Fun Trivia : Dick, Philip K

Structure Sub-topic of: Authors D-G Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 10 general entries. Special Topics We Can Remember it for You Wholesale Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Dick, Philip K

Philip K. Dick was born a twin. His twin sister, Jane, died a few weeks after birth. This fact, and the suggestion of neglect on the part of his mother, haunted him for the rest of his life. Which post-apocalyptic novel features a character, Edie Keller, who has a conjoined twin alive inside her body?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb. Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) is buried next to his twin sister, Jane Charlotte Dick in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Philip and his sister were found to be malnourished by a health worker and were sent to hospital. Jane died soon after. Dick blamed his parents, particularly his mother, for this neglect. His mother, Dorothy, claimed she was an inexperienced mother and simply didn't know how to adequately care for her newborn twins. Dick was married five times. He had three children, Laura, Isa and Christopher, who together maintain the 'Estate of Philip K. Dick'. His papers are held in collection at California State University, Fullerton. Incidentally, the title, "Dr. Bloodmoney, or How we Got Along After the Bomb" was suggested by Dick's publisher to cash in on the success of the Stanley Kubrick film, "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb".



In this PKD novel, time moves backwards for Joe Chip. His former boss, Glen Runciter, murdered in an ambush on Luna and now kept in half-life at the clinic of Dr. Vogelsang, seems to be desperately trying to contact him from beyond the grave. Use strictly as directed. Which novel is it?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Ubik. One of Dick's greatest and most inventive novels, "Ubik" features the titular substance, 'Ubik' (available in aerosol form) which staves off entropy. Each chapter is preceded by a brief blurb for various products named 'Ubik'--cereal, toothpaste, TV dinners etc. Each blurb comes with a warning that becomes increasingly alarming as the novel progresses.



In "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", Martian colonists stave off monotony by taking the drug, 'Can-D' and 'translating' themselves into 'Perky Pat' dolls and living out fantasy lives in customized 'layouts'. When Palmer Eldritch returns from his long travels in space, he brings with him a new drug that promises much more than Can-D can offer. What's the name of the new drug?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Chew-Z. One of Dick's main themes was the alteration or shifting of reality; nothing is ever quite as it seems. One of the ways he explored this was through featuring drugs. Of course, drugs were also very much a part of Dick's milieu, and of 60s culture in general, particularly in California. 'Can-D' and 'Chew-Z' appear in "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch". The drug, 'JJ-180' is featured in "Now Wait for Last Year". "A Scanner Darkly" uses the mind-splitting drug, 'Substance D' (D for Death). This last-mentioned novel also includes a poignant post-script in which Dick remembers those of his friends that died due to (or exacerbated by) substance use.



Philip K. Dick wrote two collaborative novels, "Deus Irae" and "The Ganymede Takeover". With whom did he, respectively, collaborate?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Roger Zelazny and Ray Nelson. While Dick was greatly respected by his peers, sales of his work never approached those of contemporaries such as Frank Herbert or Isaac Asimov. He was often forced to write at break-neck speed, churning out novels and stories for pulp publication. (Original 'Ace' paperbacks are highly prized by fans and collectors.) One negative aspect of this is that most of his works received scant editorial attention and were printed replete with errors.



In which novel would you find Heebs, Pares, Manses, Skitzes, Polys, Ob-Coms, Deps and a telepathic Ganymedean slime mold named Lord Running Clam?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Clans of the Alphane Moon. In this 1964 novel (based on a 1954 short story, "Shell Game") a moon of Alpha Centauri is one big psychiatric hospital. Much as the British sent their 'criminals' to Australia, Earth sent its mentally ill to this Alphane moon. There, they all split off into clans according to their particular form of illness: Pares (paranoiacs), Heebs (hebephrenics; now hebephrenia is usually referred to as Disorganized Schizophrenia), Manses (manics), Skitzes (schizophrenics), Deps (depressives), Ob-Coms (obsessive-compulsives), and Polys (polymorphic schizophrenics). Despite their differences, and in some cases, resentment toward each other, they are forced to unite to combat an invasion by their former home planet, Earth.



For which novel did Dick win the Hugo Award in 1963?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


The Man in the High Castle. Several of his novels were nominated for 'Hugo' or 'Nebula' Awards, but "The Man in the High Castle" was his only work to receive either. It is concerned with an alternative reality in which the Axis won WWII and America is ruled by Japan. The 'man in the high castle' of the title is an author who writes an 'alternative history' in which the Allies won the war. "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" won a John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1975.



Which of Dick's novels was published twice under two different titles--the second publication posthumously, with many alterations?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


The Unteleported Man / Lies, Inc.. Dick published "The Unteleported Man" in 1966, after a short story of the same name written in 1964. He was never happy with the final form, however, and was preparing an expanded version of the novel before he died. This final version was published as "Lies, Inc." in 1984. This expanded version has been favored ever since and recent editions (eg. Vintage) are published as "Lies, Inc.".



The novels "VALIS", "The Divine Invasion" and "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer" can be seen as a loose trilogy in which Dick explores his religious beliefs, conspiracy theories and paranoia. Which novel, published posthumously, is related to the trilogy and was actually an initial rejected draft of "VALIS"?

The Fiction of Philip K. Dick


Radio Free Albemuth. "VALIS" is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System. Dick himself features in the novel, as 'Horselover Fat' (Philip = lover of horses, from Greek; Dick, in German = fat). Dick believed he was being beamed information from an alien race. He was even informed of a serious condition that was undiagnosed in his son. He also had several religious experiences akin to epiphanies. He believed (perhaps correctly, at least to some extent) that he was under surveillance by government agencies. All these obsessions (chronicled in his "Exegesis", a collection of quasi-philosophical writings) are featured in "VALIS" and the accompanying works. While a trilogy was intended, Dick never completed the final installment, "The Owl in Daylight" and so "...Timothy Archer" is often appended to the others. "Radio Free Albemuth" was actually an earlier (1976), discarded draft of what became "VALIS" and was eventually published in 1985. Its original title was "VALISystem A".