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PKD Otaku #22

Various contributors; edited by Marc Oberst and Patrick Clark · 2011 · Fan Publications

This is issue 22 of PKD Otaku, a fan publication dedicated to Philip K. Dick, dated May 14, 2011. The editorial credits jami morgan, Frank Bertrand, and John Fairchild as the primary contributors, with additional work by regular editors Marc and Patrick. The table of contents reveals a rich and varied issue combining primary source material with fan scholarship and cultural commentary. The centerpiece is a transcription of 'An Interview With Philip K. Dick' by Yves Breux and Francis Luxereau, conducted at the Second International Science Fiction Festival (2eme Festival International de la SF) in Metz, France, between September 19 and 25, 1977, transcribed, edited, annotated, and with an afterword by Frank C. Bertrand. In this interview, Dick discusses the low status of science fiction writers in America, comparing it to his reception in France, where science fiction was taken seriously. He describes the constraints imposed by American publishers and libraries regarding sex, violence, and complex ideas, and recounts his origins as a pulp writer, noting that his largest American sale was Solar Lottery at over 300,000 copies. Dick credits the French reception of his work, beginning between 1964 and 1968, as the greatest stimulus to his development as a serious writer. Additional contents include a continued 'Kindred Spirit Interview' with jami morgan, an interview with Tessa Dick (Dick's fifth wife) by jami morgan, coverage of Tessa Dick on Paranormal Radio, Frank C. Bertrand's essay 'Late Night Thoughts, While Listening To Opera?', a second take on Scott Apel's Philip K. Dick: The Dream Connection, John Fairchild's informal review 'Philip K. Dick: Exhilaration and Terror of the Postmodern,' and notes and comments including a piece on Jared Loughner's 'World of Illusion' by Jack Shafer. The issue exemplifies the active and intellectually engaged fan scholarship community that has sustained interest in Dick's work and legacy.

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