The Essential Ellison

In April of 1949, Harlan Ellison was a lonely little kid living in Painesville, Ohio. A time traveler, observing him from within an invisible bubble, would not have marked him as anything more interesting than an undersized fourteen-year-old, seemingly always in hot water. Lively blue eyes, but basically just another kid." "But something was stirring, something was wakening in that nexus of energy. And in The Cleveland News of June 7th, little more than a week after he turned fifteen, Harlan Ellison's first professional writing appeared in print: the initial installment of a five-part adventure serial (liberally cribbed from Sir Walter Scott) titled "The Sword of Parmagon."" "Now, in a retrospective, 50 years of the best of Harlan Ellison has been assembled in a volume exceeding 1200 pages, encompassing fiction, essays, personal reminiscences, reviews and (published for the first time anywhere) a complete teleplay. Eighty-six complete and (with one exception) unabridged examples of the nonpareil writings of the man The Los Angeles Times labels "the 20th Century Lewis Carroll."

Contents:

1 · Introduction: Sublime Rebel · Terry Dowling · in
5 · Beginnings · Misc. Material · si
11 · The Sword of Parmagon · ss The Cleveland News, 1949
17 · The Gloconda · ss The Cleveland News, 1949
23 · The Wilder One · vi Sundial Jan ’55
25 · The Saga of Machine Gun Joe · vi Sundial Jan ’55
27 · Introduction to Glowworm · is Unearth Win ’77
30 · Glowworm · ss Infinity Science Fiction Feb ’56; slightly revised and expanded
41 · Life Hutch [Kyben] · ss If Apr ’56
53 · S.R.O. [as by Ellis Hart] · ss Amazing Mar ’57
63 · Worlds of Terror · Misc. Material · si
67 · Lonelyache · ss Knight Jul ’64
83 · Punky & the Yale Man · nv Knight Jan ’66
107 · A Prayer for No One’s Enemy · nv Cad Mar ’66
125 · Worlds of Love · Misc. Material · si
129 · In Lonely Lands · ss Fantastic Universe Jan ’59
135 · The Time of the Eye · ss The Saint Detective Magazine May ’59
143 · Grail · nv Twilight Zone Apr ’81
163 · That New Old-Time Religion · Misc. Material · si
167 · I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream · ss If Mar ’67
181 · Corpse · ss F&SF Jan ’72
189 · The Whimper of Whipped Dogs · ss Bad Moon Rising, ed. Thomas M. Disch, Harper & Row, 1973
205 · A Stab of Merriment · Misc. Material · si
209 · The Voice in the Garden · vi Lighthouse Jun ’67
211 · Erotophobia · ss Penthouse Aug ’71
217 · Mom · nv Silver Foxes Aug ’76
229 · Ecowareness · ss Sideshow Sep ’74
231 · The Outpost Undiscovered By Tourists · ss F&SF Jan ’82
235 · Dept. of “What Was the Question?” Dept. · ms *
237 · From Competition 4: Story Leads from the Year’s Worst Fantasy and SF · ms F&SF Apr ’73
238 · From Competition 8: Near-Miss SF Titles · ms F&SF Sep ’74
239 · From Competition 23: Unwieldy SF Titles · ms F&SF Feb ’80
239 · From Competition 26: Imaginary Collaborations · ms F&SF Mar ’81
240 · From Competition 39: Complete the Following Sentence... · ms F&SF Mar ’86
241 · Trouble with Women · Misc. Material · si
245 · The Very Last Day of a Good Woman [“The Last Day”] · ss Rogue Nov ’58
253 · Valerie: A True Memoir · ar Los Angeles Free Press Nov 3-24 ’72
267 · The Other Eye of Polyphemus · ss Cosmos SF&F Magazine Nov ’77
275 · All the Birds Come Home to Roost · ss Playboy Mar ’79
287 · To the Mattresses with Mean Demons · Misc. Material · si
293 · The Tombs: An Excerpt from Memos from Purgatory · ar Memos from Purgatory, Harlan Ellison, Regency, 1961
333 · “Our Little Miss” · ar Los Angeles Free Press, 1970
341 · A Love Song for Jerry Falwell · ar, 1984
347 · Telltale Tics and Tremors · ar Unearth Fll ’77
357 · True Love: Groping for the Holy Grail [“How I Survived the Great Videotape Matchmaker”] · ar Los Angeles Magazine, 1978
377 · Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54’ N, Longitude 77° 00’ 13" W · nv F&SF Oct ’74
407 · Rococo Technology · Misc. Material · si
413 · The Sky Is Burning · ss If Aug ’58
421 · The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World · nv Dangerous Visions, ed. Harlan Ellison, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967
439 · Along the Scenic Route [“Dogfight on 101”] · ss Adam Aug ’69; Amazing Sep ’69
449 · The Song the Zombie Sang · Harlan Ellison & Robert Silverberg · ss Cosmopolitan Dec ’70
461 · Knox · ss Crawdaddy Mar ’74
475 · Heart’s Blood · Misc. Material · si
481 · From Alabamy, with Hate [“March to Montgomery”] · ar Knight Sep ’65
493 · My Father · ar Los Angeles Free Press, 1972
499 · My Mother · ar Saint Louis Literary Supplement, 1976
507 · Tired Old Man · ss Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Jan ’76
517 · Gopher in the Gilly · ss Stalking the Nightmare, Phantasia, 1982
523 · Strange Wine · ss Amazing Jun ’76
531 · Nights & Days in Good Old Hollyweird · Misc. Material · si
537 · The Resurgence of Miss Ankle-Strap Wedgie · na Love Ain’t Nothing But Sex Misspelled, Trident, 1968
607 · Flintlock: An Unproduced Teleplay (1972) · pl *
687 · The Man on the Mushroom · in Ellison Wonderland, Paperback Library, 1974
691 · Somehow, I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas, Toto · ar Genesis Jun ’74; revised
707 · Face-Down in Gloria Swanson’s Swimming Pool · ar Los Angeles Magazine, 1978
711 · Petards & Hangings · Misc. Material · si
715 · Soldier [“Soldier from Tomorrow”] · nv Fantastic Universe Oct ’57
735 · The Night of Delicate Terrors · ss The Paper: A Chicago Weekly Apr 8 ’61
743 · Shattered Like a Glass Goblin · ss Orbit 4, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968
751 · At the Mouse Circus · ss New Dimensions I, ed. Robert Silverberg, Doubleday, 1971
759 · Shadows from the Past · Misc. Material · si
763 · Free with This Box! · ss The Saint Detective Magazine Mar ’58
771 · Final Shtick · ss Rogue Aug ’60
781 · One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty · ss Orbit 8, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970
795 · Jeffty Is Five · ss F&SF Jul ’77
813 · Contracts on the Soul · Misc. Material · si
817 · Daniel White for the Greater Good · ss Rogue Mar ’61
827 · Neither Your Jenny Nor Mine · ss Knight Apr ’64
861 · Alive and Well and on a Friendless Voyage · ss F&SF Jul ’77
871 · The Classics · Misc. Material · si
877 · “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman · ss Galaxy Dec ’65
887 · Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes · nv Knight May ’67
905 · A Boy and His Dog [Vic & Blood] · nv New Worlds Apr ’69; revised
939 · The Deathbird · nv F&SF Mar ’73
965 · Dark Liberation · Misc. Material · si
971 · The Thick Red Moment · ar The Los Angeles Weekly News, 1981
989 · The Man Who Was Heavily into Revenge · ss Analog Aug ’78
1003 · Driving in the Spikes · ar Los Angeles Magazine, 1983
1015 · Afterword · aw