Confessions of a Crap Artist (1975) Signed First Edition Reference

Confessions of a Crap Artist is the only one of Dick’s mainstream literary novels published during his lifetime. Written in the late 1950s, it was finally published by Entwhistle Books in 1975. The novel follows Jack Isidore, a gullible collector of “facts” (mostly pseudoscience), and his sister Fay, whose manipulative marriage to a successful man forms the domestic drama. No science fiction elements — just Dick’s acute observation of human relationships and self-deception.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Entwhistle Books, Glen Ellen, California Publication date: 1975 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket (small press)

Entwhistle was a very small press, making the first edition genuinely rare.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $2,000–$5,000
• Unsigned first edition: $200–$500

A fascinating outlier in the PKD bibliography — evidence of the mainstream literary novelist Dick wanted to be. The small-press first edition is inherently scarce, and signed copies are extremely rare.