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Search - List of Books by Harlan Ellison
"To say more, is to say less." -- Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.
His published works include over 1,000 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. He was editor and anthologist for two ground-breaking science fiction anthologies, Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions. Ellison has won numerous awards - more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author - including multiple Hugo, Nebula and Edgars.
His published works include over 1,000 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. He was editor and anthologist for two ground-breaking science fiction anthologies, Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions. Ellison has won numerous awards - more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author - including multiple Hugo, Nebula and Edgars.
Quotes more » « less
"I don't mind you thinking I'm stupid, but don't talk to me like I'm stupid.""I hate being wrong, but I love it when I'm set straight.""I have no mouth, and I must scream.""Love ain't nothing but sex misspelled.""The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.""When belief in a god dies, the god dies."
Early Life and Career more » « less
Ellison was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 27, 1934. His Jewish-American family subsequently moved to Painesville, Ohio, but returned to Cleveland in 1949, following his father's death. As a child, he had a brief career performing in minstrel shows. He frequently ran away from home, taking an array of odd jobs—including, by age eighteen, "tuna fisherman off the coast of Galveston, itinerant crop-picker down in New Orleans, hired gun for a wealthy neurotic, nitroglycerine truck driver in North Carolina, short order cook, cab driver, lithographer, book salesman, floorwalker in a department store, door-to-door brush salesman, and as a youngster, an actor in several productions at the Cleveland Play House".
Ellison attended Ohio State University for 18 months (1951—53) before being expelled. He has said that the expulsion was a result of his hitting a professor who had denigrated his writing ability, and that over the next forty-odd years he had sent that professor a copy of every story he published.
Ellison moved to New York City in 1955 to pursue a writing career, primarily in science fiction. Over the next two years, he published more than 100 short stories and articles. He married Charlotte Stein in 1956 but they divorced four years later. In 1957, Ellison decided to write about youth gangs. To research the issue, he joined a street gang in the Red Hook, Brooklyn area, under the name "Cheech Beldone". His subsequent writings on the subject include the novel, Web of the City/Rumble, and the collection, The Deadly Streets, and also compose part of his memoir, Memos from Purgatory.
Ellison was drafted into the army, serving from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, he returned to New York, living at 95 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Moving to Chicago, Ellison wrote for William Hamling's Rogue magazine. As a book editor at Hamling's Regency Books, Hamling published novels and anthologies by such writers as B. Traven, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Bloch and Philip José Farmer, Clarence Cooper Jr and Ellison.
In the late 1950s, Ellison wrote a number of erotic stories, such as "God Bless the Ugly Virgin" and "Tramp", which were later reprinted in Los Angeles-based girlie magazines. That was his first use of the pseudonym Cordwainer Bird. He used the name in July and August 1957, in two journals, each of which had accepted two of his stories. In each journal, one story was published under the name Harlan Ellison, and the other under Cordwainer Bird. Later, as discussed in the Controversy section below, he used the pseudonym when he disagreed with the use or editing of his work.
Ellison was allegedly fired on his first day of work as a writer at Disney Studios for loudly suggesting in the cafeteria they should make a "Disney porn-flick".
In 1961, Ellison married Billie Joyce Sanders, his second wife, but they later divorced.
Ellison attended Ohio State University for 18 months (1951—53) before being expelled. He has said that the expulsion was a result of his hitting a professor who had denigrated his writing ability, and that over the next forty-odd years he had sent that professor a copy of every story he published.
Ellison moved to New York City in 1955 to pursue a writing career, primarily in science fiction. Over the next two years, he published more than 100 short stories and articles. He married Charlotte Stein in 1956 but they divorced four years later. In 1957, Ellison decided to write about youth gangs. To research the issue, he joined a street gang in the Red Hook, Brooklyn area, under the name "Cheech Beldone". His subsequent writings on the subject include the novel, Web of the City/Rumble, and the collection, The Deadly Streets, and also compose part of his memoir, Memos from Purgatory.
Ellison was drafted into the army, serving from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, he returned to New York, living at 95 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Moving to Chicago, Ellison wrote for William Hamling's Rogue magazine. As a book editor at Hamling's Regency Books, Hamling published novels and anthologies by such writers as B. Traven, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Bloch and Philip José Farmer, Clarence Cooper Jr and Ellison.
In the late 1950s, Ellison wrote a number of erotic stories, such as "God Bless the Ugly Virgin" and "Tramp", which were later reprinted in Los Angeles-based girlie magazines. That was his first use of the pseudonym Cordwainer Bird. He used the name in July and August 1957, in two journals, each of which had accepted two of his stories. In each journal, one story was published under the name Harlan Ellison, and the other under Cordwainer Bird. Later, as discussed in the Controversy section below, he used the pseudonym when he disagreed with the use or editing of his work.
Ellison was allegedly fired on his first day of work as a writer at Disney Studios for loudly suggesting in the cafeteria they should make a "Disney porn-flick".
In 1961, Ellison married Billie Joyce Sanders, his second wife, but they later divorced.
Hollywood and Beyond more » « less
Ellison moved to California in 1962, and subsequently began to sell his writing to Hollywood. He wrote the screenplay for The Oscar, starring Stephen Boyd and Elke Sommer. Ellison also sold scripts to many television shows: The Flying Nun, Burke's Law, Route 66, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cimarron Strip and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
During the late 1960s, Ellison wrote a column about television for the Los Angeles Free Press. Titled "The Glass Teat", the column addressed political and social issues and their portrayal on television at the time. The columns were gathered into two collections, The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat.
He was a participant in the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also in 1965, he married his third wife, Lory Patrick, but they later divorced.
In 1966, in an article that Esquire magazine would later name as the best magazine piece ever written, the journalist Gay Talese wrote about the goings-on around the enigmatic Frank Sinatra. The article, entitled "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold", briefly describes a clash between the young Harlan Ellison and Frank Sinatra, when the crooner took exception to Ellison's boots during a billiards game.
Ellison continued to publish short fiction and nonfiction pieces in various publications, including some of his best known stories. "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" (1965) is a celebration of civil disobedience against repressive authority. "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (1967) is an allegory of Hell, where five humans are tormented by an all-knowing computer throughout eternity. The story was the basis of a 1995 computer game, with Ellison participating in the game's design and providing the voice of the god-computer AM. "A Boy and His Dog" examines the nature of friendship and love in a violent, post-apocalyptic world. It was made into the 1975 film of the same name, starring Don Johnson.
In 1976, Ellison married his fourth wife, Lori Horowitz. They later divorced. On September 7, 1986, Ellison married Susan Toth (his fifth wife), whom he had met in Scotland the year before.
He also edited the influential science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions (1967), which collected stories commissioned by Ellison, accompanied by his commentary-laden biographical sketches of the authors. He challenged the authors to write stories at the edge of the genre. Many of the stories went beyond the traditional boundaries of science fiction pioneered by respected old school editors such as John W. Campbell, Jr. As an editor, Ellison was influenced and inspired by experimentation in the popular literature of the time, such as the beats. A sequel, Again Dangerous Visions, was published in 1972. A third volume, The Last Dangerous Visions, has been repeatedly postponed (see Controversy).
Ellison served as creative consultant to the science fiction TV series The Twilight Zone (1980s version) and Babylon 5. As a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), he has voice-over credits for shows including The Pirates of Dark Water, Mother Goose and Grimm, Space Cases, Phantom 2040, and Babylon 5, as well as making an onscreen appearance in the Babylon 5 episode "The Face of the Enemy".
Ellison has commented on a great many movies and television programs (see The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat for television criticism and commentary; see Harlan Ellison's Watching for movie criticism and commentary), both negatively and positively.
He does all his writing on a manual Olympia typewriter, and has a substantial distaste for personal computers and most of the Internet.
For two years, beginning in 1986, Ellison took over as host of the Friday-night radio program, Hour 25 on Pacifica Radio station KPFK-FM, Los Angeles, after the death of Mike Hodel, the show's founder and original host. Ellison had been a frequent and favorite guest on the long-running program. In one episode, he brought in his typewriter and proceeded to write a new short story live on the air (he titled the story "Hitler Painted Roses"). Hour 25 also served as the inspiration for his story, "The Hour That Stretches".
Ellison's 1992 short story "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" was selected for inclusion in the 1993 edition of The Best American Short Stories.
Ellison was hired as a writer for Walt Disney Studios, but was fired on his first day after being overheard by Roy O. Disney in the studio commissary joking about making a pornographic animated film featuring Disney characters. He recounted this incident in his book Stalking the Nightmare, as part 3 of an essay titled "The 3 Most Important Things in Life".
Ellison has provided vocal narration to numerous audiobooks, both of his own writing and others. Ellison has helped narrate books by authors such as Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Jack Williamson and Terry Pratchett.
Ellison lives in Los Angeles, California with Susan, his fifth wife. In 1994, he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery.
He had his own name trademarked in 2005, registered by The Kilimanjaro Corporation, which Ellison owns, and under which all his work is copyrighted.
During the late 1960s, Ellison wrote a column about television for the Los Angeles Free Press. Titled "The Glass Teat", the column addressed political and social issues and their portrayal on television at the time. The columns were gathered into two collections, The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat.
He was a participant in the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also in 1965, he married his third wife, Lory Patrick, but they later divorced.
In 1966, in an article that Esquire magazine would later name as the best magazine piece ever written, the journalist Gay Talese wrote about the goings-on around the enigmatic Frank Sinatra. The article, entitled "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold", briefly describes a clash between the young Harlan Ellison and Frank Sinatra, when the crooner took exception to Ellison's boots during a billiards game.
Ellison continued to publish short fiction and nonfiction pieces in various publications, including some of his best known stories. "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" (1965) is a celebration of civil disobedience against repressive authority. "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (1967) is an allegory of Hell, where five humans are tormented by an all-knowing computer throughout eternity. The story was the basis of a 1995 computer game, with Ellison participating in the game's design and providing the voice of the god-computer AM. "A Boy and His Dog" examines the nature of friendship and love in a violent, post-apocalyptic world. It was made into the 1975 film of the same name, starring Don Johnson.
In 1976, Ellison married his fourth wife, Lori Horowitz. They later divorced. On September 7, 1986, Ellison married Susan Toth (his fifth wife), whom he had met in Scotland the year before.
He also edited the influential science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions (1967), which collected stories commissioned by Ellison, accompanied by his commentary-laden biographical sketches of the authors. He challenged the authors to write stories at the edge of the genre. Many of the stories went beyond the traditional boundaries of science fiction pioneered by respected old school editors such as John W. Campbell, Jr. As an editor, Ellison was influenced and inspired by experimentation in the popular literature of the time, such as the beats. A sequel, Again Dangerous Visions, was published in 1972. A third volume, The Last Dangerous Visions, has been repeatedly postponed (see Controversy).
Ellison served as creative consultant to the science fiction TV series The Twilight Zone (1980s version) and Babylon 5. As a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), he has voice-over credits for shows including The Pirates of Dark Water, Mother Goose and Grimm, Space Cases, Phantom 2040, and Babylon 5, as well as making an onscreen appearance in the Babylon 5 episode "The Face of the Enemy".
Ellison has commented on a great many movies and television programs (see The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat for television criticism and commentary; see Harlan Ellison's Watching for movie criticism and commentary), both negatively and positively.
He does all his writing on a manual Olympia typewriter, and has a substantial distaste for personal computers and most of the Internet.
For two years, beginning in 1986, Ellison took over as host of the Friday-night radio program, Hour 25 on Pacifica Radio station KPFK-FM, Los Angeles, after the death of Mike Hodel, the show's founder and original host. Ellison had been a frequent and favorite guest on the long-running program. In one episode, he brought in his typewriter and proceeded to write a new short story live on the air (he titled the story "Hitler Painted Roses"). Hour 25 also served as the inspiration for his story, "The Hour That Stretches".
Ellison's 1992 short story "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" was selected for inclusion in the 1993 edition of The Best American Short Stories.
Ellison was hired as a writer for Walt Disney Studios, but was fired on his first day after being overheard by Roy O. Disney in the studio commissary joking about making a pornographic animated film featuring Disney characters. He recounted this incident in his book Stalking the Nightmare, as part 3 of an essay titled "The 3 Most Important Things in Life".
Ellison has provided vocal narration to numerous audiobooks, both of his own writing and others. Ellison has helped narrate books by authors such as Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Jack Williamson and Terry Pratchett.
Ellison lives in Los Angeles, California with Susan, his fifth wife. In 1994, he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery.
He had his own name trademarked in 2005, registered by The Kilimanjaro Corporation, which Ellison owns, and under which all his work is copyrighted.
Pseudonyms more » « less
Ellison has on occasion used the pseudonym Cordwainer Bird to alert members of the public to situations in which he feels his creative contribution to a project has been mangled beyond repair by others, typically Hollywood producers or studios (see also Alan Smithee). The first such work to which he signed the name was "The Price of Doom," an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (though it was misspelled as Cord Wainer Bird in the credits). An episode of Burke's Law ("Who Killed Alex Debbs?") accredited to Ellison contains a character given this name.
The "Cordwainer Bird" moniker is a tribute to fellow SF writer Paul M. A. Linebarger, better known by his pen name, Cordwainer Smith. The origin of the word "cordwainer" is shoemaker (from working with cordovan leather for shoes). The term used by Linebarger was meant to imply the industriousness of the pulp author. Ellison has said, in interviews and in his writing, that his version of the pseudonym was meant to mean "a shoemaker for birds". Since he has used the pseudonym mainly for works he wants to distance himself from, it may be understood to mean that "this work is for the birds" or that it is of as much use as shoes to a bird. Stephen King once said he thought that it meant that Ellison was giving people who mangled his work a literary version of "the bird" (given credence by Ellison himself in his own essay titled "Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto", describing his experience with the Starlost television series).
The Bird moniker has since become a character in one of Ellison's own stories, not without some prompting. In his book Strange Wine, Ellison explains the origins of the Bird and goes on to state that Philip Jose Farmer wrote Cordwainer into the Wold Newton family the latter writer had developed. The thought of such a whimsical object lesson being related to such lights as Savage, the Shadow, Tarzan, and all the other pulp heroes prompted Ellison to play with the concept, resulting in The New York Review Of Bird, in which an annoyed Bird uncovers the darker secrets of then begins pulpish slaughter of the New York Literary Establishment.
The "Cordwainer Bird" moniker is a tribute to fellow SF writer Paul M. A. Linebarger, better known by his pen name, Cordwainer Smith. The origin of the word "cordwainer" is shoemaker (from working with cordovan leather for shoes). The term used by Linebarger was meant to imply the industriousness of the pulp author. Ellison has said, in interviews and in his writing, that his version of the pseudonym was meant to mean "a shoemaker for birds". Since he has used the pseudonym mainly for works he wants to distance himself from, it may be understood to mean that "this work is for the birds" or that it is of as much use as shoes to a bird. Stephen King once said he thought that it meant that Ellison was giving people who mangled his work a literary version of "the bird" (given credence by Ellison himself in his own essay titled "Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto", describing his experience with the Starlost television series).
The Bird moniker has since become a character in one of Ellison's own stories, not without some prompting. In his book Strange Wine, Ellison explains the origins of the Bird and goes on to state that Philip Jose Farmer wrote Cordwainer into the Wold Newton family the latter writer had developed. The thought of such a whimsical object lesson being related to such lights as Savage, the Shadow, Tarzan, and all the other pulp heroes prompted Ellison to play with the concept, resulting in The New York Review Of Bird, in which an annoyed Bird uncovers the darker secrets of then begins pulpish slaughter of the New York Literary Establishment.
Controversies more » « less
Temperament
Ellison has a reputation for being abrasive and argumentative. He has generally agreed with this assessment, and a dust jacket from one of Ellison's books described him as "possibly the most contentious person on Earth". Ellison has filed numerous grievance filings and lawsuit attempts that have been characterized as both justifiable and frivolous. His friend Isaac Asimov noted, "Harlan uses his gifts for colorful and variegated invective on those who irritate him — intrusive fans, obdurate editors, callous publishers, offensive strangers." Another friend, writer Robert Bloch, spoke at a roast for Ellison, saying that other people take infinite pains; "Harlan gives them."He appeared on Politically Incorrect, and had a regular spot on the Sci-Fi Buzz program on the fledgling Sci Fi Channel. Ellison's segments were broadcast from 1994 to 1997. Some transcripts are available. Ellison was also a frequent visitor on Tom Snyder's The Tomorrow Show in the late 1970s and The Late Late Show in the 1990s.
Aggiecon I
In 1969, Ellison was Guest of Honor at Texas A&M University's first science fiction convention, Aggiecon, where he reportedly referred to the Corps of Cadets as "...America's next generation of Nazis...", inspired in part by the continuing Vietnam War. Although the university was no longer solely a military school (as of 1965), the studentry was predominantly made up of cadet members. Between Ellison's anti-military remarks and a food-fight that broke out in the ballroom of the hotel where the gathering was held (although according to Ellison in 2000, the food-fight actually started in a Denny's because the staff disappeared and they could not get their check), the school's administration almost refused to approve the science fiction convention the next year, and no guest of honor was invited for the next two Aggiecons. However, Ellison was subsequently invited back as Guest of Honor for Aggiecon V (1974) and Aggiecon XXXI (2000).The Starlost
The screenplay for his projected television series The Starlost was also given a Writers Guild Award, though the actual series, produced in 1973-74, was so altered by the producers that Ellison had his name removed from the credits and replaced with the pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" (see above).Star Trek
Ellison has repeatedly criticized how Star Trek creator and producer Gene Roddenberry (and others) rewrote his original script for the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". Ellison's original work included a subplot involving drug dealing aboard the Enterprise and other elements that Roddenberry rejected. Despite his objections, he kept his legal name on the result instead of using his "Cordwainer Bird" nom-de-plume. Ellison's original script was eventually reprinted in the 1976 collection Six Science Fiction Plays, edited by Roger Elwood. In 1995, White Wolf Publishing released Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever, a book that included the original script, several story treatments, and a long introductory essay by Ellison explaining his position on what he called a "fatally inept treatment". Both versions won prestigious awards.On March 13, 2009, Ellison sued CBS Paramount Television, seeking payment of 25% of net receipts from merchandising, publishing, and other income from the episode since 1967; the suit also names the Writers Guild of America for allegedly failing to act on Ellison's behalf. On October 23, 2009, Variety magazine reported that a settlement had been reached.
The Last Dangerous Visions
The Last Dangerous Visions (TLDV), the third volume of Ellison's anthology series, has become science fiction's most famous unpublished book. It was originally announced for publication in 1973, but has not seen print to date. Nearly 150 (many now dead) writers submitted works for the volume. In 1993 Ellison threatened to sue New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) for publishing "Himself in Anachron", a short story written by Cordwainer Smith and sold to Ellison for the book by his widow, but later reached an amicable settlement.British science fiction author Christopher Priest critiqued Ellison's editorial practices in an article entitled "The Book on the Edge of Forever", later expanded into a book. Priest documented a half-dozen unfilled promises by Ellison to publish TLDV within a year of the statement. Priest claims he submitted a story at Ellison's request which Ellison retained for several months until Priest withdrew the story and demanded that Ellison return the manuscript. Ellison has a record of fulfilling obligations in other instances (though sometimes, as with Harlan Ellison's Hornbook for Mirage Press, several decades after the contract was signed), including to writers whose stories he solicited.
I, Robot
Shortly after the release of Star Wars (1977), Ben Roberts contacted Ellison to develop a script based on Isaac Asimov's I, Robot short story collection for Warner Brothers. In a meeting with studio head Robert Shapiro, Ellison concluded that Shapiro was commenting on the script without having read it, and accused him of having the "intellectual capacity of an artichoke". Shortly afterwards, Ellison was dropped from the project. Without Ellison, the film came to a dead end, because subsequent scripts were unsatisfactory to potential directors. After a change in studio heads, Warner allowed Ellison's script to be serialized in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and in book form. The 2004 film I, Robot, starring Will Smith, has no connection to Ellison's script.Allegations of assault on Charles Platt
In the 1980s, Ellison allegedly publicly assaulted author and critic Charles Platt at the Nebula Awards banquet. Platt did not pursue legal action against Ellison, and the two men later signed a "non-aggression pact", promising never to discuss the incident again nor to have any contact with one another. Platt claims that Ellison has often publicly boasted about the incident.Lawsuit against Fantagraphics
On September 20, 2006, Ellison sued Fantagraphics, a comic book publisher, claiming they had defamed him in their book Comics As Art (We told you so).The book recounts the history of Fantagraphics and discussed a lawsuit that resulted from a 1980 Ellison interview with Fantagraphics' industry news magazine, The Comics Journal. In this interview Ellison referred to comic book writer Michael Fleisher, calling him "bugfuck" and "derange-o". Fleisher lost his libel suit against Ellison and Fantagraphics on December 9, 1986.
Ellison, after reading unpublished drafts of the book on Fantagraphics's website, believed that he had been defamed by several anecdotes related to this incident. He sued in the Superior Court for the State of California, in Santa Monica. Fantagraphics attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed. In their motion to dismiss, Fantagraphics argued that the statements were both their personal opinions and generally believed to be true anecdotes.
On February 12, 2007, the presiding judge ruled against Fantagraphics' anti-SLAPP motion for dismissal. On June 29, 2007, Ellison claimed that the litigation had been resolved pending Fantagraphics' removal of all references to the case from their website. No money or apologies changed hands in the settlement as posted on August 17, 2007.
With Connie Willis at Hugo Awards 2006
On August 26, 2006, during the 64th World Science Fiction Convention, Ellison grabbed award-winning novelist Connie Willis' breast while on stage at the Hugo Awards ceremony. Ellen Datlow described this as "a schtick of Harlan acting like a baby". Unca Harlan's Art Deco Pavilion: Archives Patrick Nielsen Hayden described this as "pathetic and nasty and sad and most of us didn't want to watch it". Patrick Nielsen Hayden - LAcon IVEllison responded three days later, writing, "I was unaware of any problem proceeding from my intendedly-childlike grabbing of Connie Willis's left breast, as she was exhorting me to behave." He also posted that "I'm glad, at last, to have transcended your expectations. I stand naked and defenseless before your absolutely correct chiding." On August 31 he posted: "Would you be slightly less self-righteous and chiding if I told you there was NO grabthere was NO gropethere was NO fondle...there was the slightest touch. A shtick, a gag between friends, absolutely NO sexual content. How about it, Mark: after playing straight man to Connie's very frequently demeaning public jackanapery toward me—including treating me with considerable disrespect at the Grand Master Awards Weekend, where she put a chair down in front of her lectern as Master of Ceremonies, and made me sit there like a naughty child throughout her long 'roast' of my life and career—for more than 25 years, without once complaining, whaddaya think, Mark, am I even a leetle bit entitled to think that Connie likes to play, and geez ain't it sad that as long as SHE sets the rules for play, and I'm the village idiot, she's cool but gawd forbid I change the rules and play MY way for a change ", and complained that Willis had not called him to discuss the matter.
Copyright Suits more » « less
Ellison claimed that James Cameron's film The Terminator drew from material from Ellison's "Soldier" SCIFI.COM | The Outer Limits and "Demon with a Glass Hand" SCIFI.COM | The Outer Limits episodes of The Outer Limits. Hemdale, the production company and the distributor Orion Pictures, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, "acknowledging" the work of Ellison at the end of the film. Cameron has labeled Ellison's claim a "nuisance suit" and Ellison a "parasite."
In April 24, 2000 Ellison sued Stephen Robertson for posting four stories to the newsgroup "alt.binaries.e-book" without authorization. The other defendants were AOL and RemarQ, internet service providers whose only involvement was running servers hosting the newsgroup. Ellison claimed that they had failed to stop the alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the "Notice and Takedown Procedure" outlined in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Robertson and RemarQ first settled with Ellison, then with AOL in June 2004 under conditions that were not made public. Since those settlements Ellison has initiated legal action and/or takedown notices against more than 240 people who have distributed his writings on the Internet, saying, "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump".
In April 24, 2000 Ellison sued Stephen Robertson for posting four stories to the newsgroup "alt.binaries.e-book" without authorization. The other defendants were AOL and RemarQ, internet service providers whose only involvement was running servers hosting the newsgroup. Ellison claimed that they had failed to stop the alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the "Notice and Takedown Procedure" outlined in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Robertson and RemarQ first settled with Ellison, then with AOL in June 2004 under conditions that were not made public. Since those settlements Ellison has initiated legal action and/or takedown notices against more than 240 people who have distributed his writings on the Internet, saying, "If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump".
Bibliography more » « less
Novels and novellas
- Web of the City (1958) (originally published as Rumble)
- The Man With Nine Lives (1960) (as this novel has never been reprinted there is no edition in existence bearing the author's preferred title The Sound of a Scythe)
- Spider Kiss (1961) (originally published as Rockabilly)
- Doomsman (1967)
- "A Boy and his Dog" (1969) (made into a film)
- The Starlost#1: Phoenix Without Ashes (1975) (adaptation by Edward Bryant of Ellison's TV pilot script)
- All the Lies That are My Life (1980) (later included in the author's 1980 collection Shatterday)
- Run for the Stars (1991) (a 1957 novella here republished in a preferred text edition as part of a Tor Double)
- Mefisto in Onyx (1993) (later included in the author's 1997 collection Slippage)
Short story collections
- A Touch of Infinity (1958)
- The Deadly Streets (1958)
- Sex Gang (1959) (as by Paul Merchant)
- Children of the Streets (1961) (originally published as The Juvies)
- Gentleman Junkie and Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation (1961)
- Ellison Wonderland (1962) (also published as Earthman, Go Home!) Ellison also refers to his home in Sherman Oaks, California as "Ellison Wonderland."
- Paingod and Other Delusions (1965)
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967)
- From the Land of Fear (1967)
- Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled (1968)
- The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (1969)
- Over the Edge (1970)
- Partners in Wonder (1971) (collaborations with 14 other writers)
- Approaching Oblivion (1974)
- Deathbird Stories (1975)
- No Doors, No Windows (1975)
- Strange Wine (1978)
- Shatterday (1980)(reissued 2007 by Edgeworks Abbey/Tachyon Publications)
- Stalking the Nightmare (1982)
- Angry Candy (1988)
- Mind Fields (1994) (33 stories inspired by the art of Jacek Yerka)
- Slippage (1997)
- Troublemakers (2001) (collection produced for the Young Adult market and featuring, for the most part, previously collected material)
Retrospectives and omnibus collections
- a 10-Year Survey (1971) (published in the UK in two volumes as All the Sounds of Fear (1973) and The Time of the Eye (1974))
- The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison (1979) (contains Paingod and Other Delusions (1965) and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967))
- a 35-Year Retrospective (1987) (edited by Terry Dowling with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont)
- Dreams With Sharp Teeth (1991) (contains I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967), Deathbird Stories (1975) and Shatterday (1980))
- Edgeworks. 1 (1996) (contains Over the Edge (1970) and An Edge in My Voice (1985))
- Edgeworks. 2 (1996) (contains Spider Kiss (1961) and Stalking the Nightmare (1982))
- Edgeworks. 3 (1997) (contains The Harlan Ellison Hornbook (1990) and Harlan Ellison's Movie (1990))
- Edgeworks. 4 (1997) (contains Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled (1968) and The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (1969))
- a 50-Year Retrospective Revised & Expanded (2001) (edited by Terry Dowling with Richard Delap and Gil Lamont)
Nonfiction
- Memos from Purgatory (1961)
- The Glass Teat (1970) (essays of opinion on television, 1968—1970)
- The Other Glass Teat (1975) (further essays of opinion on television, 1970—1972)
- The Book of Ellison (1978) (edited by Andrew Porter)
- Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed (1984) (edited by Marty Clark)
- An Edge in My Voice (1985)
- Harlan Ellison's Watching (1989)(reissued 2008 by M Press)
- The Harlan Ellison Hornbook (1990)
Published screenplays and teleplays
- I, Robot (1994) (with Isaac Asimov, illustrated by Mark Zug)
- The City on the Edge of Forever (1996) (Star Trek episode, original screenplay, with commentary. For an in-depth review of this book see [2]. This script was also published in Six Science Fiction Plays (1976) edited by Roger Elwood)
- Harlan Ellison's Movie (1990) (unproduced feature-length screenplay serialised in Ellison's weekly newspaper column The Harlan Ellison Hornbook and collected in the omnibus volume Edgeworks. 3 (1996))
- Flintlock (1987) (unproduced pilot teleplay for a proposed 1972 TV series based on James Coburn's character in Our Man Flint, published in both editions of the retrospective volume The Essential Ellison (1987, 2001))
- The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (1975) (teleplay produced in the TV series The Young Lawyers, serialised in Ellison's weekly newspaper column The Glass Teat and collected in The Other Glass Teat (1975); unrelated to Ellison's later 1973 short story, "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs".
- The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (unfinished screenplay based on Ellison's 1974 short story of the same title as, but completely unrelated to, the Young Lawyers teleplay referenced above; three treatments of the opening sequence were published in the June 1988 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and later appeared in Harlan Ellison's Watching (1989))
Anthologies edited
- Dangerous Visions (1967) (also issued as a three-volume paperback edition)
- the finest stories of Gerald Kersh (1968)
- Again, Dangerous Visions (1972) (also issued as a two-volume paperback edition)
- Harlan's World (1985) (an experiment in collaborative science-fictional world-building, featuring contributions by Hal Clement, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, and others)
Selected short stories
- "A Boy and His Dog"
- "Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W"
- "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World"
- "The Deathbird"
- "The Diagnosis of Dr. D'arqueAngel"
- "The Dragon on the Bookshelf"
- "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet"
- "Grail"
- "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" Made into CD-ROM Game, circa 1995-97
- "Jeffty Is Five"
- "Knox"
- "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World"
- "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman
- "Shatterday" - adapted as an episode of the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone
- "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin"
- "Soldier": filmed as an Outer Limits episode. The film The Terminator had sufficient similarities to the story that later prints of the film acknowledge Ellison.
- "Try a Dull Knife"
- "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"
Recent uncollected stories
Since the publication of the author's last collection of previously uncollected stories, Slippage (1997), Ellison has published the following works of fiction:- Objects of Desire in the Mirror are Closer Than They Appear (1999) (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction October/November issue)
- The Toad Prince or, Sex Queen of the Martian Pleasure-Domes (1999) (Amazing Stories issue 600)
- From A to Z, In the Sarsaparilla Alphabet (2001) (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction February issue)
- Incognita, Inc. (2001) (Hemispheres, the Inflight Magazine of United Airlines January issue)
- Never Send to Know for Whom the Lettuce Wilts (2002) (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction January issue)
- Goodbye to All That (2002) (McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales anthology edited by Michael Chabon)
- Loose Cannon, or Rubber Duckies from Space (2004) (Amazing Stories issue 603)
- Luck be a Lady Tonight (2006) (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September issue)
- A Tiny Man (2010) (Realms of Fantasy February issue)
- Notes
- Objects... was later included in the 2001 revised and expanded edition of The Essential Ellison.
- From A to Z... was later scheduled to be included in Deathbird Stories: 25th Anniversary Edition. This edition never appeared.
- The Toad Prince,... is a novelette which, according to the author's afterword, was originally written in the early 1990s.
- Incognita, Inc. was reprinted the same year, in Realms of Fantasy (August 2001). It was also reprinted in 2001 in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fourteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and most recently in 2007 in Summer Chills edited by Stephen Jones.
- Never Send to Know... is a heavily revised, expanded and retitled version of an Ellison story originally published in 1956. It was also included in the 2001 reprint collection Troublemakers.
- Goodbye to All That was originally written in the mid-90s for the Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor comic series, but was not included at the time due to the series ceasing publication. It was finally incorporated into the series in March 2007 as part of Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor: Volume Two.
- Loose Cannon is a 200 word piece of flash fiction accompanied by an 800 word introduction by Neil Gaiman as part of the magazine's series of 1,000 words inspired by a painting.
- Luck be a Lady Tonight is an article in which Ellison sets down the challenge of adapting an idea of his into a short story; an idea which Ellison himself was unable over the years to turn into a work of fiction. Three writers were ultimately commissioned by the magazine's editor and their stories appeared in the same issue alongside Ellison's essay of proposal.
Graphic story adaptations
Several stories have been adapted and collected into comic book stories for Dark Horse Comics. They can be found in two volumes. Each issue of the comic included a new original story based on the cover.- New stories (partial list)
- "The Museum on Cyclops Avenue"
- "Chatting with Anubis"
Computer games
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Audio recordings (selection)
- On The Road With Ellison Volume 1 - released 1983, reissued 2001 on Deep Shag Records
- I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - released 1999 on Fantastic Audio
- Midnight In the Sunken Cathedral - released 2001 on Fantastic Audio
- On The Road With Ellison Volume 2 - released 2004 on Deep Shag Records
- On The Road With Ellison Volume 3 - released 2007 on Deep Shag Records
- Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes - released 2009 on Blackstone Audio
- On The Road With Ellison Volume 4 - released 2010 on Deep Shag Records
Memoirs
On the May 30, 2008 broadcast of the PRI radio program Studio 360, Ellison announced that he had signed with a "major publisher" to produce his memoirs. The tentative title is Working Without A Net. In the television show Babylon 5, for which Ellison worked as a creative consultant, in the year 2258 the fictional character Susan Ivanova is once seen reading, and laughing to, a book titled Working Without A Net, written by Harlan Ellison (TKO).Contemporary Publications
Currently the print-on-demand publisher Edgeworks Abbey/E-Reads publishes 32 titles of Ellison's, which are available through Barnes & Noble's online store, as well as the online stores of the publisher and also Amazon.Dreams with Sharp Teeth (Film) more » « less
On Thursday, April 19, 2007, Dreams with Sharp Teeth, a film by the producers of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, received its first public screening at the Writers Guild Theatre in Los Angeles. Dreams with Sharp Teeth | Documentary Films .NET This documentary, a profile of Ellison and his work, was released on DVD by New Video Group on May 26, 2009.
Awards more » « less
Ellison has won the Hugo Award eight and a half times; the Nebula Award three times; the Bram Stoker Award, presented by the Horror Writers Association, five times (including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996); the Edgar Award of the Mystery Writers of America twice; the Georges Méliès fantasy film award twice.
He was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by International PEN, the international writers' union. In 1990, Ellison was honored by International PEN for continuing commitment to artistic freedom and the battle against censorship. In 1998, he was awarded the "Defender of Liberty" award by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
In March 1998, the National Women's Committee of Brandeis University honored him with their 1998 Words, Wit, Wisdom award. In 1990, Ellison was honored by International PEN for continuing commitment to artistic freedom and the battle against censorship.
Ellison was named 2002's winner of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal's "Distinguished Skeptic Award", in recognition of his contributions to science and critical thinking. Ellison was presented with the award at the Skeptics Convention in Burbank, California, June 22, 2002.
In December 2009, Ellison was nominated for a Grammy award in the category Best Spoken Word Album For Children for his reading of Through the Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There for Blackstone Audio, Inc.
He was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by International PEN, the international writers' union. In 1990, Ellison was honored by International PEN for continuing commitment to artistic freedom and the battle against censorship. In 1998, he was awarded the "Defender of Liberty" award by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
In March 1998, the National Women's Committee of Brandeis University honored him with their 1998 Words, Wit, Wisdom award. In 1990, Ellison was honored by International PEN for continuing commitment to artistic freedom and the battle against censorship.
Ellison was named 2002's winner of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal's "Distinguished Skeptic Award", in recognition of his contributions to science and critical thinking. Ellison was presented with the award at the Skeptics Convention in Burbank, California, June 22, 2002.
In December 2009, Ellison was nominated for a Grammy award in the category Best Spoken Word Album For Children for his reading of Through the Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There for Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films (USA)
- Golden Scroll (Best Writing - Career 1976)
Audio Publishers Association
- The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcript of the 1912 Senatorial Investigation (Best "Multi-Voiced Presentation", 1999)
- City of Darkness (Best Solo Narration, 1999)
Best American Short Stories
- The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore (included in the 1993 anthology)
Bradbury award
The Bradbury Award was given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000 to Harlan Ellison and Yuri Rasovsky for the radio series 2000X.Bram Stoker Award
- The Essential Ellison (best collection, 1987)
- Harlan Ellison's Watching (best non-fiction, 1989 — tie)
- Mefisto in Onyx (best novella, 1993 — tie)
- Chatting With Anubis (best short story, 1995)
- Lifetime Achievement Award, 1995
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (best other media — audio, 1999)
Edgar Allan Poe Award
- The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (best short story, 1974)
- Soft Monkey (best short story, 1988)
Hugo Award
- "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (best short fiction, 1966)
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (best short story, 1968)
- The City on the Edge of Forever (best dramatic presentation, 1968)
- Dangerous Visions (special award, 1968)
- The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (best short story, 1969)
- Again, Dangerous Visions (special award for excellence in anthologizing, 1972)
- The Deathbird (best novelette, 1974)
- Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W (best novelette, 1975)
- A Boy and His Dog (film...Best Dramatic Presentation, 1976. The Hugo was originally given to the producers, but after Ellison complained that as author of the original story on which L. Q. Jones's screenplay was based, he deserved to share in the award. But no extra statuette could be found, so he was given the base of one to mollify him, which he calls his "half Hugo.")
- Jeffty Is Five (best short story, 1978)
- Paladin of the Lost Hour (best novelette, 1986)
Locus Poll Award
- The Region Between (best short fiction, 1970)
- Basilisk (best short fiction, 1972)
- Again, Dangerous Visions (best anthology, 1972)
- The Deathbird (best short fiction, 1974)
- Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W (best novelette, 1975)
- Croatoan (best short story, 1976)
- Jeffty Is Five (best short story, 1978) (best short story of all time, 1999 online poll)
- Count the Clock That Tells the Time (best short story, 1979)
- Djinn, No Chaser (best novellette, 1983)
- Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed (best related non-fiction, 1985)
- Medea - Harlan's World|Medea: Harlan's World (best anthology, 1986)
- Paladin of the Lost Hour (best novelette, 1986)
- With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole (best short story, 1986)
- Angry Candy (best collection, 1989)
- The Function of Dream Sleep (best novellette, 1989)
- Eidolons (best short story, 1989)
- Mefisto in Onyx (best novella, 1994)
- Slippage (best collection, 1998)
Nebula Award
- "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (best short story, 1965)
- A Boy and His Dog (best novella, 1969)
- Jeffty Is Five (best short story, 1977)
- Grand Master Award (at Tempe, Arizona, May 6, 2006)
Writers Guild of America
- Demon with a Glass Hand/The Outer Limits (Best Original Teleplay)
- The City on the Edge of Forever/Star Trek(Best Original Teleplay)
- Paladin of the Lost Hour/The Twilight Zone (Best Anthology Episode/Single Program, 1987)
- Phoenix Without Ashes/The Starlost (Best Written Dramatic Episode, 1974)
Writers Guild of Canada
- The Human Operators/The Outer Limits (2000)
World Fantasy Award
- Angry Candy (Best Collection, 1988)
- Lifetime Achievement Award, 1993
Parodies and Pastiches of Ellison more » « less
Ellison is such a distinctive personality that many other science-fiction authors have inserted thinly-disguised parodies of him into their works, some good-natured, others hostile.
One of the more benevolent is the main character in a mystery novel Murder at the A.B.A. by Isaac Asimov. The novel's main character and narrator is an author named "Darius Just", a thinly-disguised parody of Ellison, who serves as an amateur sleuth to solve the murder of a fellow author at the convention. Asimov intended the name "Darius Just" as a pun on "Dry As Dust". Ellison objected to the depiction: Darius Just is tall, whereas Ellison is taller. Just reappears in the Black Widowers mystery short story "The Woman in the Bar", which is unrelated to the novel, and after Asimov's death in the pastiche "The Last Story" by Charles Ardai.
Robert Silverberg's 1955 novel, Revolt on Alpha C, a retelling of the American Revolution set on a distant planet, features a character named "Harl Ellison," who is the first cadet (of a group that has been sent to restore order) to switch sides and join the revolutionaries.
Ben Bova's comic-SF novel The Starcrossed was inspired by Ellison's and Bova's experience on the Canada-produced miniseries The Starlost. In Bova's novel, a new television show is produced to encourage people to buy newly-invented 3D televisions. The Ellison character is a famous writer named Ron Gabriel. Although Bova is a friend of Ellison's, and his portrayal of Gabriel is admiring and sympathetic, the novel is broad comedy, and should not be read as a true roman a clef. Ellison gave a non-fiction account of his Starlost experience in a lengthy essay titled "Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto".
Mike Friedrich and artist Dick Dillin paid a bizarre homage in the May 1971 issue of the comic book Justice League of America. In a hallucinatory story called "The Most Dangerous Dreams of All," the literary efforts of a flashy, insecure writer named Harlequin Ellis somehow become reality.
In the Ron Goulart novel Galaxy Jane, a birdman character by the name of Harlan Grzyb (author of I Have No Perch But I Must Sing and editor of Dangerous Birdcages) rages about the terrible things others have done to his script for the film Galaxy Jane.
In The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller featured Ellison by name as a television talking head. His only dialog elliptically anticipates a world where "[we'll] be eating our own babies for breakfast." Ellison and Miller are friends, the latter drawing the cover and writing the introduction for the stand-alone publication of Mefisto in Onyx.
In a somewhat less sympathetic vein, Ellison serves as a partial basis for a composite character in Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun. The novel is a satirical look at science fiction and fantasy fandom and conventions.
David Gerrold, in his 1980 Star Trek novel The Galactic Whirlpool, makes mention of "Ellison's Star," a particularly unpredictable and "angry" White Dwarf star.
Yet another Ellison-character appears throughout a 1971 novel by Gerrold and Larry Niven, The Flying Sorcerers. The pantheon of gods in this story are all named after various SF writers. Ellison becomes Elcin, "The small, but mighty god of thunder" who will "Rain lightning down upon the heads" of those who "deny the power of the gods".
In an episode of the animated television show Freakazoid! entitled "And Fanboy is His Name," Freakazoid offers Fanboy "his very own Harlan Ellison" (as a slow, slightly dischordant version of For He's A Jolly Good Fellow plays on the soundtrack) in an attempt to convince Fanboy to stop following him.
In the 1970s, artist and cartoonist Gordon Carleton wrote and drew a scripted slide show called "City on the Edge of Whatever," which was a spoof of "The City on the Edge of Forever". Occasionally performed at Star Trek conventions, it featured an irate writer named "Arlan Hellison" who screamed at his producers, "Art defilers! Script assassins!"
Mystery Science Theater 3000 poked fun at Ellison in the episode "Mitchell", identifying a short irritable–looking man being booked into a police station as the writer and expressing some satisfaction at that notion. (Tom Servo: "They've arrested Harlan Ellison!" Joel Robinson: "Good.")
In "Halvah," Clifford Meth describes an interaction between an Ellison-like character named Cord (for Cordwainer Bird) and a throng of annoying fans. Ellison and Meth are friends, and Ellison provided an afterword to Meth's book god's 15 minutes.
One of the more benevolent is the main character in a mystery novel Murder at the A.B.A. by Isaac Asimov. The novel's main character and narrator is an author named "Darius Just", a thinly-disguised parody of Ellison, who serves as an amateur sleuth to solve the murder of a fellow author at the convention. Asimov intended the name "Darius Just" as a pun on "Dry As Dust". Ellison objected to the depiction: Darius Just is tall, whereas Ellison is taller. Just reappears in the Black Widowers mystery short story "The Woman in the Bar", which is unrelated to the novel, and after Asimov's death in the pastiche "The Last Story" by Charles Ardai.
Robert Silverberg's 1955 novel, Revolt on Alpha C, a retelling of the American Revolution set on a distant planet, features a character named "Harl Ellison," who is the first cadet (of a group that has been sent to restore order) to switch sides and join the revolutionaries.
Ben Bova's comic-SF novel The Starcrossed was inspired by Ellison's and Bova's experience on the Canada-produced miniseries The Starlost. In Bova's novel, a new television show is produced to encourage people to buy newly-invented 3D televisions. The Ellison character is a famous writer named Ron Gabriel. Although Bova is a friend of Ellison's, and his portrayal of Gabriel is admiring and sympathetic, the novel is broad comedy, and should not be read as a true roman a clef. Ellison gave a non-fiction account of his Starlost experience in a lengthy essay titled "Somehow, I Don't Think We're in Kansas, Toto".
Mike Friedrich and artist Dick Dillin paid a bizarre homage in the May 1971 issue of the comic book Justice League of America. In a hallucinatory story called "The Most Dangerous Dreams of All," the literary efforts of a flashy, insecure writer named Harlequin Ellis somehow become reality.
In the Ron Goulart novel Galaxy Jane, a birdman character by the name of Harlan Grzyb (author of I Have No Perch But I Must Sing and editor of Dangerous Birdcages) rages about the terrible things others have done to his script for the film Galaxy Jane.
In The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller featured Ellison by name as a television talking head. His only dialog elliptically anticipates a world where "[we'll] be eating our own babies for breakfast." Ellison and Miller are friends, the latter drawing the cover and writing the introduction for the stand-alone publication of Mefisto in Onyx.
In a somewhat less sympathetic vein, Ellison serves as a partial basis for a composite character in Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun. The novel is a satirical look at science fiction and fantasy fandom and conventions.
David Gerrold, in his 1980 Star Trek novel The Galactic Whirlpool, makes mention of "Ellison's Star," a particularly unpredictable and "angry" White Dwarf star.
Yet another Ellison-character appears throughout a 1971 novel by Gerrold and Larry Niven, The Flying Sorcerers. The pantheon of gods in this story are all named after various SF writers. Ellison becomes Elcin, "The small, but mighty god of thunder" who will "Rain lightning down upon the heads" of those who "deny the power of the gods".
In an episode of the animated television show Freakazoid! entitled "And Fanboy is His Name," Freakazoid offers Fanboy "his very own Harlan Ellison" (as a slow, slightly dischordant version of For He's A Jolly Good Fellow plays on the soundtrack) in an attempt to convince Fanboy to stop following him.
In the 1970s, artist and cartoonist Gordon Carleton wrote and drew a scripted slide show called "City on the Edge of Whatever," which was a spoof of "The City on the Edge of Forever". Occasionally performed at Star Trek conventions, it featured an irate writer named "Arlan Hellison" who screamed at his producers, "Art defilers! Script assassins!"
Mystery Science Theater 3000 poked fun at Ellison in the episode "Mitchell", identifying a short irritable–looking man being booked into a police station as the writer and expressing some satisfaction at that notion. (Tom Servo: "They've arrested Harlan Ellison!" Joel Robinson: "Good.")
In "Halvah," Clifford Meth describes an interaction between an Ellison-like character named Cord (for Cordwainer Bird) and a throng of annoying fans. Ellison and Meth are friends, and Ellison provided an afterword to Meth's book god's 15 minutes.
Bibliography more » « less
- Leigh Blackmore, Ellison/Dowling/Dann: A Bibliographic Checklist. (Sydney:R'lyeh Texts, 1996).
- Swigart, Leslie Kay. Harlan Ellison: A Bibliographical Checklist 2nd ed. Libra Aurore, 1981.
Documentary film
- Erik Nelson (writer and director). Dreams with Sharp Teeth (made 2002-2007, released 2008). A documentary film about Ellison's life and work.
This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Harlan Ellison", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
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