What do You think about Slippage: Previously Uncollected, Precariously Poised Stories (1998)?
This is the first Harlan Ellison collection i read, and it started me on a mad rampage of speculative fiction addiction which i am still wallowing in to this day. I think the short story is an excellent format for weird fiction, because you don't have to develop ideas and characters for hundreds of pages. I call them 'vignettes' and it makes possible all manner of whimsy and inspiration and odd quirky moments. I don't particularly remember which stories are included in this collection, although Mephisto in Onyx does stand out to me as well, as mentioned in a previous review. I would recommend this to almost anybody that likes to read. It renewed my passion for literature and writing. It is strange, unsettling, and moving, and also a great deal of fun to read. Three thumbs up!!!
—J Simpson
I don't have much to say about Slippage. I had never (consciously) read any Harlan Ellison before and because of how celebrated the man's name is, I decided it was worth giving his werk a shot.Maybe Slippage just isn't one of his better collections. I'm certainly open to the possibility that I got the bad egg from the dozen, if you catch my meaning.This is not to say that there was nothing redeeming or at all enjoyable about this collection. "This Story Is Titled the Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" had a fun little irreverent streak to it. And "Darkness Upon the Deep" was good (it was certainly readable) but it also felt like a warmed-over and slightly updated Lovecraft(†). Several stories came off this way to me -- as low-impact knock-offs from other writers. Or else as simply low-impact Twilight Zone-esque prose(‡). As I progressed through the pages, the short fiction got better but was best when it was shortest. Ultimately I decided to abandon the collection. Perhaps I'll come back to it later?But maybe I just walked into the whole mess a bit resentful when I mistook Ellison's introduction for the inceptive short fiction.---† = On that note, I found myself thinking about Ellison's reputation as mean-spirited and litigious and secretly wished the zombie Lovecraft would dig his way out of his Providence grave and go after punitive damages. Possibly as a literal pound of flesh.‡ = Yes, I am aware that Ellison has written rather extensively for The Twilight Zone.---TANGENTIAL ASIDE: Anyone have a clue as to what is up with the typeface and/or typesetter? All the periods seem clumsy and too large -- like "BOLD" was turned on for just the periods. But just the periods. The terminating punct for exclamation points and question marks wasn't that big. Did anyone else find this distracting?
—Rob
I had read about Ellison's writing style and wanted to check out his works, so I figured a collection of his short works would be perfect. That's why I bought Slippage. Since the book itself was a bunch of different stories (about 22, but "The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon Pays Its Way and Makes Change" had two versions), it was hard to give an overall rating for the work. Obviously, I liked some stories more than others. I'm glad that I took the time to read his work though, since his characters are typically witty, sarcastic, and cynical (which I'm sure derives from Ellison himself, just read how his book intro was written.) Normally I love narrators and characters like this, but there was just something about Ellison's writing style I did not enjoy. Sometimes I felt he was unnecessarily wordy to the point where I wondered when he would stop talking about this disgusting cat the neighbors owned ("Anywhere but Here with Anyone but You"). The aspect I disliked most about his writing style though, was his use of adjectives. To describe something as metallic is fine, to continue on and go so far as to call it "diseased" gives the reader a clearly negative idea in their heads- perfect! But sometimes I felt that he overdescribed aspects and became repetitive, especially when he would use synonyms for his already wordily-used adjectives. Yet, like I said before, I'm glad I have the book. The stories were quick and a few were genuinely disturbing while still humorous.
—Erica Hasselbach
