'huge, queer and tawdry' but 'much admired by the public'

Black Book was apparently an offshoot from the script of Soldier of Orange which took 20+ years to find its final form. And while Total Recall may lack the genius second twist of the Dick original, and both that and Starship Troopers are undoubtedly overblown, I would dispute that either is remotely crap - although with the latter he did have the common problem of not labelling his satire clunkily enough as a satire; it does mean you do more than preach to the converted, but said converted mostly don't register its existence because it looks so terribly mainstream, dahling.