Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter: The Science-Fictional Religion of Philip K. Dick

This book is an excellent academic study of the theme of religion in the works of Philip K. Dick. The book is a slim volume and could have been much longer but you still get your money's worth from the amount of analysis and information crammed into those pages.The book is divided into three sections which consist of Dick's writings view from a religious point of the view in three areas of his career. His early writing is covered along with his middle and later (VALIS) years are extensively reviewed and analyzed. I felt that the work covered the topic extremely well and I learned not only about Dick's work but about religion.The text was published several years ago so it might be a little difficult to get a hold of but the price might turn some readers off. If you are interested in a religious analysis of the works of Philip K. Dick, I believe this one is the only one out there and it is very well written.

Taking a look at the religious aspects of PKD's work shines an interesting pink beam of light on things. The knowledge base of the author across a wide variety of religions allows him to put forth many questions and answers about how/why/meaning of many books from PKD and what greater concerns of higher level he had. PKD used religion in books as varied as MITHC, DADOES to later books such as Divine Invasion and Valis. This pulling together into one source makes it easy to understand how from greek to christion to eastern religions they all fit into his pantheon of work. I'd also look into combining this with a couple of other good books, notably Philip K. Dick: Exhilaration and Terror of the Postmodern by Christopher Palmer and The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick by Lawrence Sutin. All nicely written as well. Pick up the Pink Beams of Light..., and it will shed some illumination on this neglected aspect of PKD's writing.