The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick

Erik Davis takes on one of Philip K Dick’s most mind-bending and harrowing books, 1964’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

Erik Davis has been thinking and writing about the visionary Californian science fiction writer Philip K. Dick since he graduated Yale in the 1980s. In this five-part series, he will take on one of Dick’s most mind-bending and harrowing books, 1964’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, reading it as a prophetic precog flash on our present meta-crisis.

The first evening will serve as an introduction to Dick, his personal and psychological trials, and the religious experiences and concerns that started to emerge around the time he wrote this wild, satiric, and disturbing novel. Subsequent nights will work through the book in 50-60 page increments per week (read the Vintage edition if you can).

Topics will include: virtual reality, consumer psychedelics, Barbie dolls, space-faring billionaires, transhuman augmentation, global warming, Mars colonization, the Eucharist, the cosmic “Outside” (H.P. Lovecraft and Olaf Stapledon), the Gnostic demiurge, the bardo, the nature of evil, the genre of horror, and the breakdown of consensus reality.

Tickets avaiable for the full series ($95) or the first, intro class only ($25).

Purchasers, for both in person and online tickets, will receive access to the recordings of the lectures covered by their tickets. The recordings will be available for two weeks.

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