The Book on the Edge of Forever: The Facts, the Figures, and the Delusions Behind Harlan Ellison's Never-Published Anthology [Paperback]

Christopher Priest (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560971592
• ISBN-13: 978-1560971597
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Case Study, March 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book on the Edge of Forever: The Facts, the Figures, and the Delusions Behind Harlan Ellison's Never-Published Anthology (Paperback)

It should not be surprising, perhaps, that the reviews of this book are so polarized; Ellison, for better or worse, always seems to elicit this sort of response. Readers who love Ellison hate this book; those who hate Ellison love it. But as a reader who enjoys Ellison's work, and yet who also enjoyed this account of the never-published "Last Dangerous Visions," perhaps I can offer a new perspective.

The fact is, "Book on the Edge of Forever" is a fascinating account of one of the most famous non-books ever not-published--indeed, LDV is the science fiction genre's equivalent to Truman Capote's notoriously-unwritten "masterpiece," "Answered Prayers": the same kind of endless public promises from the author/editor; the same kind of total, unexplained nondelivery.(In his late-career megalomania, as well as his tendency to play fast and loose with facts, Ellison does uncannily resemble Capote--there is an MA thesis here for some enterprising graduate student.) Christopher Priest has put together his short (too short) essay masterfully, letting Ellison's words hoist him on his own petard; no one who reads this book objectively can be left in any doubt that Ellison has seriously mistreated any number of writers over this project, and that LDV has become some sort of unscaleable Kilamanjaro for him, one that he will never climb but which it would be too humiliating to publicly abandon.

So, is "Book on the Edge of Forever" nothing but an exercise in character assassination? It certainly is that in part, but there is a deeper level to this work, one which Ellison himself might even recognize as laudable: a warning as to the danger of hero worship. This book reveals Ellison not as a monster, but as a flawed human being--one who got in over his head on a project which has, alas, caused many people (certainly including Ellison himself) considerable pain. Those who wish to view Harlan Ellison as perfect, super-human, will no doubt be offended by this portrait. Others will find it refreshingly honest and a needed corrective to the fawning versions of Ellison so often found in fanzines (and in his own self-congratulatory essays).

In an interview twenty years ago, Ellison himself said: "I don't want to be anybody's hero...I screw up regularly and I want to be allowed to screw up." There is no question that with LDV, Ellison screwed up. But that is his right, as a human being as flawed as the rest of us. If, in the broad view of modern literature, he remains a minor writer, his influence is nonetheless unparalelled in the world of genre science fiction--an influence which has been almost entirely positive, raising the level of literacy in the field and often shaming writers, through his scathing and usually accurate reviews, into producing their best. He himself has written at least a dozen stories that must rank with the field's genuine masterpieces. Thus the genre owes him its gratitude--but not its deification. In a strange way, "Book on the Edge of Forever" presents the most *human* Ellison ever seen in print. For those (few?) who can read it objectively, Priest's essay will be a revelation.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have you heard of TLDV? Do you want the story? Here it is!, April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book on the Edge of Forever: The Facts, the Figures, and the Delusions Behind Harlan Ellison's Never-Published Anthology (Paperback)

I was in college in the mid-1970's when I was introduced to Harlan Ellison's anthologies, "Dangerous Visions" and "Again, Dangerous Visions". The third and final book in the trilogy, "The Last Dangerous Visions" was imminent and eagerly awaited by everyone who had any contact with the sci-fi/fantasy subculture. Now, almost a generation later, the book still hasn't appeared. Neither has it been cancelled; there have been periodic announcements that it is about to be released.

What happened? What's going on? I bought Christopher Priest's book on a whim, curious to re-open this question that we once kicked around at the college coffeehouse.

It's a short book, 56 pages. You can read it in an hour. It's a strange, absurd tale. A simple anthology has somehow turned into a never-ending black hole, sucking in the work of a generation of science fiction writers. Christopher Priest delivers the story with drama and dry wit. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm glad I read it; it gives me some sense of closure.

For those who don't know, the title is a parody on the name of an old Star Trek episode written by Ellison, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The facts of the case..., September 23, 2005

By 

Whitt Patrick Pond "Whitt" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book on the Edge of Forever: The Facts, the Figures, and the Delusions Behind Harlan Ellison's Never-Published Anthology (Paperback)

This is a very specialized non-fiction book (booklet? pamphlet? it is very short) dealing with the sad history of the much awaited but never realized publication of The Last Dangerous Visions anthology by Harlan Ellison. The author, Christopher Priest, did his research, cited all of his sources, and pretty much just relates the facts of what Ellison has said and when he said it verses what he has actually done.

The biggest fact one can add to this book is that it is now 2005, over thirty years after the project began and eight years since Priest wrote his history/analysis of its non-occurence, and LDV _still_ has not come out nor shown any sign of ever coming out. And with each passing year, the stories age even further and, except for the handful of authors who took their stories back and had them published elsewhere, more of the included authors pass on with their stories unseen and unread in their lifetime.

Some of the other reviewers who have castigated Priest apparently didn't bother to do their research. One implies that Priest is being vindictive because his own story was rejected for LDV, which is not true (that was a completely different author, John Shirley). Another reveals his ignorance of Priest's publishing history, accusing him of riding the coattails of an American comic book author of the same name, when in fact the British author Priest has been around longer, pubished more and in fact has the real claim to the name since the comic book author apparently changed his name.

This book is interesting and invaluable if you're at all curious about this much talked-about but never seen anthology. Harlan Ellison is one of the truly great writers of speculative fiction and has earned his place of honor in its history. But even great men have their foibles and failures, and sadly LDV looks to be his.