Philip K. Dick was a writer of great talent without a post-secondary education (he enrolled in college but dropped out before attending a single class). Over the course of his life he experimented with most psychotropic drugs available and eventually gave himself pancreatic damage by doing so.

He wrote 29 novels and over a hundred short stories, many of which ("Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Paycheck") were later adapted to movies after his death in the early 80s.

He, like many other artists, lived in poverty for most of his life and was recognized only by a small following, however after his death he has continued to gain notoriety and is, in certain circles, seen as a sort of messiah for the modern age in his unique vision of the changing world.

Philip Kindred Dick was a genius with a silly last name. If you generally read books and haven't read any of his I suggest you do. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest science fiction writers ever. In my opinion he is THE greatest. Among sci-fi readers my opinion is pretty common; if sci-fi fans had a vote on the greatest writer ever he would probably win.

He also was a total loony, certified paranoid schizophrenic, and like many other great artists used a huge amount of drugs; mainly speed but everything else too. Phil used drugs to travel to the limits of human psyche sacrificing his own sanity in the process. But he sent us a beautiful and useful message back from there and it is right there in his books. If some smart kid there wanna try hard drugs like weed or heroine out of pure curiosity, don't do it. I can tell you from experience that they are addictive and in the end they just make you miserable. Make you sad. Instead read Ubik to find out exactly how they gonna mess your brain up. Main point is that you don't have to alter your mind with any substances to understand Dick's books. My sister likes him and she's as straight as they come, a doctor like his husband, mother of two little girls, drinks fucking decaf. Personally I've read him high, slow and low but the books have given me most when I've read them sober. Like I'm on Phil's trip so I don't have to take anything that makes me sick afterwards.

Mr. Dick is best known for the hit films like...