Whilst elements of Dick's self has always broken through in to his novels, VALIS is the first novel where he writes himself in explicitly as a character. VALIS is based on Dick's own experiences in 1974, where he experienced a "religious experience" on meeting a young woman after being administered sodium pentothal.

The first half of the book explores the personal self, with Dick and his counter-part "Horselover Fat", experiencing a similar religious experience and then attempting to find meaning for his life, and the course of his actions. Through the book, Fat writes an "exgenesis", a diary of thoughts and ideas on the themes of origin, religion and philosophy. The book makes heavy references to Gnosticism, Buddhism, Plato, Aristotle, Jung and others. Take your time with the first half and persevere. In the modern age we have the benefit of Wikipedia - it helps to use it.

The pivot of the story is a scene set in a cinema where Fat, with his friends, watch a movie representing the experiences Fat has undergone. Fat and his friends then decide to seek out the source of the movie. Whilst still discussing the above topics, we move from a very personal, central perspective to a wider story incorporating a range of characters - each with their own personal motivation (and in the case of Kevin, not a small amount of humour). The second half gives the impression that it was written at a different time and under different circumstances, the style is certainly lighter and we experience more of Dick's usual storytelling style. The second half of the story is a story in itself, but takes on a significantly deeper context with understanding of the first half.

These last few books of Dick's life take a very different tone to earlier Dick works. Dick is still a master storyteller, but rather than tell the stories of highly fictional, future characters, Dick is writing about himself, set in near time-lines, his beliefs and experiences. They make very different reading, but make an important part of his body of work.