Philip K. Dick lived most of his life in California. He was born in 1928 in Chicago. In his career PKD wrote 36 novels and five short story collections between 1952 and 1982 when he died in Santa Ana, California.

Dick’s emotional state went through many changes throughout his life. The death of his twin sister 41 days after their birth is the first of many scars Dick would face. He would be involved in a string of bad marriages and was addicted to drugs. His level of output was inconsistent and he would experience periods of intense creativity and dark times where he wouldn’t write. Throughout the 1950’s Dick was beginning to make a name for himself in the science fiction world. He was writing stories for science fiction magazines and developing his own unique style that was different than the other sci-fi writers of the time. His first published novel was Solar Lottery in 1954. The political climate of the times and Dick’s own paranoia involving the authority he wrote about created the atmosphere from where many of his stories would emerge.

Philip K. Dick has been given many labels over the years and as his work has become more known since his death. The genre of science fiction was used as an outlet to break unfamiliar ground. His work is very experimental and questions the basis of our own existence. His own emotional and psychological states play a major role in the tone of his work throughout the years. Noticing the change in Dick’s writing style from the 50’s to the 80’s is a look at the struggles of a creative genius. His attempts to demonstrate the ever-expanding potential of the universe are personal journeys into his own realities.

His prophetic views about the future written in the fifties, sixties and seventies give his novels an air of believability and urgency. PKD at his best places his readers in situations where reality is not clearly defined. He explores the power of the brain and many human concepts of life, death, religion and love in a dark setting that creates a provocative view of the world as we know it. His writing is very much a product of the cultural activity which was occurring during his lifetime and he uses many elements from the world around him. His own personal experiences play a major role in his writing as well.