Philip K. Dick

For much of last year I was fascinated by the film A Scanner Darkly. Not so much for the plot, which I understand was closely based on the original Philip K. Dick 1977 novel, more for the wonderful rotoscope technique used by director Richard Linklater. I loved the look of the film, much more than the content, which I guess labels me as a true member of the Marshall McLuhan generation.

Anyway, back to Philip K. Dick. He wrote some fascinating and influential stuff back in the '60's and '70's (do the films “Total Recall,” “Minority Report,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “Blade Runner” ring any bells?) and last week The New Yorker site ran a terrific overview of the author and his work. I read a lot of these books in the '70's (Dick died in 1982), and I'm surprised just how much of his whole approach to science fiction genre has stuck with me over the years.

Check out The New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik article here.