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The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick

Moderated by David L. Ulin
Monday, November 14, 2011
01:15:07
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Episode Summary

Philip K. Dick dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and divine. Dick's two daughters and novelist Jonathan Lethem- Exegesis co-editor-serve as guides to exploring the magnificent final work of the author.


Participant(s) Bio

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories over a three decade writing career, in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably, Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly.

Jonathan Lethem is the critically acclaimed author of eight novels, including Motherless Brooklyn and his latest, Chronic City. He has published and spoken widely on Dick and is the editor of the Library of America editions of Dick's novels. His new book of essays, The Ecstasy of Influence: Nonfictions, Etc. is due out this fall.

David L. Ulin is a book critic for the Los Angeles Times. From 2005-2010 he served as the Times' book editor. He is the author of The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time and The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith, and the editor of Another City: Writing from Los Angeles and Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, which won a 2002 California Book Award. His essays and criticism are widely published.

Pamela Jackson is an independent scholar, editor, and archivist who holds degrees in Rhetoric and Library and Information Studies from the University of California Berkeley and Los Angeles, respectively. Her 1999 dissertation, The World Philip K. Dick Made, initiated a decade's study of Dick's Exegesis. She is also a graduate of Berkeley High School, Philip K. Dick's only alma mater.

Laura Leslie is the oldest of Philip K. Dick's three children and grew up in the small town of Pt. Reyes Station, California in the house that informed much of Dick's writing from 1960 - 1964 such as The Man in the High Castle, Martian Time Slip, and the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. She has been responsible for his estate since his death in 1982. She works closely with her sister, Isa Dick Hackett, to steward the legacy of their late father. She recently organized the manuscript material left by their late father and has created an extensive catalog. Ms. Leslie has worked in the information technology services industry for over two decades.

Isa Dick Hackett, daughter of Philip K. Dick, is co-founder along with her sister Laura Leslie and CEO of Electric Shepherd Productions, LLC, the company dedicated to the stewardship and adaptation of the Philip K. Dick library. Ms. Hackett served as an Executive Producer on Adjustment Bureau, based on Philip K. Dick's short story The Adjustment Team. She is also credited for her work on Richard Linklater's adaptation of A Scanner Darkly and for her guidance on and participation in the DVD special features for Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly.



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