HARLAN ELLISON'S WATCHING. - Softcover

Ellison, Harlan.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887330673 ISBN 13: 9780887330674

Publisher: UNDERWOOD/MILLER. LANCASTER 1989, 1989

Synopsis

Everybody's entitled to his own opinion, right? WRONG!! He or she is entitled to an informed opinion-so if you don't like being argued with, if you don't like a tital stranger telling you that your opinion is stupid, and you're fulla crap, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Because this guy never learned how to lie, and he is either adored or printed on hate posters in Cheney's office, Ku Klux Klan dens, schlock poroducers' bathrooms, and those idiot sites on the internet that truckle to ultra-maroons.

About this title

About the Author:

Harlan Ellison has been called “one of the great living American short story writers” by the Washington Post. In a career spanning more than fifty years, he has won more awards than any other living fantasist. Ellison has written or edited one hundred fourteen books; more than seventeen hundred stories, essays, articles, and newspaper columns; two dozen teleplays; and a dozen motion pictures. He has won the Hugo Award eight and a half times (shared once); 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 Melies Fantasy Film Award twice; and two Audie Awards (for the best in audio recordings); and he was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by PEN, the international writers’ union. He was presented with the first Living Legend Award by the International Horror Critics at the 1995 World Horror Convention. Ellison is the only author in Hollywood ever to win the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Teleplay (solo work) four times, most recently for “Paladin of the Lost Hour,” his Twilight Zone episode that was Danny Kaye’s final role, in 1987. In 2006, Ellison was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Dreams With Sharp Teeth, the documentary chronicling his life and works, was released on DVD in May 2009.

Review:

Collected herein are roughly twenty-five years worth of film essays from Ellison, renowned author of a dazzling variety of stories, scripts, and articles (as well as the "noted futurist" featured in recent Chevrolet commercials). The majority of the pieces are drawn from the last few years' issues of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, but earlier compositions from such diverse publications as Cinema, The Los Angeles Free Press, The Staff, and Starlog are included as well. Ellison is a man of strong opinions, and part of his magnetism lies in his refusal to dilute his declarations to mollify readers. Those unfamiliar with Ellison's style may be taken aback by the unfiltered fallout of his rants and raves. The following unmitigated burst regards a convention at which the author spoke: "...In the neighborhood of ten thousand people attended this combined Star Trek/space science/rV addict media melange: a hyperventilated whacko-freako-devo two-day blast that served as cheap thrill fix for a tidal wave of incipient jelly-brains who would rather sit in front of the tube having their mind turned to puree-of-bat-guano than ... deal with the Real World in any lovely way." Ignore for the moment that the preceding seems to have little to do with cinema per se (Ellison's digressions are many and lengthy, but they logically and invariably wind their way back to the core subject matter); disregard the fact that the author seems to be attacking some of his own fans; focus instead on Ellison's raw assertions, and you'll get an idea of what this book holds in store. Not one to limit his vendetta to passive audiences, Ellison takes no prisoners when dealing with the films' creators: Throughout this collection, he points out the endless ego wars and unceasing one-upmanship that transpire behind Hollywood studio doors. Many fascinating anecdotes, some anonymous, some replete with casually-dropped celebrity names, can be found here. This volume can be taken as a collection of views to be read linearly or as a reference work to be pulled from the shelf for occasional perusals. Either way, it's an entertaining and infonnative piece of work that amply displays Ellison's talents. If the English language is an instrument, Ellison is a virtuoso player. -- From Independent Publisher

About this edition

• Publisher: UNDERWOOD/MILLER. LANCASTER 1989
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0887330673
• ISBN 13: 9780887330674
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 514