Edgeworks: Collected Ellison: v. 5 (Edgeworks) [Import] [Hardcover]

Harlan Ellison (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 399 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing,U.S. 1/1/1998 1/1/1998 (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565049683
• ISBN-13: 978-1565049680
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,865,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MORE RELEVANT NOW THAN WHEN FIRST PUBLISHED, December 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Edgeworks: Collected Ellison: v. 5 (Edgeworks) (Hardcover)

Ah, yes! Return with us to those thrilling days of yesteryear when "politically correct" meant being able to think for yourself. I first was referred to this scathingly accurate view of television by the bibliography section of Stephen King's Danse Macarbe. How is this 30 year old collection of essays relevant to the world of 1998, you ask? Ellison's essays took to task some of the trends that have since become the norm in network programming. Mediocrity is rewarded. Any content that dares to challenge the viewer to think for themself (thereby offending the religious right, the society of blind, left-handed dentists without tonsils, etc.)is pulled off the air. Every few years a "new" show is aired which is just an updated version of an old show with a different cast. (Murphy Brown, basically a modern version of the old Mary Tyler Moore show from the early '70's, to name but one example.)If you're fond of intelligent, provocative criticism, especially in a case where it's been so richly deserved, this is a literary benchmark. A condensed version of these volumes is the author's foreward to "Strange Wine", a viciously sarcastic essay entitled " Revealed at last! What REALLY killed the dinosaurs!( And you don't look too good yourself)" As long as you're at it, pick up a copy of Strange Wine as well. The foreward alone is worth the price of admission. Harlan Ellison pulls no punches in his views of the television industry and certainly can speak from experience, with credits for "The Young Lawyers","The Outer Limits", as well as authoring what many Star Trek fans consider to be the best episode of them all, " The City on the Edge of Forever".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sets the standard by which all others must be measured., October 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Edgeworks: Collected Ellison: v. 5 (Edgeworks) (Hardcover)

It seems that these two books are destined forever to do battle with their own publication. Due out some months ago, and pre-announced in various publications as available as early as May of this year, once again the Teats seem to somehow struggle with the light of day. My autographed copies of the Popular Library editions from the late '70s must continue to wait for this newest version before being put happily and hermetically to rest once and for all. In the meantime, they serve as reminder fair and foul, proud and profane, incorrigible and indignant, of how far we think we have come and how far we know, though will never admit, we still have to go. If they are not required reading in every college level social science, recent history, and media course, they should be. Ellison's words changed and continue to change the way people think and believe. There can be no higher praise for a writer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Harlan, if you can find it., July 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Edgeworks: Collected Ellison: v. 5 (Edgeworks) (Hardcover)

While waiting patiently for this new edition to roll of the presses, I found a copy of "The Other Glass Teat" at my university library. It does not disappoint! Hilarious AND thought provoking, Mr. Ellison knows how to hold our collective faces up to the mirror and show us our own twisted, sad, surreal reality we've created but won't own up to. To top it off these essays are about an EARLIER TV era. Only Harlan can save our souls.