Harlan Ellison is a spectacular, emotional, controversial writer of mostly short stories - reading him is always a personal experience. Every story is polished, sincere and uncompromising. I am particularly fond of his "angry candies": short explosive bursts of fiction with lingering surreal aftertaste (though, I repeat, his stories may not be to everyone's taste).
Nabrah Nosilie, Ivar Jorgensen, Sley Harson, Landon Ellis, Derry Tiger, Price Curtis, Paul Merchant, Lee Archer, E.K. Jarvis, Clyde Mitchell, Cordwainer Bird, Phil "Cheech" Beldone, C. Bird, Jay Charby, Wallace Edmondson, Ellis Hart, Al Maddern, Bert Parker, Jay Solo.
This story comes form a very prolific period in Ellison's writing career: He lived in New York and submitted (together with his buddy Robert Silverberg) a flood of stories to second rate publishers of SF, crime fiction and westerns. The paycheck was good and immediate, the times were good too - he nostalgically remembers the "Roaring Fifties", when one could have a viewing of top-notch Broadway production and then hole up in a jazz bar with the legends playing live - all for a very reasonable price. Granted, the short story market was already cooling off, but Ellison had found an almost perfect outlet for his "edgy" sci-fi & crime fiction - the magazine editors lapped up his stories with poorly concealed glee, slapping the most outrageous titles on his (not that graphic, really) stories: "Homicidal Maniac", "Psycho at Mid-Point" etc. All the more amazing is the fact that Ellison's fiction from that period is still reprinted and enjoyed today (while Silverberg's mountains of wordage lie mercifully forgotten). "The Abnormals" is a cool story, really - in fact some say that its TV version (written by Ellison and Josh Olson and directed by Jonathan Frakes) is perhaps the best episode of "Masters of Science Fiction" aired on ABC.
A spaceship full of mutants is exiled from Earth and turned into a nomadic tribe to haunt the spaceways. This is a classic premise, a paen to loneliness and alienation (certainly recurring themes in Ellison's writing). Robert Heinlein's mutants inside a "generation" starship ("The Universe", or "Orphans in the Sky") still haunt my memory as the creepiest environment to grace space science fiction. Ellison's heroes are disfigured, disillusioned and tough - and it just so happens that Earth finally remembers them, needs their help and wants them back. Earth rulers don't really get "the finger", but they come close. Knowing that some Ellison stories end with that "all-encompassing proposition" it is no surprise. Read for yourself - this is pure pulp entertainment.
Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13 W"
"All the Lies That Are My Life"
"All the Sounds of Fear"
"Back to the Drawing Boards"
"Big Sam Was My Friend"
"The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
This is surreal story as well, almost as Ellison ate some lettuce, drenched in marijuana and mushroom sauce. At least he hid under a pen-name here... I could not make much sense of this (supposedly humorous) story. Ellison was very active in 1956, writing dozens of slightly mad stories, which pulp magazines (in a beginning of their decline) gobbled up. However, some stories of his early period are total SF blockbusters, as you will see in later reviews.
"Chained to the Fast Lane in the Red Queen's Race"
"Come to Me Not in Winter's White"
"Count the Clock That Tells the Time"
"Ernest and the Machine God"
"From A to Z, In the Chocolate Alphabet"
"The Function of Dream Sleep"
"The Goddess in the Ice"
"His First Day at War"
"How's the Night Life on Cissalda?"
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"
"I See a Man Sitting on a Chair, and the Chair Is Biting His Leg"
I've just read four shorts in 'Deathbird Stories' and I was dissapointed with them all.
1. It was an 'alright' story. This was my first read of Ellison, and it didn't prove him a genius.
2. Horrible. I couldn't wait for it to end.
3. Bleeding Stone was all about 'shock value'. Great story idea, very horrible images, but it left you empty. Really no feelings at all about this one. I don't recommend it.
4. This one seemed like it would be a great read. It appears he 'trys' to rewrite Genesis or something to that line, but he interrupts the story several times with 'eassys' and 'quizzes'. I don't know why. Is he making fun of the school system? Of the way the Bible is wrote? But it took away from the main story.
After reading these four shorts, I can't see why anybody would call Ellison a great writer. I'm sorry to all the people that love him, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. Its a shame, I always enjoyed his 'comic book' adaptations.
This is really a great site you got going on here. Very informative. I never knew he had a pen name Cordwainer Bird! Its funny 'cause I'm actually reading Cordwainer Smith right now! Keep up the good work. Love the 'pulp' images too! Very nice touch!
Yes, this is one way of looking at Ellison: confusing stylistically, too demanding emotionally and not too focused on the plot. He has this effect on people, you know, they either love him or hate him. Much like the Cornelius Chronicles of Michael Moorcock - experimental and at times annoying stuff. The controversy around his writing mostly comes from the emotional "click" you gotta have with his personality in order to fully enjoy his stories. Kind of like Zen moment... and the world is split on how to handle Ellison's written "angry candies" to this very day.
I enjoyed your thoughts about this collection, and will post parts of your review in the entry. Thank you for it and for good words about the site.