The Philip K. Dick Reader is a comprehensive short story collection published posthumously, running to 505 pages. The back cover features a quote from The Wall Street Journal praising Dick's distinctive ability to immerse readers in his characters' consciousness.
The collection was published during a period of rapidly growing interest in Dick's work following his death in 1982. As the back cover notes, Dick's reputation has been enhanced by a growing body of critical attention, and The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction. The volume represents an effort to make Dick's extensive short fiction catalog accessible to the expanding audience discovering his work through film adaptations and critical reassessment.
At over 500 pages, The Philip K. Dick Reader is one of the most substantial single-volume collections of Dick's short fiction, providing readers with a broad survey of his work in the form. Dick wrote over 120 short stories during his career, and this collection draws from that vast output to present a representative selection of his most important and entertaining short fiction.