Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen collaborated wonderfully in concert at Northrop Auditorium this month. But getting them on the same page in other situations can be daunting. In a three-way phone conversation, they did agree on their love for Philip K. Dick, the late sci-fi writer. Becker recommended Dick's "Galactic Pot Healer."

"It's perhaps somewhat obscure compared to some of his other books, but it's very typical in all ways of his writing -- both the good ways and the bad ways. But it's relic."