Harlan Ellison

Dear DCloyceSmith:

In the past, I've mentioned a writer or two -- as have others -- and occasionally you've said that the only thing holding back a Library of America volume (or two, or three) was the matter of copyrights (to stories, novels, essays, etc.).
One of the authors I mentioned was Harlan Ellison.
Along with Ray Bradbury (mentioned in one of your early posts about copyrights and negotiations) I believe Ellison to be one of America's finest modern fantasists.
While the _whole_ of his work would be difficult to collect (given all of his stories, essays, tele and screenplays, not to mention the handful of novels), I believe a collection that included books like DEATHBIRD STORIES: THE EXPANDED EDITION (which is twice as relevant as the original publication, given the added stories dealing with gods and religions), AN EDGE IN MY VOICE, SHATTERDAY, ANGRY CANDY, SLIPPAGE, STRANGE WINE, THE BEAST THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS IN THE PROCRUSTEAN BED and THE COMPLEAT GLASS TEAT (which includes THE GLASS TEAT and THE OTHER GLASS TEAT) would not only be a great addition, it would be a perennial bestseller. The items I mentioned would make for a good three volume set, but since rights and such would have to be negotiated, maybe only three of the books mentioned would make for a viable deal.
Heck, even "just" a Library of America edition of DEATHBIRD STORIES: THE EXPANDED EDITION would be magnificent (or, given that it includes a _large_ helping of stories, essays and even a teleplay, THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON -- a 1000 page tome, might even be something for consideration.)

In any case, I wanted to let you know that Mr. Ellison -- with whom I continue to correspond -- expressed interest in being approached by the Library of America. Here's what he wrote on his internet site:

"If Library of America comes calling, I will greet it/them warmly.
One does not sell one's soul for a buck, but neither does one put obstacles in the path of Posterity.
I'm here. Library of America considers me printworthy, let them at their convenience approach me.
Yr. Pal, Harlan"

He's _very_ approachable, so if you -- or anyone else at LOA -- want to know how to get in touch with him via telephone or street address, you can contact me or go directly to his site and leave a message:

http://harlanellison.com/heboard/unca.htm

Here's hoping that Those In Charge at LOA take the opportunity to at least begin talks with Ellison.

All best,
Truett

Thanks. I will pass along your note, and Harlan Ellison’s comment, to our editors and advisors.

Permissions issues aside, we have only begun publishing omnibus collections by authors born in the twentieth century. Having never read Ellison's work beyond the one story we've reprinted, I can’t add any personal thoughts on his writing (although I know he’s highly respected among critics and readers alike).

But I will note that Ellison would, if added to the series today, be the “youngest” writer in the series—except for Raymond Carver. We still hope and expect to include a number of writers who were born in the earlier decades of the century, including such upcoming writers as Bernard Malamud and Ross Macdonald, and we just recently started to publish authors from Ellison's generation.

--David

Although I know my note on MacDonald didn't start the ball rolling -- would that I had such power! -- I feel the need to say thanks, again, Mr. Smith. The news of the MacDonald volumes is terrific. And the fact that you'll pass along this info about Ellison to the editors and advisors is terrific, too.

And if I may: should you decide to sit down and read Ellison's work, start out with either DEATHBIRD STORIES: THE EXPANDED EDITION (updated with three stories from the '90s, one of which -- "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" -- is a Best American Short Story winner, and all of which add the important, and larger, note of Ellisonian humor), or with ANGRY CANDY or SLIPPAGE (that volume also contains "The Man Who Rowed..." probably the quintessential Ellison short story).

I knew about the forthcoming Malamud volumes, already have mine ordered!

Interesting to know Harlan Ellison would be the youngest author if he was included. Only just, of course, since Philip Roth is exactly one year younger.

I'd like to second the vote for Harlan Ellison in LOA. In fact, I joined LibraryThing just to do so, although I've been happily reading the comments for several years. I've been an LOA subscriber for many years, in fact I think I have them all. I also have, perhaps, 30 volumes of Ellison's stories in different editions. I don't think he's someone who should be put in multiple LOA volumes yet -- he's behind PK Dick in general awareness, although he's just as good & his following is as rabid -- but a good one-volume selection of his stories could go far in bringing him the canonization (literary) that he deserves....

I also have a very high regard for Harlan Ellison and feel that one or more volumes of his works deserves LOA's eventual canonization. However, as implied by DCloyceSmith's very tactful response (> 2), LOA's scope includes all that is worthy in American literature, requiring them to prioritize who and when they publish. They simply can't suddenly insert someone else's enthusiasm into their schedule, no matter how worthy the author. Yes, pass on recommendations (e.g. Ray Bradbury :-) :-) :-), but offers and attempts to intercede on their behalf are better left to private correspondence if it is to be done at all. There is too much opportunity in a public forum to raise unrealistic expectations and generate misunderstanding.

In The Art of Fiction, John Gardner uses a passage from Ellison as an example of hack writing.

>6 amlit1: Some of his writing is. Some of it is much better than that.

I agree and only posted the above because I thought it was funny.

For those curious about what the attraction is for some of us regarding Harlan Ellison, there is a new anthology of his works coming from Subterranean Press on Dec. 31 (re. Amazon.com), The Top of the Volcano: The Award-Winning Stories of Harlan Ellison. One of the stories in the volume will be I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream that was included in LOA's American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with either Ellison or Subterranean Press or anyone else associated with this volume or Ellison's works.

>9 Podras.:

Looks like a good one, with many of my favorites present and accounted for:

http://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/the_top_of_the_volcano_the_awa...

The LOA anthologies always have the multiple short biographies at the back of the volume. They are almost always dry and factual. In the volume which included the Harlan Ellison piece, however, his short bio jumped out as the most press-release-resembling bio I had ever read in an LOA volume. I get the feeling from browsing at least one Ellison anthology, that he does not suffer from any lack of self-esteem. This is totally separate from the merit of his work, but it does indicate that LOA's initial policy of only including dead authors was not necessarily a bad one.

Each to his or her own opinion (regardless of merit), but I'd say "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore", "On the Downhill Side", "The Deathbird", "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes", "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans...", "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs", "From A To Z in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet", "Corpse", "Basilisk", "Scartaris, June 28th", "At the Mouse Circus", and just about any of the remaining eleven stories in DEATHBIRD STORIES (the Expanded Edition) is a far better read (talking both story-wise and writing-wise) than most of the fiction considered classic by the likes of Harold Bloom, etc.

And if THAT book isn't brought up for consideration -- Ellison was born in '34, only two years after Roth -- then THE ESSENTIAL ELLLISON would do fine, too (it covers his essays, including the SILVER PEN Award-winning one, too -- and "Repent Harlequin!..." -- which just won another award, nearly 50 years after its publication -- is in that giant collection, too; plus, ESSENTIAL is, I believe, officially OOP with Morpheus).

I'd love to see Ellison included, and I'd buy those volumes in a heartbeat.

Reviving the Consider Harlan Ellison for Inclusion in the Library of America topic, again.
I met, and was befriended, by Ellison. We lived in different parts of the country (or world) during
that brief time (roughly 20 years), but I can say that he was, indeed, a Larger Than Life personality, with
a huge appetite for life, and equally huge emotions (about) and reactions (to) the consequences of
living life that way. Hemingwayesque, some might say.

But the thing that will live on longest are the stories (and essays) he wrote.
And it seems only natural that Ellison, who embraced America and it's denizens, should be
embraced by the library which celebrates America's finest writing.

I already made my original case with the first post, so I'll just say, again, that the LOA publishing even one
volume of Ellison's work -- whether it be DEATHBIRD STORIES: The Expanded Edition (Subterranean Press)
or TOP OF THE VOLCANO: The Award-winning Stories of Harlan Ellison (also Subterranean) or
THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON (Morpheus), a collection of stories and essays spanning 50 years -- would
be a brilliant idea.

And I know Harlan was delighted with the notion.

Here's hoping the right people at The Library of America are listening.

A postscript (of a sort) for
DCloyce Smith:

When I first posted this, you mentioned that you hadn't read many of Harlan Ellison's works.
Aside from the obvious -- the books I mentioned in my two posts above -- if you want a quick and
easy link to a few of his works, posted online, check out the following:

http://www.harlanellison.com/iwrite/mostimp.htm
This essay, "The Three Most Important Things in Life", is one of the funniest, most unsettling pieces
nonfiction I've ever read. And a good example of why Ellison was awarded the Silver Pen -- from P.E.N. --
for his essay work, whilst writing "An Edge in My Voice" back in the '80s.

https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781625791498/9781625791498___5.htm
"Working With the Little People", a short story from his STRANGE WINE collection. Ellison's humorous side isn't celebrated enough, and just a lot of his fiction contained a lot of humor. Like this story about a guy with writer's block. (What's even wilder is that Ellison wrote this particular story while sitting in the window of a book store. Something he did approximately 33 different times, in a variety of places and cities, sometimes with great fanfare -- and with celebrities, like Robin Williams, getting involved).

http://www.harlanellison.com/iwrite/paladin.htm
This is one of Ellison's award-winning short stories, and a great example of how gentle his stories could be -- he seems to have a reputation for writing only hard-edge fiction.

This bit of narration, at the end of the online posting, was taken from Ellison's WGA-Awarding teleplay, "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (written for a revival of "The Twilight Zone"), a script-writing experience which serendipitously resulted in Ellison improving his already excellent short story. It seems fitting way to end this post script.

--------
"Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment.
A blessing of the 18th Egyptian dynasty: 'God be between you and harm in all the empty places you walk.'"

I agree with the comments listed above. Harlan Ellison was a man who meant as much to me as a family member, only a few months ago I was discussing his health and his writing with Patton Oswalt, who was a close friend of his, and now like many others I have been crushed by the news of Harlan's death. But I believe that right now is the best opportunity to petition for a definitive volume of his work.

DCloyceSmith Sir,
Truett is correct in the necessity of a volume of Ellison as a crucial voice in American Literature. Harlan was not only a "Hemingwayesque" personality but also a Mencken like figure in American letters. Reading Ellison's essays are something that should be readily available to the reading public. I think any writer or reader of Science Fiction will agree that it is imperative that Harlan Ellison's work is kept in constant print for posterity, and there is no finer place than the Library of America.

The Library of America has done amazing work with science fiction recently, Kurt Vonnegut Philip K Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin have entered it's canon making volumes. Not to mention the fantastic 2 volume set of "Science Fiction Novels of the 1950's" chosen wonderfully by Gary K. Wolfe. I know you are releasing "The Future is Female! Women’s Science Fiction Stories from the Pulp Era to the New Wave" and working with Gary Wolfe on the "Science Fiction Novels of the 1960's" set which are both very exciting to the whole community, but I beg you to please do what you can to bring Harlan Ellison to the Library of America. Thank you.

Here's a THIRD VOICE FOR THE INCLUSION of HARLAN ELLISON IN THE LOA, by writer Carol Cooper in the "Village Voice". The article is well written and even-handed. Here's a quote, followed by a link:

"The consistency with which Ellison wrote smart, complex stories in his own unique voice stands out as proof that he belongs in the mainstream literary canon as much as Poe, Camus, Baldwin, or Austen." -- Carol Cooper

https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/07/02/remembering-harlan-ellison-1934-2018/

And, because I still believe Ellison's works -- fiction, mostly; but his essays and, hell, even one screenplay and a couple or three teleplays as well (they published stage plays!) -- sui generis, every one of them, deserve a place in the LOA's hallowed halls.

The screenplays and teleplays by Ellison -- since I've mentioned the short stories and essays -- that are I believe are equal to the task of fine literature are:
"I, Robot" (1978) -- his finest work at screenplay length
"Paladin of the Lost Hour" (1985) -- a Writer's Guild of America award-winner (his fourth to win that award)
and
"City On the Edge of Forever" (1967) -- another WGA winner -- but for the _original_, untelevised script.

My LOA volumes (WELL over one hundred, now) -- along with some Modern Library and Everyman volumes (many of the latter for foreign authors) -- are situated in half-size book shelves against the wall of the foyer in our current home. Until LOA wisely puts out an Ellison volume or two (or three), I have shelved the three Easton Press editions on those same shelves:

Angry Candy (illustrated by Kent Bash, and Jack Gaughan)
I, Robot: the Illustrated Screenplay (Mark Zug does such a great job one can visualize film in the mind's eye; and essays about the writing thereof, by Ellison AND Asimov, who is given credit on the spine, are included)
and
Deathbird Stories (illustrated by Jill Bauman -- I still believe the "expanded version" published by Subterranean, is the best, but this original edition does fine, too).

Anyway, here's to the inclusion of a Harlan Ellison volume in the LOA!

I have only read one Harlan Ellison collection, which was Paingod and Other Delusions. I enjoyed the collection, especially "Repent Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman. I've gathered that some people consider Ellison's writing to be uneven, but it certainly seems like a lot of people hold his work in high regard, or at least hold his best work in high regard.

If the LOA decided to do a volume or two, collecting his best stories, or even his best collections, I think I'd bite on it. I know that trying to decide what to read next by him seems a little daunting to me, because there are so many collections, and there is overlap between some of them. I don't know what the odds are that the LOA rolls out an Ellison volume in the near future, but in the mean time, does anyone here have any specific recommendations for what Ellison collection I should read next?

Dr. Flanders: Your very next read should be
DEATHBIRD STORIES.
Thing is, _that_ particular collection is generally overwhelming to a lot of readers, mostly because the stories are all so emotionally charged and dark. You'll find only one story you've read before ("Paingod") in this collection, which is thematically linked by "gods". The whole collection is great, but most people agree that "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" (an Edgar Award-winner based on the Kitty Genoese murder), "On the Downhill Side" (a sentimental, but moving, story about love and how we deal with it), "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes" (the god of gambling: one of Ellison's finest tales, and a killer last line), "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" (people thought Ellison was a drug user after reading this one), "At the Mouse Circus", "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Lattitude 38 degrees 54 feet North, Longituted 77 degrees 00 feet 13 inches West" (a dynamite story about the search for one's soul, featuring Larry Talbot and Victor Frankenstein), and "Deathbird" (dealing with the Christian god and "devil", religious propaganda and myth, etc.) are the high points of the collection. (the last two stories won Hugo Awards for Ellison),

After reading that one, I'd suggest,
STRANGE WINE. This is a solid collection, and, like most of Ellison's collections features humorous as well as the more serious stories. But there a few more humorous tales in this collection than usual (you might need a chuckle or two after the "Deathbird" collection). "Mom" is a story about a Jewish dude haunted by the ghost of his mom. :) "Working with the Little People" is a tale about a guy with writer's block. "The New York Review of Bird" is a serio-comic tale about a guy who takes on the NY literary establishment (with references to Lamont Cranston). The collection also feature stories like "Croatoan" (a tale that invokes the legend of a missing colony while dealing with sexual responsibility and...things that are found in the NY sewers) as well as "Hitler Painted Roses", in which the gates of Hell are opened wide. And, for a bit more humor -- as well as some unsettling stories -- "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet" finds Ellison first stretching his Jorge Luis Borges-cum-Frederic Brown wings as he cobbles up 26 short-shorts. (As a bonus, there are introductions to each story, telling a little about their creation).

SLIPPAGE. One of his best collections, and it also features variety in the types of writing on offer. It leads off with "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" which is, in my opinion, quintessential Ellison. Equal parts comedy and pathos, it is also an homage to "One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts" (this story was also honoured with inclusion in the Best American Short Stories for '93). "Crazy as A Soup Sandwich" is a comedic teleplay which Ellison wrote for the second incarnation of "The Twilight Zone" (in the signed, limited, edition Ellison offered up an extra teleplay -- "Knackles", based on a Donald Westlake story, as well as an essay, explaining how the episode got within minutes of filming, and why he quit his high-paying story consultant job with CBS over the tomfoolery). "Where I Shall Dwell in the Next World" is a combination of fiction and essay, featuring bits of story preceded by essays that explain (as best as one can) where the ideas were born. As for regular, fiction, stories: "The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon" is beautiful, and rare, mainstream Ellison tale; "Mefisto in Onyx" is a powerful sf-cum-horror novella involving black telepath, a serial killer, and the prison system; "Keyboard" is dark comedy tale about vampirism (one of many stories Ellison wrote in the window of a bookstore, this one -- like many others -- featured a story idea or line fed to him by a celebrity friend Robin Williams); "Pulling Hard Time" (a futuristic tale which takes on the inhumanity of prisons); "She's a Young Thing and Cannot Leave Her Mother" (one of Ellison's weirdest, most unsettling tales, which makes use of the Sawney Beane legend).

ANGRY CANDY. "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (which leads of the collection) is a sentimental tale, about the Guardian of a lost hour of time, and one of Ellison's best (he wrote the story, which won a Hugo award, while writing the teleplay of the same title for "Twilight Zone" -- the teleplay won him his fourth Writers Guild of America Award). "The Region Between" (from the 1960s, the only non-"recent" story in the book) makes use of unusual graphics and layouts, and a few illustrations, to convey the idea of being between life and the afterlife. "On the Slab" is great Lovecraftian tale. "Laugh Track" is one of Ellison's funnier humorous stories, involving a guy who is a "sweetner" (people that make the canned laughter for pre-recorded TV shows, something they used to do ad nauseum for a long time) and the ghost of woman whose laugh can still be heard, decades later. "Eidolons" is another in Ellison's ongoing evolution as a writer (as he leans toward shorter, more "Borgesian" stories), and "Soft Monkey" is probably the best piece of crime fiction he ever wrote (also an Edgar Award winner). And the closer of this book, "The Function of Dream Sleep", is a surreal fantasy involving the loss of friends and something called the Thanatos mouth, which haunts a guy who has grown weary of seeing his friends pass away. (This collection, as a whole, won a World Fantasy Award).

SHATTERDAY. "Jeffty is Five" (one of his Nebula Award-winning stories) is a fantastic (in every possible way) story about the dangers of forgetting the past -- and staying too closely bound to it. "All the Lies That Are My Life" is a mainstream novella that takes metafictional conceit to a new, and creative, level. "All the Birds Come Home to Roos" is a seriously unsettling tale of a man who is revisited by all the women from his past, failed, love affairs. And "Shatterday" is about a man who literally splits in two, as his ID and EGO fight for dominance. Just about all of Ellison's early collections (those written before this 1980 book) featured introductions to all of the stories. After SHATTERDAY, he gave up the practice until 2015.

CAN & CANTANKEROUS. This is Ellison's last collection of short stories (2015). Not many people list it among their favorites, or recommend it, but I do. It's got some of Ellison's finest writing in it. "How Interesting: A Tiny Man" combines a bit of experimental writing (the story has two endings) with an interesting morality tale, of sorts, dealing with a society driven by media excess and rumor and innuendo (I also think there is a bit of metafiction referencing in the idea of the "creation" of the tiny man being analogous to the creation of a public persona -- but that's just me -- and a few reviewers said they noticed a "nod" to Shelley, and FRANKENSTEIN). That lead story also won Ellison his fourth Nebula award, and his THIRD Nebula for short fiction (something no other writer has yet equalled). "Never Send to Know for Whom the Lettuce Wilts" is a farcical sf story about a weird alien dude (who walks around with a button on his chest that reads Conqueror) whose efforts to conquer Earth involve demoralization, things like bent nails, wilted lettuce and the creation of the English language. "Objects of Desire in the Mirror are Closer Than They Appear" is another "written in the window" story (Ellison did it over 30 times!), this one written in a book store window after Chris Carter handed him the idea: a pregnant, 102 year-old corpse. "Loose Cannon, or Rubber Ducks from Space" is a frippery, a bit of flash fiction (Neil Gaiman wrote an introduction which is included). "From A to Z, In the Sarsaparilla Alphabet" is another "abc" story -- 26 short-short stories (he'd planned to do 3 or 4) - this one using gods and goddesses as a thematic thread. It's actually one of his finest fictions, moving from straight up hilarious ("A is for Archon", "B is for Banshee" to dark fantasy tales that resonate daily ("N is for Nidhoog", which deals with racism). "Weariness" (a story Ellison wrote in a few hours, while teaching other folks at a seminar) is short, thoughtful, and philosophical (and it even harkens back to "Strange Wine", a story from an earlier collection). "The Toad Prince, or Sex Queen of the Martian Pleasure-Domes" is a tongue-in-cheek piece of pulp fiction cobbled up from the pieces of an old story that (for reasons explained) never quite got published back in the '50s. It's loopy, goofy and fun in a not-so-serious way. "Incognita, Inc." is one of Ellison's "magic shoppe" stories ("Shoppe Keeper", "The Cheese Stands Alone" are two earlier examples); this one deals with the guy who (working in one of those shops that seem to defy space and time) creates maps to all of the lands thought to be nonexistent (Shangrila, for example). It's also another riff on the idea that humans too easily throw away the past. "Goodbye to All That" is a whimsical story that Ellison wrote after seeing a painting by one of his artist friends (he actually wrote about 40 stories that way, but that, as they say, is another story). The painting features a guy hiking in the Himalayas…with a pair of golden arches distinctly visible in the distance. The final story , "He Who Grew Up Reading Sherlock Holmes", ties in thematically with the first story, in that it uses real life events to create a bit of autobiographical fiction that resonates long after the reading.

In addition to the stories in this book, Ellison -- for the first time since 2001 (when he issued a YA book of reprint stories) -- included little introduction and/or afterword pieces. And in addition to that, he included what can only be called "interstitial" writing -- before and after all of the stories, as well as in-between each one -- detailing his 2014 stroke. Like the majority of his nonfiction writing, it is quite moving.

----------------
I would also recommend MIND FIELDS, but, like the expanded version of DEATHBIRD STORIES or THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON, trying obtain it would likely entail your having to spend a bit of money. MIND FIELDS -- a book of 33 fictions, short stories and short-shorts -- is usually not mentioned in any of the summations about Ellison, or by very many reviewers. At the time it came out, not many people knew about it, because not many papers reviewed. Likely because it was a book full of Jacek Yerka's surrealist paintings, each one accompanied by a short story Ellison wrote about them. All the titles (save two) are Yerka's. The stories range from a whimsical frippery ("Express Delivery") to angry polemics ("Twilight in the Cupboard") to hard-boiled noir ("Base") to something close to poetry ("Darkness Falls On the River"). Nearly all of them involve some surrealism, since the paintings lead the way.

To fill in the gaps -- and get some stories from the early collections, as well as to read some classics NOT included in the above books -- you can head over to the Subterranean Press site and buy the e-book version of THE TOP OF THE VOLCANO. It's a collection of award-winning stories. In addition to "'Repent, Harlequin..." (which won the Hugo, Nebula, and, in 2015, the Prometheus Awards), stories in this collection NOT in the above-mentioned books are: "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream", "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World", "A Boy and His Dog", "Count the Clocks That Tell the Time", "Djinn, No Chaser", "With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole", and "The Human Operators" (written with A.E. Van Vogt, this is a story taken from PARTNERS IN WONDER, a collection from the '60s containing co-written stories).
(You can also get CAN & CANTANKEROUS in e-book from Subterranean).

-----

How's THAT for answering your question?

>19 Dr_Flanders: I have some of the collections mentioned above and can attest to the power of Ellison's best work. I don't think I've read anything of his that I would consider to be mediocre. Perhaps the best way to continue with Ellison is to go with The Top of the Volcano, mentioned in the last paragraph. As >20 Truett: said, all of its contents are award winners.

Podras: thanks, again, for the second. I know there are some who completely disagree, but that's life, so no big deal (and, I agree with Ellison's assessment that John Gardner referencing his work in THE ART OF FICTION, written in 1983, by tearing apart an Ellison story from the 1950s -- when he was still teaching himself his craft -- was strangely, and unnecessarily, meanspirited. By 1983, Gardner could easily have read works like DEATHBIRD STORIES, full of great stories, or STRANGE WINE and SHATTERDAY, or "A Boy and His Dog", or "'Repent, Harlequin..." and so on). (I still have some great Gardner books -- THE ART OF LIVING; OCTOBER LIGHT -- but I have FAR more Ellison. It's a shame, though, that his uneven book on writing is still used so reverently).

DR FLANDERS: For nonfiction, in addition to THE GLASS TEAT books, referenced above, AN EDGE IN MY VOICE -- a column which won the SILVER PEN AWARD from P.E.N. international -- is a GREAT piece of work, a terrific book. VERY moving, lots of laugh out loud and cry in your beer moments.

>20 Truett: What about The Top of the Volcano?

kdweber: read my loooong entry, above, a bit more closely. ;)
(I went back and corrected some typos, and missing words, for those driven nuts by such things. I typed it all up while trying to rush out the door to the dog park).

Dr. Flanders: Sorry for the looooong answer. I used to do some work that made use of similar "skills", so when writing about books or fiction I tend to sometimes go into that (admittedly long-winded) mode of communication. :)

>24 Truett: I need new glasses (seriously).

>20 Truett: I want to let you know that I really appreciate the time and thought you put into that response to my question. I'm sorry it took me so long to respond, but life has been getting in the way of my downtime recently. I enjoyed reading your suggestions on where to go next in my reading of Ellison's work. I'll probably refer back to this post multiple times as I work my way through his writings. I think I will follow your advice and try to pick up Deathbird Stories in the near future, because it sounds interesting, and I thought that Paingod was a really solid story. I had a chance to browse my local bookstore yesterday and they had a copy of Strange Wine so I picked that up.

Thanks again for the thoughtful suggestions, this will really help me decide how to go about reading Ellison. There are so many well regarded collections that I was really unsure about what direction to go next.

And if I haven't troubled you enough, here is one more quick question. I know that the novella A Boy and His Dog is included in the collection The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, but I am pretty sure that I have also run across an individually bound Ellison book titled Vic and Blood, which seems to be an expansion of the novella, maybe... Anyway, do you have any thoughts on which is the definitive version of that story, or does it matter?

>21 Podras.:
>23 kdweber: I appreciate both of your perspectives as well!

>26 Dr_Flanders: The Wikipedia article on A Boy and His Dog gives a good round-up of the publishing history of the Vic and Blood stories. It has been long enough since I read any of them that I don't recall much except for the one at the heart of the stories, A Boy and His Dog itself, and that was reinforced by rereading it out loud to my wife and seeing the movie. The ending of the story helps make it especially memorable; one might have to think a bit to appreciate the consequences. The ending was made a little more explicit in the movie, yet a prominent movie critic was completely baffled by it. I recommend that if you decide to see the movie, read the story first.

>27 Podras.: Thanks Podras. I haven't seen the movie either, so I will keep that in mind. The novella seems so well regarded that I'd hate to spoil it by watching the film, though I realize that people seem to really appreciate the adaptation as well.

Dr Flanders: MY turn to be a bit slow in replying (I meant to do so about 12 hours ago -- after making a comment on another thread, but was distracted by other matters).

VIC & BLOOD is a fine example of the graphic novel, or comic book. An orignial American art form that Ellison championed because, like a lot of us out here, it helped get him excited about reading in his youth. And it is, along with the unproduced script, quite frankly, the closest think to a pure cinematic experience (as long as the screenwriter is top-notch, or the comic book adapter and artist are likewise -- and as long as your imagination, and ability to mentally visualize, is like-wise).

I'll second the motion of Podras for you to check out the novella, "A Boy and His Dog", first -- before checking out the graphic novel, and before seeing the film. ESPECIALLY before the film. LQ Jones is a nice guy, but as Harlan pointed out many times over the years, JONES wrote most of the film script (Ellison did about 10 pages at the time). And JONES is responsible for the frat-boy bits of humor, ESPECIALLY the very last line in the film. The novella does NOT end the same way. It is not only more somber, it is more serious in tone at the end (as it should be). The way the film ends has resulted in just a lot of women, feminist or otherwise, being repulsed. (Don't get me wrong: I own a DVD copy, and like the movie for what it is -- but it isn't a 100 percent faithful adaptation).

Check out the novella, first (as I said: you can get an ebook of THE TOP OF THE VOLCANO from subterranean for about $10, and get the novella plus a handful of other stories NOT in the books mentioned above).

VIC & BLOOD -- the later editions -- also include printed versions of "A Boy and His Dog" AND of "Eggsucker" and "Run Spot, Run", two excellent short stories that were -- along with the novella -- to become parts of a long novel. A broken form of that novel -- BLOOD'S A ROVER -- was published just before Ellison's death. It contained the aforementioned ficitons, plus "This is a Conversation That Took Place on A Wednesday" (a VERY well-written short-short that deepened the character of Blood, the telepathic dog, and linked the stories together more tightly) and a "Blood's a Rover", an old 1970s teleplay that Ellison wrote for ABC but which they ended up deciding not to produce. That book, and an ebook version, is likewise published by Subterranean (which became Ellison's defacto hardcover publisher in the last 10 years or so).

>29 Truett: Thanks for clearing that up for me. I've got a stack of books sitting on my bookshelf to read, but it looks like I need to add a bunch of Ellison!

Dr Flanders: No sweat. For my money, the novella "Blood's a Rover" IS the best piece (of all the fictions that were to be gathered, with interstitial material, as a novel, along with a prose version of the teleplay mentioned above). It's definitely a classic, and definitely worth reading (which is why I mentioned the ebook including it). A LOT of people miss the point of the novella, and some have even thought it was sexist. Those are the people who, as Ellison once said, completely miss the fact that the telepathic dog, Blood, is the smart and civilized one. That HE only partakes of certain meals for survival's sake. And that he is always giving the humans (usually boys, sometimes girls) "guff" for not being able to control their libidos.
But the two short stories, "Eggsucker" and "Run, Spot, Run" are solid short stories, with the latter piece rising up to the quality of "A Boy and His Dog".
That short-short I mentioned above ("This is a Conversation That Took Place...") was written during what I can only think of as Ellison's "third act" (from about 1999 onward). Most of the writing for CAN & CAN'TANKEROUS was written during that period. And it is quite good. Which makes it more a pity to have learned (via an editor's introduction for the novel, BLOOD'S A ROVER) that before the 2014 stroke really laid him low, Ellison (apparently, he was doing well for a year or two after that) was working on another short story about Vic & Blood (and, perhaps, Spike, a girl rover who appears in the teleplay) entitled "Lying Doggo". (Gotta love that title).

The executor of Harlan Ellison's estate has has announced that Harlan Ellison's loooooooooong delayed original anthology of short stories, The Last Dangerous Visions, will finally be published. It will include some of the stories collected back when as well as more contemporary works. The report appeared here. Funds to support the project are being solicited.

Hey, Pod: saw that a few days ago. Didn't think anyone here would be interested, and wasn't sure I should post about it (especially given the way things went with my last Ellison thread).

Like I said, before, only met him once -- at dinner with Ellison & their wives -- but, Joe seems like a nice guy. And he's a talented writer, and not just in the TV & flim arena (he's also done everything novels and short stories to comic books).

AND, most importantly, in this case, Joe is very loyal to Ellison and his body of work. It'll be interesting to see how all it all works out. I imagine some of the "heavy hitter" contemporary writers will definitely include Neil Gaiman (he & Ellison had been working on a short story together), and perhaps even Stephen King. It'll be especially terrific if SF writers like N.K. Jemsin and/or Kij Johnson, Marlon James or even Colson Whitehead decide to give it a go. And reading that last piece by Ellison (likely an essay, since I know of one really long one still unpublished) will be sweet. It's a MAJOR undertaking, but Joe is the man to do it (I STILL think he was criminally short-changed by the Oscar folks for his "Changling" script).