Offering an intimate perspective on the life of an important, prolific author, this revealing biography uncovers the inner workings of a cult figure through his tumultuous relationship with his third wife. Brilliant and charismatic, Philip K. Dick was known as a loyal friend, father, and husband, as well as a talented science fiction writer. His six-year marriage to the woman he described as “the love of his life” and his intellectual equal was full of passion—the meeting of soul mates. But behind the façade of an untroubled life was a man struggling with his demons, unable to trust anyone, and reliant upon his charm to navigate his increasingly dark reality and descent into drugs and madness. Exposing personal details of their married life as well as the ways he continued to haunt her even after their relationship collapsed, Anne Dick provides thorough research combined with personal memories of this mysterious man. **
Review
“...invaluable for Dick fans and scholars because it’s told by the one person he was close to at an important turning point in his career.” — New York Times
“Anne’s detailed account of her years with Philip K. Dick is a must-read for anyone discovering the autobiographical elements in his writing. No other biography gives the reader as strong a sense of how he crafted his fiction, where he got his characters, and what made him tick. Parts of Anne’s memoir are instantly recognizable to PKD’s readers as they describe the inspiration for many of his most bizarre fictional scenes” —David Gill, San Francisco State University
“Besides being a remarkably accurate and lifelike picture of the man, it is also a rattling good tale, like a real-life detective story.” —Ray Nelson, co-author (with Philip K. Dick) of The Ganymede Takeover
“The secret of Phil Dick’s greatness, as with so many other great men, is his...[third] wife, Anne. You can see her influence in the development of his novels, their increasing awareness of the human/family/sexual element. Most SF writers simply didn’t pay attention to such things, which are the entire concern of mainstream fiction. Dick was almost alone among the SF writers of his day in trying to write mainstream novels himself. And what is their constant theme? His battles with, and bafflement by, and love of Anne, the Other who never left his thoughts....” —Thomas M. Disch, author of Camp Concentration and The Wall of America
“An investigation full of epiphanies, a narration of absolute vividness that could only be inspired by a passionate love, a book that transports us to a indissoluble past, more true than our own present.” —Miguel Diaz Fernandez, author of “Vestigia”
“Anne R. Dick offers a compelling look at a giant of science fiction...a pleasure to read.” — Valley Advocate
About the Author
Anne R. Dick is an author, a poet, and an accomplished jewelry maker. She was Philip K. Dick’s third wife and lives in Point Reyes, California.
Description:
Offering an intimate perspective on the life of an important, prolific author, this revealing biography uncovers the inner workings of a cult figure through his tumultuous relationship with his third wife. Brilliant and charismatic, Philip K. Dick was known as a loyal friend, father, and husband, as well as a talented science fiction writer. His six-year marriage to the woman he described as “the love of his life” and his intellectual equal was full of passion—the meeting of soul mates. But behind the façade of an untroubled life was a man struggling with his demons, unable to trust anyone, and reliant upon his charm to navigate his increasingly dark reality and descent into drugs and madness. Exposing personal details of their married life as well as the ways he continued to haunt her even after their relationship collapsed, Anne Dick provides thorough research combined with personal memories of this mysterious man. **
Review
“...invaluable for Dick fans and scholars because it’s told by the one person he was close to at an important turning point in his career.”
— New York Times
“Anne’s detailed account of her years with Philip K. Dick is a must-read for anyone discovering the autobiographical elements in his writing. No other biography gives the reader as strong a sense of how he crafted his fiction, where he got his characters, and what made him tick. Parts of Anne’s memoir are instantly recognizable to PKD’s readers as they describe the inspiration for many of his most bizarre fictional scenes”
—David Gill, San Francisco State University
“Besides being a remarkably accurate and lifelike picture of the man, it is also a rattling good tale, like a real-life detective story.”
—Ray Nelson, co-author (with Philip K. Dick) of The Ganymede Takeover
“The secret of Phil Dick’s greatness, as with so many other great men, is his...[third] wife, Anne. You can see her influence in the development of his novels, their increasing awareness of the human/family/sexual element. Most SF writers simply didn’t pay attention to such things, which are the entire concern of mainstream fiction. Dick was almost alone among the SF writers of his day in trying to write mainstream novels himself. And what is their constant theme? His battles with, and bafflement by, and love of Anne, the Other who never left his thoughts....”
—Thomas M. Disch, author of Camp Concentration and The Wall of America
“An investigation full of epiphanies, a narration of absolute vividness that could only be inspired by a passionate love, a book that transports us to a indissoluble past, more true than our own present.”
—Miguel Diaz Fernandez, author of “Vestigia”
“Anne R. Dick offers a compelling look at a giant of science fiction...a pleasure to read.”
— Valley Advocate
About the Author
Anne R. Dick is an author, a poet, and an accomplished jewelry maker. She was Philip K. Dick’s third wife and lives in Point Reyes, California.