What If Our World is Their Heaven

By Philip K. Dick and Tim Powers

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Dec 31, 2002
• ISBN: 9781468302288

Philip K. Dick

Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories 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, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Reviews for What If Our World is Their Heaven

[k461r_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First of all, the choice of title for this book is excellent. It made me buy the book without a second's thought. I'm sorry to say that the title was also the best thing about this slim volume. The text consists of interviews with PKD, conducted by some woman who seems kind of lost and rarely understands what he is talking about. She hasn't read any of his works it seems and she just doesn't keep up with PKD:s mercurial mind. When he's talking about the bible, she thinks he's talking about his novel etc etc. The interviews are also transcribed from tapes, which always seem to end just when PKD enters into interesting territories. Much of the book is about the Bladerunner movie, and is pretty boring. It would've been interesting to read before the movie came out, but now that you've already seen it's kind of meaningless. "What if our world is their heaven" is not a bad read, but the highlights are not as many as you would hope. There are some really good parts where PKD discusses his novel Owl in Daylight which unfortunately he passed away before he could finish. Also he discusses his 2-3-1974 experiences a bit, and also a bit of the exegesis, Greek philosophy and similar topics we're used to hearing PKD talking about. These parts are mindboggling and great as always, but unfortuantely they only make out a minute portion of the book. If I could have my way, this book would have been 15 pages long and then it would have been an excellent read.

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A really interesting set of interviews with PKD, and you get to read about how his mind works. He's given to rambling and going off on long tangents - and he's also very witty. He's definitely an original thinker, one who moved incredibly fast, right up until the end.

His discussions of the experience of 2-3-74 are also very interesting. You get the impression that he's very sincere.