"If someone were to write a history of the future as it has been dreamed up by Hollywood over the years, the chapter on today's tomorrow would belong in large part to Philip K. Dick." Yep.

Good article about the way Dick has influenced our culture's understanding of the future and the present, as well as our understanding of our own minds.

As is well known, I love Dick -- but the depth of this praise from Art Spiegelman surprised even me:

What Franz Kafka was to the first half of the 20th Century, Philip K. Dick is to the second half.

Worse things have been said about a drug-addicted, paranoid, borderline schizophrenic deeply troubled science fiction writer who never achieved the type of financial success or literary recognition he desired within his lifetime. One way or the other, I guess he's not sweating it anymore.