LSD, Lying Ink, and Lies, Inc.
Science Fiction Studies July 1, 2005 DOI: 10.1525/sfs.32.2.265 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD |
| Key points | Argues that the multiple versions and incomplete manuscripts of Philip K. Dick's Lies, Inc. and its precursor The Unteleported Man reflect the novel's intratextual themes of multiple, incomplete histories, creating a 'hallucinatory hall of mirrors' that draws readers into the variations. |
Abstract
Philip K. Dick has a reputation in some circles as an acid-crazed visionary, which was more the result of his self-publicity than his particular drug habits. During the 1960s he repeatedly discussed his LSD use in fanzine articles and letters, and he incorporated it as a plot device in a novel that was to become Lies, Inc. (1983). The textual history of this novel, and its precursor version, The Unteleported Man, is a tangled one, as it exists in a number of variants. None of these versions can be considered Dick’s final preferred text, however, either because he persistently revised them, or because they were incomplete manuscripts when published. This extratextual history reflects the novel’s intratextual themes, in which characters discover various facts about their situations by reading a supposedly complete history book, one that includes events yet to happen and that exists in multiple versions. This essay explores how the intra- and extratextual variations play off each other, drawing readers into Dick’s hallucinatory hall of mirrors.