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Title: The Book on the Edge of Forever: An Enquiry into the Non-Appearance of Harlan Ellison's the Last Dangerous Visions by Christopher Priest ISBN: 1560971592 Publisher: Fantagraphics Books Pub. Date: December, 1997 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $6.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.93
Rating: 4
Summary: A Fascinating Case Study
Comment: 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.
Rating: 4
Summary: Have you heard of TLDV? Do you want the story? Here it is!
Comment: 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"
Rating: 4
Summary: Are You Reading, Harlan?
Comment: "Dangerous Visions" and "Again, Dangerous Visions" are two of the most influential sf volumes ever published, but the promised third volume, "The Last Dangerous Visions," has never appeared. Christopher Priest's "The Book on the Edge of Forever" makes great strides forward in explaining what events have taken place concerning this volume of sf history. Is it an Atlantis that sank into a publisher's ocean, or a noose holding a weight around Ellison's editorial neck? While this slim volume cannot adequately explain why the book remains in purgatory, it does chart the small amount of progress made over the past two decades, proposes ways the book could be made available (should Ellison make the effort), and gives a better understanding of what happened to this once profound and influential series of books. The only thing missing is direct comment from Ellison himself, though Priest posts letters and comments from Ellison which are damning, to say the least.
It's unlikely that "The Last Dangerous Visions" will ever see print. "The Book on the Edge of Forever" is your only chance to find out about this lost chapter of sf history.
And Steven Bryan Bieler's comment about collecting the stories reclaimed from TLDV's coffin into a book makes one wonder if an enterprising publisher will capitalize off something Ellison couldn't pull of himself. Are you reading, Harlan?
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Title: Dangerous Visions : The 35th Anniversary Edition by Harlan Ellison ISBN: 0743452615 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Harlan Ellison : The Edge of Forever by Ellen Weil, Gary K. Wolfe ISBN: 0814250890 Publisher: Ohio State Univ Pr (Txt) Pub. Date: February, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Essential A. E. Van Vogt by A. E. Van Vogt, Joe Rico, Rick Katze ISBN: 1886778345 Publisher: NESFA Press Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine ISBN: 0765301164 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Hunter and Hunted: The Ed and Am Hunter Novels by Fredric Brown ISBN: 0971818509 Publisher: Stewart Masters Publishing, Ltd. Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
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