Anyone interested in science fiction should read all of Philip's work. I highly recommend "The Penultimate Truth".

Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin is also a great companion book to Ubik. It explores more the morality side of reality alteration than the scifi/society element but it was absolutely lovely.

The aspect ratio with the black bars and the wood shelving give your videos such a great nostalgic vibe. It’s just * chef’s kiss *. Love it.

With Dick’s work I think it helps to treat the premise as the main character. That’s what he’s developing and giving you insight to.

Definitely one of my favorites.

I LOVE PKD but his stories often make me quite depressed for a while after I read them. :(

Oh yeah I forgot about the way everything's coin-op in the book, to where they're carrying bags of coins around, amazing idea

I have a bunch of PKD to read still and appreciate the rundown, will be putting this high on the list. What I've read of his so far was amazing

Blew my mind. It really stayed with me for weeks after.

Ubik isn't a god; it is short for ubiquity. The characters discover they are in a very badly run simulation with many flaws, especially since those inside can influence the simulation with their unconscious expectations. These vary according to the age of the character, but one is definitely malevolent in attacking morale by triggering internal fear or shame in others. One who has been inside the simulation for longer than most realizes the only way to fight back against these attacks on morale is with blithe insouciance rather than fear or shame. That is to say, they are to view their surround as if it were ubiquitous and ordinary according to their baseline expectations rather than full of threats or ominous glitches. It is hard to remember to do this continually, so the long-term survivor broadcasts a sales campaign meant only as a sort of background state reminder. If they were more obvious it wouldn't work for a couple of reasons, mainly it needs to be on the down low; mellow, placid. This is sort of an altered state comment on perceptual filters. While Ubik is mysterious, and Dick is quite a mystic, this is one of his more grounded or technical commentaries on how to survive simulations (dreams, computers, etc) without freaking out.

You should read the Ubik screenplay afterwards!😊

Great book, has all the classic PKD mind-bending stuff going on. Oh man great tee, where did you get it? Or did you upload the design?

Hey man!. I want to recommend a sci-fi graphic novel from my country, Argentina. I's called "The Eternaut", it's about an alien invasion of Buenos Aires but like anything you ever read. You're gonna love it! Love the channel.

It’s a scary book.

I should re-read it.

A door demanding 5 cents every time you open it sounds very Bill Gates to me. I have a question about the covers of a lot of these science fiction books. How much was it a thing for an artist to read the the science fiction book before they illustrated it? I notice that some of the covers seem very related to their subject matter, while others are clearly not. I would assume Its a really cool thing when you job requires you to read science fiction novels, but then I remember that Theodore Sturgeon said that 90% of science fiction is poo-poo, so it may have been a chore.

So which is PKD’s best?

I always pronounced it 'oo-bick' rather than 'you-bick.' My favorite Dick book, tied with 'The Divine Invasion.'

While I don't agree completely with your premise that Ubik is "a savior in a can" I feel like it's quite close. Really, it's exactly correct, but I feel it's exactly correct only when I include the context of the writer who wrote it. In other words, within the story itself I think Ubik represents a connection to "reality", and reality is having trouble existing. But the author, I think, DID intend for the reader to perceive this mechanic as a "savior in a can", and was making fun of it.

What’s on your shirt? Very cool!