Critical Essay | Critical Review by Kirkus Reviews

Critical Review by Kirkus Reviews

Review of Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick, by Philip K. Dick. Kirkus Reviews 70, no. 18 (15 September 2002): 1358.

Twenty-one stories Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick culled from Dick's (1928-82) considerable output; all have appeared in collections before, if only in the five-volume Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick (1986). Although the basis for the current selection isn't clear, the timing coincides with the release of yet another movie based on his work. Both “Beyond Lies the Wub,” Dick's first published story, and “Roog,” his first sale, appear. Most of the stories reflect Dick's dearest obsessions, “What is real?” or “What is human?,” sometimes both at once. For Dick, reality might be adjusted at any moment: by the government, drugs, psychiatrists, aliens, or god. Angels could be vampires. Memories are at best unreliable, more likely false, or lost altogether. Machines, once activated, can't be shut off, and...
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