Reading Phillip Dick has shown me that the last twenty years have been barren, wasted, and joyless. But no matter, as of yesterday, I bought three new books and now the energy in the Universe has been redirected, peace is on the rise in 47 nations and most importantly I feel great!

But I digress. I have finally finished Book One. And almost polished off a bottle of Merlot and dipped into some Chadonnay. Despite my intent to drink only red wine, I've decided to mix the two. (But I confess the red makes me sleep better. Today I woke up after sleeping 9 hours. Woo hoo!

But I digress. "War Game"... I started this short story with a new bottle of Merlot and found it lacking. Was Phillip Dick rushed, did he botch the ending due to some editor screaming... or did I just not get it? At any rate, the plot seemed contrived, etc. Not a good development for a new Phillip Dick reader. It almost derailed the obsession... not a good thing for new Phillip Dick groupie... I blame the Merlot. I'm new to red wine and found the drink to be a bit much. When the story is good, you can almost ignore the glug, glug, glug.. but when the story's slight, you can feel the concrete moving down your neck, piece by piece. It was a long twenty minutes, folks.

But the next night... I was rewarded!!!!!! Maybe the arrangement in the anthology is like one of those carb-loading diets... Good stuff on day one... no fat/carbs/sweets on day two... or was it because I switched back to my comfort zone, white wine? I paired Chardonnay with "What The Dead Men Have To Say." At first, not being wired into the Phillip Dick mindset, I thought, oh no, I'm going to hate this... The main character was Johnny Barefoot. I muttered, "What kind of name is that?" Ah, but I hadn't had enough wine yet. At first the storyline was incomprehensible! What? Too much wine already? No... There was talk of half-lifers, quick- pack power sources, but halfway into the story, I was reading like my life depended on it. The story centered around a villain with stainless steel teeth, a brilliant crook that nobody loved, etc. Anyway, rehashing the plot of this would be irresponsible, but this story was brilliant! It gave great work catharisis and fully indoctrinated me into the secret Phillip Dick Society of which sadly there is only one member. Oh well...

The next night (oh I'm so behind on my blog!) I checked in with same bottle and the story, "Oh To Be A Blobel!" This was hilarious! It's right up there with the old Star Trek episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles." At least I think that was the name... It's been a while. There's a lot of undulating in this story lol, and it paired perfectly with the Chardonnay, as I undulated quickly to sleep... well, after I raced through the story.

Oh and next night, "Electric Ant!" Oh what a change in pace! A beautiful story. Yes, I'm deep into the obession. My goal is now to lay my hands on everything that Phillip Dick has ever written. Sadly he had a hard life: died at age 54 in 1982... suffered through bouts of schizophrenia... and yet he wrote so many novels and stories. I so admire him...

"Faith Of Our Fathers" was next. Eh... It started out wonderfully, and could have been one of my faves, but the ending let me down. A bit harsh, but after knowing a few facts of Phillip Dick's sad life, I imagine this was written during a bitter period. Still fascinating, just leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Then again, if I were a horror fan, it would have been perfect...

I ended on a familiar story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." The movie Total Recall was based on this. And it was fun! Sadly I don't enjoy the stories quite as much after I see the movie... I think I'd rather read first, then go see the movie. There's a new PD movie, A Scanner Darkly with Keneau Reeves. If I can read fast enough, maybe I can see it at the dollar movies before it moves to the video stores.

Woo, finished! The next book I'm reading is "The Fall" by Camus. I've started and it's quite a change of pace! I'll still be reading a little Phillip Dick on the side, but I decided I'd better mix it up a little. If you'd like to read with me, pick any of the above (my PD books are a new anthology of short stories, Lies, Inc. and Counter-Clock World.)... or just pick a book of your own and comment on it. Maybe it'll inspire me to take another run to the book store. The only requirement is you must read with a beverage... whether it be wine or tea or coffee... It creates a pleasant routine that enhances the reading... in my opinion...