The Cardboard Universe: A Guide to The Work of Phoebus K Dank

Jun 07, 2009 22:06



I read about this book on The Total Dick Head blog (a blog devoted to all things Philip K Dick) and it sounded interesting. I'm interested in portrayals of PKD in the media, and this book is one of them.

This book is unique in it's structure: it's set up like an encylopedia of the works of Phoebus K Dank (a somewhat exagerrated version of Philip K Dick), but at the same time, it tells a story of the man's life. The "guide" is written by two people: William Boswell, a fan whose devotion borderlines on downright creepiness, and Owen Hirt, a contemporary of Dank who regards him with scorn and snark.

Simply put: this book is inventive as hell. Not only did the author, Christopher Miller, have to concoct a whole canon of works for Dank, but also make them sound convincing. Add in the fact that he created two distinct narrators and that makes it even more remarkable. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Philip K Dick.
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