It Is 1969, And A Paranoid President Has Convulsed America In A Vicious War Against Imaginary Internal Enemies. As The Country Slides Into Fascism, A Struggling Science-fiction Writer Named Philip K. Dick Is Trying To Keep From Becoming One Of That War's Casualties. Meanwhile, Dick's Best Friend, A Record Executive Named Nicholas Brady, Is Receiving Transmissions From A God-like Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Which He Dubs Valis, Who Apparently Wants Him To Overthrow The President. By Philip K. Dick.