Shatterday

By Harlan Ellison

Book Overview

Shatterday is a revolutionary classic from Harlan Ellison, science fiction's most controversial author. This collection of sixteen visionary stories remains as scathing and influential today as when it was initially published. Read as fanatically by intellectuals as by college students, these category-defying stories combine ironic humor, sardonic social criticism, and intense self-revelation; from "Jeffty Is Five," the tragedy of an innocent child wrenched out of an idyllic past, to humanity's encounter with dangerously seductive aliens in "How's the Night Life on Cissalda?", culminating in "Shatterday," the dark allegory of an identity-stealing doppelganger replacing his inferior twin. Back in print for the first time since its stunning debut in the early 1980s, this incendiary collection reestablishes its legendary author at the cutting-edge of the short-story form.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1892391481
• ISBN13: 9781892391483
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Tachyon Publications
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 0.8" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

shatterday

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

SHATTERDAY STORIES FOR SATURDAY

This is the perfect book to read during the weekend. Help yourself to a healthy helping of Harlan, the short story master. Unlike some of his collections (Deathbird Stories, Angry Candy) which deal with certain themes, Shatterday has a nice variety. What's really nice is that each of these stories is prefaced by an introduction, which is both entertaining and informative. Now for my personal favorites: FLOP SWEAT: an impromptu short-story that Harlan wrote in 6 hours appears unedited here. It deals with a radio talk show host and an evil guest. COUNT THE CLOCK THAT TELLS THE TIME: A very moving piece of fiction that shows us the value of LIVING our lives instead of just wasting our time. I believe this one won an award, and rightly so. There were several other stories that I found enjoyable in this book, but the two mentioned above are the ones I like best. These stories certainly make this book worth reading.

Ellison disturbs; it's what he does best

Shatterday is Harlan's tribute to the sometimes symbiotic (but usually parasitic) relationship between an author and his stories. He uses the book to lay out the philosophy of writing he's been hinting at and refining after almost half-a-century as one of America's finest writers.Ellison contends that the two are locked in something of a struggle for dominance, and if the writer can make the story work before the story totally crushes him under its own weight, that means he's succeeded. He also makes some very good points, such as anything more than twelve minutes of personal pain is just wanton self-pity. In the end, it's a guide for thinking, a new viewpoint or perspective; a bit disturbing, a bit dark, a bit pessimistic...but then, we certainly wouldn't have Harlan any other way.

Stories from the edge of somewhere nasty.

Different from Philip K Dick, but Ellison was in similar territory in a way here. You can't read these stories without being affected by them. Even the less grinding stories like Arlo - The Great White Hunter have an edge to them.