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In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis

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Dick's life, and his literary creations, were not as disconnected as some might think. For most of his life, he struggled with a variety of mental and emotional challenges that were often reflected in the stories he told.

Toward the end of his life he began to have what many would describe as a mental breakdown, yet he retained a kind of clarity, of self-analytical passion, that drove him to delve deeply into the experiences he was having. These experiences, reflected in his last 5 or 6 novels, are documented in letters and notes, and in an almost obsessive journal of thoughts and ideas he struggled with during the final years of his life.

Some have criticized this tome as ponderous, confusing, and poorly edited. For me, it is raw, pure, unfiltered Dick. Some is sad, some illuminating, and some hysterically funny, but I'm glad to have it all so that I can find my own path to his mind, and heart.

Valis
Radio Free Albemuth
A SCANNER DARKLY
The Divine Invasion
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer

From the author responsible for "Bladerunner" and "Total Recall" comes this very personal record of schizophrenia, conspiracy and hallucinatory mysticism. The bulk of "Valis" deals with Dick's attempts to understand the teachings of the ancient gnostic Christians - a quest which took on new urgency as Dick came to believe that the Roman Empire was using technology supplied by evil aliens to keep time frozen at 70 A.D. Unforgettable, albeit confusing in parts.

This book is a must for Philip Dick fans, particularly if you're a fan of his later work. If you haven't already read Valis, this book won't make much sense to you. The first portion of Valis is almost autobiographical and describes some very strange events that happened to Dick in the early 70's. He then spent the rest of his life trying to understand what happened to him, and wrote voluminous notes on his theorizing. The collected notes he called his "Exegesis," which is a theological term meaning "interpretation of scripture" (I told you they were very strange events.) Some of his Exegesis made it's way into Valis and other books. This volume contains even more. Unfortunately, he never really comes to a "final answer," which makes him different from the Apostle Paul, but this is a fascinating volume nonetheless. Fans of Gnosticism will find this book even more interesting than I do.

Philip K. Dick was a brilliant man who, like many brilliant men, has been posthumously mishandled by editors, biographers, etc. In Pursuit of Valis, I believe, is a further example of this. The editor's introduction is poorly written and riddled with assumptions and errors. The material in the book is choppy and poorly edited. Phil Dick never intended this material to be sold, he never will see any profits on the sale of this book, so who profits from its sale? The editor? His estate? His fans? I don't know. I am sure Sutin is getting his cut. Some of us wish that he would leave Phil Dick alone. But, that aside, if you are going to publish works not written for public consumption, at least do it properly. Surely, the volume could have been edited so as to make the material easier to comprehend? And what of the sloppy printing? Fans of PKD will buy this and enjoy it as they should, because at least we get a glimpse of the man. But at what cost?