Transmigration of Timothy Archer

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago on December 16, 1928, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began publishing short stories in 1952, mostly finding homes in popular science fiction magazines, but he had little commercial success until he published The Man in the High Castle in 1962. He followed with novels such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ubik, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, establishing him as a writer of science fiction. Following years of drug abuse and a series of mystical experiences in 1974, Dick's work dealt more explicitly with issues of theology, metaphysics, and the nature of reality. He died in 1982 in Santa Ana, California, at the age of 53, due to complications from a stroke.

From Philip K. Dick, the Hugo Award-winning author of The Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep??the basis for the film Blade Runner?comes The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, the conclusion of the VALIS trilogy, bringing the author's search for the identity and nature of God to a close. The novel follows Bishop Timothy Archer as he travels to Israel, ostensibly to examine ancient scrolls bearing the words of Christ. But more importantly, this leads him to examine the decisions he made during his life and how they may have contributed to the suicides of his mistress and son. This introspective book is one of Dick's most philosophical and literary, delving into the mysteries of religion and of faith itself. As one of Dick's final works, it also provides unique insight into the mind of a genius, whose work was still in the process of maturing at the time of his death.