From Harlan Ellsion, whom The Washington Post regards as "lyric poet, satirist, explorer of odd psychological corners, moralist, one-line comedian, purveyor of pure horror and black comedy,"comes Strange Wine. Discover among these tales the spirits of executed Nazi war criminals who walk Manhattan streets, the damned soul of a murderess escaped from Hell, gremlins writing the fantasies of a gone-dry writer and the exquisite Dr. D(c)¨arque Angel who deals her patients doses of deathú Anything and everything that is good about short story collections is condensed into this one book, the scope of which ranges from satire ("The New York Review Of Bird") to humor ("Working With The Little People") to outright horror (the devastating "Croatoan").

Customer Review: An Irrelevant, Intriguing Short Story Collection from Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison may be the only contemporary American writer I know of whose work contains the well-crafted irrelevance of Mark Twain's best, the brooding, foreboding tones of Edgar Poe's best, and the lyrical, often youthful optimism of Ray Bradbury's finest. He may be, along with Bradbury, our best writer of short fiction in any genre, but especially, in the realm of science fiction and fantasy. "Strange Wine" is the long overdue reprinting of a short story collection comprised of terse, and quite peculiar, tales published originally back in 1978, but reprinted finally only a few years ago. It remains memorable because of Ellison's hilarious, extensive introduction that's nearly twice as long as many of the short stories included in this collection, and, of course, for the stories too. These often intriguing tales range from very good to great, and do demonstrate Ellison's extensive range from horror to tragedy and comedy (and sometimes all three). My personal favorites include "Mom" (His science fictional Mother's Day "valentine"), "Killing Bernstein" (An odd, hilarious take on cloning and psychotic behavior which only Ellison could write,) and "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (On a congested Manhattan street, the protagonist witnesses the ghosts of Nazis he had executed, years after the end of World War II.). Anyone interested in Ellison's work will certainly wish to add "Strange Wine" to his or hers own private library; without question, it will be a most welcomed addition too.

Customer Review: Good Strange...

I.ve heard many people look down on Harlan Ellison's work because of how he is as a person. In my opinion that is an unfit way to judge an author's book. It may be true, in fact, I know it is. A friend of mine saw him at a book signing and yes, it's true, he did get infuriated when someone didn't know who he was, but still, it doesn't mean I'm going to look down upon the way he writes. There is no denying, no matter how big of a donkey's rear he may be, that he is an intelligent and unique writer that can not be imitated.

Give Strange Wine, along with any of his other books, a try.

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