"A Working Stiff In a Low-Rent Genre"

For the new Voice Literary Supplement, Benjamin Strong examines I Am Alive And You Are Dead, a 1993 biography of Philip K. Dick by Emmanuel Carrère only just know translated into English. After opening with a wacky encounter with a PKD fan, Strong issues the usual apologia for talking about genre stuff:

Dick geekdom waits for you mostly with science fiction novels of inspired Modernist conceits and tacky raygun covers—a few are beautiful...

If you decide to haunt used bookstores or public libraries for your reading pleasure, maybe, but none of the Vintage reissues sports what I'd call a "tacky raygun cover." Although some of the Carroll & Graf covers might fit the bill, I suppose...