Customer Reviews

Shatterday

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4 star:		(2)
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For those who know the works of Harlan Ellison, it is a familiar feeling. For those who have not experienced his writing in the concentrated, high-octane form of a short story anthology, this is one of the best. Ellison is probably the most decorated fiction writer in history and while he has done teleplay, screenplay, and novels, his true mastery is in the realm of short stories. This collection provides devastating proof of that. Like all Ellison anthologies, sitting down to read through it one sitting can be extremely unnerving. Harlan's stories are unsettling, disturbing, and leave a bad taste in your brain. But one thing is unmistakably true - his stories will affect you. His use of language is powerful and his concepts are often shocking.

Shatterday opens with another fine Ellison introduction. His introductory essays are every bit as wonderful as the stories that follow. The stories open with "Jeffty is Five", a story that draws on Ellison's nostalgia for radio serials of earlier days but takes them into a dark place. "How's The Night Life On Cissalda" might just be the most hilarious sex-themed science fiction story of all time. "Would You Do It For A Penny" isn't really even speculative fiction but it is all wry humor and naughtiness. Every story here hits hard and creates powerful effects. With Ellison, horror isn't dripping fangs and flung entrails. It's that creepy unsettling feeling in your soul that something somewhere is utterly and unalterably wrong. That is brought home beautifully in the title story that closes out the book.

I'm fond of all Ellison's anthologies. I loved "Strange Wine", "Deathbird Stories", and "Stalking the Nightare." I even have a signed Easton Press edition of "Angry Candy" that I truly treasure. But for overall entertainment, I still consider "Shatterday" my all-time favorite.

This is later period Ellison. The classic is Deathbird Stories. The greats are I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, and The Beast Who Shouted Love At the Heart of The World. Love Ain'y Nothing B ut Sex Misspelled and Strange Wine are essential. But Shatterday is worth every second you give to it...after you read the other ones listed above. Did I mention that there really isn't an Ellison book you shouldn't read.

It's about time Harlan was universally recognized as one of the great writers in the English language. It seems like Ellison has explored every plot, concept, idea, or scenario that exists -- and every screenwriter, SS writer, and novelist in science/speculative/avant garde fiction who came after Harlan owes him -- whether they know it or not. If it's a great idea that's profound, funny, sardonic, exciting, and/or innovative, Harlan has already thought of it -- and thank gawd -- written it. You're in for a treat, but you'd better bring along your brain: you're gonna need it.

The title sums it up. "Shatterday" is a masterful anthology.Worth buying and reading.Can't remember if "Jefty is five" is in this one.Do recall the introductions. "The writer for the eighties,assuming there are.."and Harlan thanking the little people.

A collection to enjoy over and over from a writer who observes life and twists it with ease.

After seeing videos of how angry, passionate, occasionally inconsistent, witty, and entertaining Harlan Ellison could be, I had to check him out. Shatterday seemed like a decent place to start and I was not disappointed for the most part.

The only two stories that really didn't do it for me were "Would You Do It For a Penny?" and "All the Lies That Are My Life". The former just felt sleazy and misogynistic--now I have no problem with sexist or racial humor under one condition: It better be pretty damn funny. WYDIFAP was not, but it was cowritten with some other guy so I guess I can't place all the blame on Ellison. The way the protagonist was oh-so-slick and the girl was this independent but easily-seduced chick lacked verisimilitude; it felt like a stupid adolescent fantasy--which is probably why it was published in Playboy originally.

The latter story just didn't do it for me. It seemed like Ellison was trying to depart from the magical-realism that worked so well in all of the other stories and write drama instead. It didn't do much for me and the dialogue was embarrassing. It's like he tried to insert his own wit into every conversation and it ended up feeling awkward and contrived.

Besides those two stories, everything else was pretty much gold. I don't want to go into detail and spoil the stories for anyone but "Jeffty Is Five" had a great theme about nostalgia that anyone can relate to, "Shoppe Keeper" had a wonderful twist-ending and view on a familiar fantasy theme, "How's The Night Life on Cissalda?" was hilarious (what ISN'T funny about alien-human sexual relations?) and Shatterday felt like a fun, updated version of Conrad's Jungian themes from "The Secret Sharer."

The opening introduction was fantastic, honest and just as good as his best stories. The introductions to each story were hit and miss though. At times I felt like he was being too open about the inspiration for the stories and how they were inspired from personal memories. This openness sometimes made the stories feel like wish-fulfillment and made me view the characters as clumsy, self-inserted versions of the author.

In the end, this was an entertaining collection and it showcases Ellison's imagination wonderfully. The man's mind is an amalgamation of a passionate child like Calvin from Bill Watterson's comic and an insightful writer whose eloquence oozes off the page.

If you enjoy dark humor, grim honesty, and The Twilight Zone, this anthology is for you.

harlan ellison at his best, if you like twilight zone, you'll love shatterday and ellison's other short stories.

Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do If you can only own one Ellison collection,this is the one. This is the author at his crisp ,clean best. There is no meandering or sky larking. Not a word wasted. Everything is bare boned essential. Famous or infamous for his introductions there is one story that intro states "I have nothing to say about this story." Chilling. You will enjoy this....Think of that.