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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
No physical violence; one character's suicide is part of the backstory
Language
Some
Adult language in the philosophical fiction register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Minimal sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Some drug use in the context of Dick's biographical influence
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The experience of receiving divine transmissions and trying to determine if you're enlightened or ill is the novel's sustained psychological challenge
What this book is about
Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical novel follows Horselover Fat (a transparent alter ego) as he attempts to understand a mystical experience in which he received what seemed to be transmissions from a vast living intelligence. The novel alternates between fiction and philosophical treatise, drawing on Gnosticism, early Christianity, and Dick's own paranoid search for meaning. Difficult, brilliant, and unlike anything else. A demanding book that rewards careful reading.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Suicide in backstory
Drug use in autobiographical context
Demanding philosophical content
Reader Verification
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