Divine Invasions

"Divine Invasions" is the first full-scale biography of Philip K. Dick, a brilliant writer who, working inside the science fiction field, created some of the most powerful and lasting visionary fiction of this century. This biography chronicles the story of a man whose life was truly as interesting as his own enduring work.

""Divine Invasions" is a perceptive introduction to Philip K. Dick's amazing talent. In Europe and Japan, Dick is regarded as a major American writer, without regard to genre. This new biography takes a large step toward earning Dick that same respect in his native country." -San Francisco Chronicle

"A century from now, two or three of Dick's novels are likely to be among the books by which people will understand this era and its fascination with subliminal manipulation of consciousness and the general origins and limits of consciousness... Lawrence Sutin's biography is a highly informative and fascinating attempt at establishing the fundamentals of Dick's life and work... Extremely useful... is a twenty-page chronological guide to the novels... This biography makes you like Philip K. Dick and makes you want to read his books." -Hungry Mind Review

"It is difficult to praise this book highly enough... Philip K. Dick is finally being accorded the same depth and detail as subjects far less deserving. As scholarship and research, Sutin's efforts are impeccable. As literature, the book is at once absorbing, intelligent and eminently readable... A must-read book for anyone interested in the psychology and art of this fascinating figure." -Trajectories

"An incisive, conscientious biography. Bravo." -Art Spiegelman

"The only biography I've ever read that's asexciting as a spy novel... Phil Dick's life was as weird and mysterious as any of his science fiction books." -Robert Anton Wilson

Publishers Weekly

Dick, who died in 1982, was one of the most inventive American science fiction writers. His grail-like quest for reality through a chaotic life marked by drug abuse, failed marriages, phobias and suicide attempts yielded dozens of novels and stories exploring such themes as karma, the universe as a unified information system, and the Gnostic concept of evil. In this remarkably candid biography, Sutin cuts back and forth between the messy life and the prolific art, unraveling the inter-connections. In 1974 Dick had a prolonged series of visions; pink rectangles on the walls fired information into his brain; he purportedly began communicating with a superintelligent entity which he named Valis. First book author Sutin doesn't shy away from the weird, darker facets of Dick's personality. A closing chapter summarizes 59 Dick books and rates each on a 1-to-10 scale. Photos. (Dec.)