num_pages: 227
description: â€œDick is one of the ten best American writers of the twentieth century, which is saying a lot. Dick was a kind of Kafka steeped in LSD and rage.â€â€”Roberto BolaÃ±oWhat is VALIS? This question is at the heart of Philip K. Dickâ€s ground-breaking novel, and the first book in his defining trilogy. When a beam of pink light begins giving a schizophrenic man named Horselover Fat (who just might also be known as Philip K. Dick) visions of an alternate Earth where the Roman Empire still reigns, he must decide whether he is crazy, or whether a godlike entity is showing him the true nature of the world. VALIS is essential reading for any true Philip K. Dick fan, a novel that Roberto BolaÃ±o called â€œmore disturbing than any novel by [Carson] McCullers.â€ By the end, like Dick himself, you will be left wondering what is real, what is fiction, and just what the price is for divine inspiration.
language: English
title: VALIS
titlecomplete: VALIS
characters: Horselover Fat, Philip K. Dick
genres: American, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Philosophy, Religion, Novels, Science Fiction Fantasy, Literature, Fiction, Science Fiction
ratings_count: 29086
places: Santa Ana, California
series: VALIS Trilogy
awards: awardedAt: 473414400000
name: Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
category: Foreign Novel
publisher: Spectra