By Randall Radic

On April Fool’s Day in 1959, Anne Rubenstein married Philip K. Dick.  At first, the marriage was a happy union of two loving and talented people.  Later, though, Anne Dick found herself living in the Twilight Zone.  For Philip K. Dick entered what some commentators have described as “an altered state of consciousness,” becoming either a madman, or a philosopher, or a mystical prophet.  Or perhaps all three simultaneously.

The metamorphosis took place in 1974, when Dick’s reality tunnel collapsed and was replaced by a kind of virtual reality, where he envisioned himself living in Rome in 70 AD or as possessed by his friend Bishop James Pike or as channeling telepathic communiqués for alien beings from Sirius.  When he finally emerged from his virtual reality, Dick, in his attempt to interpret what had happened to him, believed that ‘reality’ was nothing more than a dream state superimposed upon mankind by the Roman Empire, which was still in existence but concealed and undetectable.  Dick referred to this dream state as the Black Iron Prison. 

Eventually, Dick discarded this explanation.  He then began writing a massive book called Exegesis, in which he tried to comprehend his experiences.  In his last novel, Dick concluded that the meaning to everything was love. 

Search is the story of Anne Dick’s life with Philip K. Dick.  She is a talented writer in her own right and tells her story with moving charm.  Her love for Philip K. Dick is only matched by her inability to live with him or help him.  It's a story of delicious madness and negative joy.  The story of a woman’s struggle to love a man oppressed by the solitude of his own genius.

In essence, then, Search is Anne Dick’s attempt do what Dick tried to do when he wrote Exegesis – comprehend her experiences with Philip K. Dick.  Whether or not she was successful, only she can answer.  But the resulting book is a wonderful biography of a literary giant, written by a woman who knew him intimately, loved him, and continues to love him even now. 

On the Read-O-Meter, which ranges from 1 star (dull and boring) to 5 stars (fascinating), Search channels 5 stars.  For Philip K. Dick was one of those rare individuals whose personality and life were more interesting than his novels.  Fact is stranger than fiction.     

Philip K. Dick was one of the best science fiction writers in the history of literature.  The movies Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and Next were all adapted from Dick’s novels or short stories.   

Search For Philip K. Dick 1928-1982 (Point Reyes Cypress Press/ 2009) By Anne R. Dick 

Randall Radic is a former Old Catholic priest. After a midlife crisis, he spent time behind bars. Today, he has emerged a changed man.  As the author of  Gone To Hell: True Crimes of America’s Clergy (ECW Press/ Oct 2009), Radic aims to warn the public of the sins committed behind the walls of churches every day.  Randall Radic is also author of A Priest in Hell: Gangs, Murderers and Snitching in a California Jail.

Mackenzie Phillips, Pregnant By Father, Aborted, Forgave

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