significance of Exegesis

A journal in fact kept by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick but ascribed in this novel to his alter ego, Horselover Fat, The Exegesis explores his religious and visionary experiences. It begins in early 1974, after Phil has impacted wisdom teeth removed and sees a fish medallion hanging from a woman's neck. He is sure that this cryptic symbol of ancient Christianity is a call to remember who he truly is. He loses forgetfulness through anamnesis. He sees the ancient Roman Empire as an enduring black prison, which Jesus' followers destroy outside of time. Phil/Fat describe hallucinations caused by a beam of pink light.