An Edge in My Voice

A collect series of columns running the gamet of movie criticisms to automobiles, from friends to foes. This is Ellison at his very best. An absolute must for fans of the written word.

Harlan Ellison has a tremendous gift as an essayist and columnist. At the beginning of the 1980's he agreed to do a regular column for the LA WEEKLY on the condition that they publish whatever he wrote, without revising it or suggesting rewrites. He demanded, and got, the freedom to choose any target, no matter how sensitive to the paper's interests or its readership. A wise editor agreed. The results are collected in this volume.His columns are not formally structured, but don't be misled into thinking these columns were easy. He writes in a conversational voice, but it is that of a brilliant, nimble conversationalist. Ellison cajoles, caresses, eulogizes, and excoriates. The columns are witty and passionate, and evoke the tensions, the hopes and the lies, of the Reagan Era; of Hollywood, advertising, and journalism in that time; of Ellison's advocacy of the Equal Rights Amendment and gun control. By turns, he is riotously funny, righteously indignant, and capable of issuing a devastating, fatwa-like call to outrage and democratic retribution. Ellison contends that we should dispense with the notion that every common person is entitled to an opinion; but that every person should be entitled to an informed opinion and the means to express it, as befits a citizen of this nation. In this, it is call not only to outrage but to excellence.

For those of you who only know Harlan Ellison from his fiction, you'll enjoy this collection of essays written for the LA "Weekly" newspaper. A very eclectic collection of subjects, from critiques of local restaurants, to an emotional account of his early life, to a hilarious recounting of pranks he's pulled. Seldom have I been as engaged by a writer's views as I was with Ellsion. I found myself engaged in a mental debate with Ellison on many issues. Don't miss out on this book!