Wednesday, March 28, 2007

WWPKDD?

On Friday, I mentioned that the Library of America has added the far-out science fiction writer Philip K. Dick to its canon of great American authors. And I mentioned an argument over at The Valve about whether Dick had accurately portrayed the zeitgeist of the late 20th century. Well, at least one person believes that PKD is a go-to author for those who'd like to understand the early 21st century. I learned this morning about Frolix-8, a website run by someone calling herself himself Palmer Eldritch (both names are PKD references).

CORRECTION: It has come to my attention that Palmer Eldritch, the blogger, is male, not female. PE corrected me, as one might have expected, by making reference to a PKD character, Angel Archer (from "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer"), who Dick fans feel is an autobiographical figure. In other words, like this blog entry's mistaken characterization of PE, Angel Archer is a male who only appears to be female. Ha!

Back in 2004, Palmer Eldritch started The Project, in which she he re-read all of Dick's novels and stories, and copied out any references to women's breasts. Now, reading too much PKD in a concentrated period will seriously warp your perspective, as those of us who've tried it can attest. So it should have come as no surprise when, sometime around the middle of last year, Palmer Eldritch started a new feature, "Which PKD Story Are We In Today," in which she he points out uncanny parallels between PKD plots and themes and... well, pretty much everything going on in the world, offline and on. Or rather, she he links to something she's he's read in the news or elsewhere online, namechecks a PKD fiction, and lets you connect the dots. Here's a recent example:

The Simulacra - “A small number of rogue actors who know what they are doing can create an enormous amount of disruption.”


The Zap Gun - "Other devices include but are not limited to weapons or weapons systems, robots or robot systems, other commercial electronic devices that can be controlled remotely..."


Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - "An elderly woman was thrown out of a Glen Ellyn, Il, Starbucks after buying a cup of coffee there. The management apologized. She says they thought she was homeless."

The Clans of the Alphane Moon - "His tendency to switch roles is exacerbated by anterograde amnesia (a loss of memory for events since his cardiac arrest) and anosognosia – a lack of insight into his strange behaviour."

Via Boing Boing

Posted by Joshua Glenn at 08:31 AM

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