MY latest piece on Philip K. Dick is the only one built of all-new material: That is, none of this appears in the LA Times story about the writer's Orange County years that ran a couple of Sundays back.This latest piece, which just went up on the Hero Complex blog, looks at the impact Southern California had on Dick's work. Did it move him toward an interest in consumerism, religion, or change his … [Read more...]
Philip K. Dick’s Last Decade, Parts 1 and 2
TODAY the second of my six-part series on Philip K. Dick's life in Orange County, Calif., went up on the LATimes' Hero Complex blog.This second section gets him to OC from his often troubled life in the Bay Area and a really disastrous trip to Vancouver.Yesterday's installment started out with a 1976 scene in Fullerton in which his marriage unravels and the author tries suicide.Please stay tuned … [Read more...]
Philip K. Dick and the Suburbs
THE science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick was a bearded Berkeley bohemian -- the last guy you'd expect to move to Orange County, Calif., at a time when its John Birch reputation was still well-deserved. But after a disastrous year or so, the author relocated from the Bay Area to SoCal, and wrote some of his most important work.Dick has also become the first sf writer to land in the Library of … [Read more...]
Wu Man and Ancient Chinese Bluegrass
THIS may sound crazy, but this chick kicks ass! if you doubt me, check this out. or consider the fact that avant-jazz madman henry threadgill caught a gig of wu man's back in the early '90s, soon after she'd arrived in the states from china, and asked her to play on his next record.today i have a piece in the LATimes on wu, who plays the pipa, a two-thousand-year-old string instrument, a sort of … [Read more...]