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Confessions of a Crap Artist
by PHILIP K. DICK
Spotlight Reviews
Dick's mainstream attempt that bites deep, November 15, 2001
Reviewer: Ian Vance (pagosa springs CO.)
Over the last two decades Philip K. Dick has slowly gained in repute as one of this centuries' most inventive and prolific authors: a sci-fi auteur who cranked out pulp masterpieces by the dozen while surviving on horsemeat and methamphetamine. There are several themes prevalent in the majority of Dick's oeuvre: paranoia, drugs, the nature of God, schizophrenic time/space variations, aliens, semi-tragic characters in often archetypical clothing. _Confessions of a Crap Artist_, however, contains almost none of these bizarre themes; as one of Dick's stabs at the mainstream, _Confessions_ is a straightforward examination of life in Southern California the 50's, with `normal' people co-existing by `wackos,' both of whom, in typical Dick fashion, change places over the course of the novel.
Jack Isodore is a crap artist, a collector of crackpot theories and useless junk, a man endlessly fascinated by the world's unexplained secrets be they legitimate or not. But he is also happy and fairly satisfied by his life, something that cannot be said for his sister-in-law Judy and her husband Charlie, painted in broad strokes as a shrew and the man she uses, respectable on the surface but narrow-minded and demented when closely examined. Their `American Dream' lifestyle, the house and the farm and the three little kids, is altered/destroyed by manipulation and dissatisfaction with said `Dream', and when set in place next to Jack's lackadaisical routines and surprisingly strong moral fiber, the line between crazy and normal blurs with rapid intensity.
Along with _The Man in the High Castle_, this is among Dick's most lucid works, and probably the place novices should start first. Though a quick read, the implications and undercurrents of _Confessions of a Crap Artist_ should resonate within the reader for some time after completion, which, in my opinion, is the truest mark of a worthwhile book. Recommended.
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