DIVINE INVASIONS=A LIFE OF PHILIP K. DICK by LAWRENCE SUTIN (2005)

This is a biography for die-hard Philip K. Dick fans written by an obvious die-hard fan. It is in no way a detached and impartial portrait of the writer; it is instead a tribute. Sutin briefly covers Dick's early life, concentrating instead on his adult years as an author. He gives most attention to Dick's mystical/hallucinogenic experiences, which began in February, 1974, and continued through March. Dick believed he had received knowledge from a non-human intelligence and glimpses into an alternate reality. Dick himself did not know what to make of all this, sometimes believing in the authenticity of his visions, sometimes attributing them to drug usage, sometimes attributing them to schizophrenia. The remainder of his life, he wrote an 8,000-page "exegesis" examining and trying to explain the experiences to himself. He used the experiences in his novels written after 1974 as part of the plots, particularly in Valis.

One new thing I learned was about Dick's life-long yearning for his twin sister, who had died at a few months old. He identified her in his mind as growing to be a beautiful dark haired girl, and frequently included a fascinating dark haired girl in his book plots, including the book of his I just read, We Can Build You.

Another interesting aspects of this book is the "Chronological Survey and Guide" at the end, in which Sutin summarizes each of Dick's many novels and gives his opinion as to their relative effectiveness. Some of the books would be classified as "pulp fiction" and some reached genius level. All show that Dick had a transcendent and unique imagination.