I would immediately call a nice person. But his contribution to SF overshadows any personal issues. It's ironic that throughout his life h More...
I rarely read biographies, but Dick's work has been so important in my life that I worked up the curiosity to find out more about him. He seems to have led a difficult and troubled life, and wasn't what I would immediately call a nice person. But his contribution to SF overshadows any personal issues. It's ironic that throughout his life h More...
Nov 30, 2008
Ann
rated it:
Meticulous and insightful account of this strange and irreplaceable writer's life. Minnesota writer Sutin is a faithful, hugely intelligent teller of others' lives. Anything by him is worth reading.
Jun 16, 2010
Tone
rated it:
I usually judge the authenticity of a biography on how willingly the author shows the subject's warts, this book has a whole lot of warts. And it really makes me wonder if PKD is someone I would like in person.
But, still it was a fascinating life, how much of this man's life and work was determined my his relationship with his mother is a little disturbing. Can an artist ever be free from their upbringing?
But, still it was a fascinating life, how much of this man's life and work was determined my his relationship with his mother is a little disturbing. Can an artist ever be free from their upbringing?
Sep 07, 2011
Adrian
rated it:
A mildly informative biography on PKD that focuses a bit too much on his marriages and a bit too little on his fiction and a literary analysis thereof.
May 28, 2009
Erin
rated it:
Fulfilled completely its promise as a detailed, enlightening, and interesting biography of PKD. I could have done without the extraordinarily long title chapters (we're talking paragraph length here), but that's about it.
May 31, 2010
oh shoot!!! actually never read this; just his non-biographical book of similar title.
Oct 22, 2009
kate
rated it:
Pretty straightforward account of pkd's life. The guide to his work appendix will be useful to decide which of his lesser stories and novels to bother reading. I wish there was more on the Exegesis. Hail pkd!
Dec 17, 2007
Rupert
rated it:
Really well written biography of a supremely interesting life. Mind blowing to read the poetry dealing with spirituality that Dick wrote when he was only five and six. Makes me wonder what he would have created in this era of more open ended non genre writing. In the fifties he had his "mainstream" novels versus his "science fiction" novels, but if he could have felt free to blend more the results would've been interesting. Not that he didn't already leave us one of the
More...
Dec 19, 2010
ahdid
rated it:
An honest and gripping portrait of the greatest American science fiction writer and imagination of all time. I was particularly please by how Sutin dispelled myths that PKD was simply "insane" and "paranoid." He looked deeper into PKD's spiritual writings and philosophy, was never dismissive, but also did not sugar-coat anything.
Nov 16, 2007
Jen
rated it:
the author writes from a place of both empathy and objectivity, encompassing pkd's highs and lows and the evolution of his successful writing career in this dense book. a must-read for any pkd fan (or anyone who's been curious about him after seeing movies such as bladerunner).
Oct 11, 2011
Tamara
rated it:
Sutin neither holds Dick up as a paragon nor casts him into the dirt as so much human wreckage...instead we get a Philip K. Dick who was a flawed human being who lived his life searching for meaning through his work. If you're a fan of Philip K. Dick this is well worth reading.
Jan 09, 2008
Bob(by)
rated it:
Love this. Dick biography. He was definitely an interesting character, though I doubt I could have been friends with him. He sounds like one of those mentally ill people that you love and hate at the same time.
Jun 28, 2008
Vinkle
rated it:
The definitive biography of author Philip Dick. The more recent biographies get all their information from this book. The most detailed and best researched of any of them, this is the one to read.
Mar 06, 2007
ryan
rated it: 
surprisingly interesting in some aspects, as you can see where Dick draws material from some of his life experiences. a neat view on the author, but not a particularly well written biography.
Dec 17, 2009
Rob
rated it:
Excellent biography of one of America's treasures, Philip K. Dick. Even John Lennon was into him.
Feb 26, 2008
Kersplebedeb
rated it:
The backstory to the works of 20th century SF's most brilliant author.
