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1st out of 3 books
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The Glass Teat
The founders of modern literary fancy deserve their own place in the light. The Borealis Legends line is a tribute to the creators of the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres as we know them today.
Paperback, 319 pages
Published
May 1st 1983
by Ace
(first published 1970)
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Lost my copy years ago and would love to find another. The Glass Teat was a column by Ellison in The L.A. Free Press in the 70s (I think). The collection is an exceptional example of Ellison's essay writing talents; abrasive, insightful and usually controversial. There is a lot of emphasis on screenwriting for TV and the TV business, both about Ellison experiences and his opinion of other writers, producers and shows. I do get the feeling that Ellison must have been hell to work with on a set. Y...more
I read this book chiefly for its example of contemporary writing style and attitudes in a "free press" publication in the late 1960s. I bought a used copy planning to cherry-pick the essays and ended up reading it straight through. Read in retrospective, it's a fascinating picture of how much some things have changed and how much (depressingly) some others have not. I'm old enough to remember most of the TV shows that Ellison discusses, and in some cases, I wish he'd gone into more detail (he re...more
“The Glass Teat” started life as a column by Harlan Ellison in the L.A. Free Press, about television and the media. It’s a peek behind the screen that shows not a haggard showman pulling levers, but the slick manipulations of corporations pushing buttons, our buttons.
“The Glass Teat” looks behind the banality of the stories the shows presented and reveals the subliminal messages embedded in the television shows we watch daily and take for granted. Television is far from being the “vast wasteland...more
“The Glass Teat” looks behind the banality of the stories the shows presented and reveals the subliminal messages embedded in the television shows we watch daily and take for granted. Television is far from being the “vast wasteland...more
This is a great book if you're interested in the socio-political climate of the late Sixties through the viewpoint of an intelligent, critical thinking progressive. Thing is I read it because I'm interested in television, and a minority of these collected columns from the Los Angeles Free Press look at TV without 44-year-old activist glasses. (Though history repeats, and I was struck how some of Ellison's smartest, angriest rants--with just a few proper nouns substituted--could've been peeled st...more
The most fascinating thing about reading Ellison's litany of complaints on the subject of television is just how little of it has changed since this book came out (1975, maybe?) The crude manipulations of advertisers and TV news. The brainless plots. The bad acting. The pointlessness of it all.
I wasn't familiar with all of the references-- they were from before my time, after all, and we haven't quite gotten around to bringing back EVERY piece of crap in the history of television and claiming i...more
I wasn't familiar with all of the references-- they were from before my time, after all, and we haven't quite gotten around to bringing back EVERY piece of crap in the history of television and claiming i...more
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I'd been wanting to read The Glass Teat for some time now & finally got around to making an ILL request for it.
The book is a collection of columns written for The Los Angeles Free Press from October 1968 - January 1970. I'm mildly disappointed. I was hoping Ellison would discuss television programming from the time more specifically; instead he focused more on politics & how The Establishment uses the boob tube to disinform the public. As opinionated as ever, Ellison rails against the A...more
The book is a collection of columns written for The Los Angeles Free Press from October 1968 - January 1970. I'm mildly disappointed. I was hoping Ellison would discuss television programming from the time more specifically; instead he focused more on politics & how The Establishment uses the boob tube to disinform the public. As opinionated as ever, Ellison rails against the A...more
If you were alive during the 70's and watching television, or you've watched repeats of shows from the 70's, this book will also add social commentary and context to that era.
Ellison brings both an insiders view to the industry as well as an acerbic insight (his, it is in no way objective) to his television commentary, and I suspect you'll get angry reading it, laugh a bit, and think.
Ellison brings both an insiders view to the industry as well as an acerbic insight (his, it is in no way objective) to his television commentary, and I suspect you'll get angry reading it, laugh a bit, and think.
A collection of reviews and criticism's written in the mid 70's. The shows are long dead but the criticisms of the industry hold up well. If more critics shared his trenchant views, and put them down; TV would have a chance of not being a vast wasteland. Read this and "The Other Glass Teat" if you want to understand what is happening in TV, or just to have fun.
Collection of Ellison's television reviews - fascinating entree to the mindset of the 1960's. His discussion of the TV shows becomes a jumping-off point for his passion in regard to the issues of the day -- this volume (and its sequel, "The Other Glass Teat") is virtually a time travel experience. As always with Ellison, you are transported by his fervor.
Just as "Dangerous Visions" changed the entire field of speculative fiction, "The Glass Teat" gave Ellison a opportunity to change the television genre. It may have taken a few years, but with the advent of cable & premium station and their lack of compulsive censorship, Ellison's book of TV criticism (now mostly outdated) is fascinating reading.
Eloquent vitriolic Harlan Ellison transcribes his newspaper columns... reads like um, that tall radio talk-show person...Oh yes, Howard Stern. But with more complex concepts, sentences, and conscience. And suggestions for how to fix the dumbing of America mixed into the insults.
Harlan Ellison's TV criticism, with some stories about working in TV and other miscellany worked in. Raw and angry, and even a hundred years ago when I was reading it, the references were ancient. Still, it struck a nerve with me.
A very pointed and thought provoking read on television in the late 60's early 70's. Much of it is still relevant today, except for the way the obvious big wigs tried to strangle good TV back then. There is still that threat today, but it's much more intricate and subversive. I would love for Ellison to take up the reins of the glass teat column again in this day and age!
Harlan Ellison is a writer whose style I have always admired. His emotion bleeds from the pages.
This book is a collection of columns he wrote for The Los Angeles Free Press forty years ago. Technically they're all about television, but they are more an historical document that gives the reader an insight into the zeitgeist of America during the Vietnam era.
What's most surprising is how contemporary they seem. You could easily replace Nixon/Agnew with Bush/Cheney.
Also, Ellison's observations obse...more
This book is a collection of columns he wrote for The Los Angeles Free Press forty years ago. Technically they're all about television, but they are more an historical document that gives the reader an insight into the zeitgeist of America during the Vietnam era.
What's most surprising is how contemporary they seem. You could easily replace Nixon/Agnew with Bush/Cheney.
Also, Ellison's observations obse...more
A scathing yet forthright analysis of many TV shows. Remarkable reading even so many years since some of the 'targeted' shows have faded into reruns or celluloid heaven!
This one was VERY hard to find. It's about the early days of television, and science fiction in particular.
Essays about the evil of television. Ellison later worked for The Twilight Zone tv show.
Wonderful book on the banality of television. VERY dated, but an excellent time capsule.
Dec 20, 2008
Brian Steed
added it
Hilarious. The angrier Ellison gets, the funnier the read.
Should be required reading for all social studies
Great TV crit + a cultural history of the 60s.
Entertaining, and very funny at times.
Possibly the first Harlan Ellison stuff I ever read. Picked the two Glass Teat collections of Ellison reviews of TV and Movies at a used bookstore on a trip to Canada with the fam when I was. maybe 13 (or even younger?). I love Ellison when hes in Reviewer
mode. This of course lead to his Fiction... All those shows covered are Wicked dated now, but If you can find a copy in some used bookstore somewhere for cheep money, def worth a read!
mode. This of course lead to his Fiction... All those shows covered are Wicked dated now, but If you can find a copy in some used bookstore somewhere for cheep money, def worth a read!
Admittedly, Harlan is right about the corporate media, but the books is still a product of its time, and after 40 years, it hasn't aged well. If you're not old enough to remember the shows Harlan writes about (when he's not busy writing about himself), you'll be lost. Works better as an example of aging writer striving to appear hip, when hip was cool (or whatever the right term is these days).
This is a collection of articles Ellison wrote for a newspaper in the last 60's/early 70's about television. Despite it's age, the points he makes about TV's effects on our society & about how terrible most of it's programming is are still relevant today.
Harlan Ellison has some interesting views on the influence of the great glass teat (television) on society. Scathing, comical but always on the mark. Ellison is a great essayist.
Yes, it's pretty dated but still packs some great moments of Harlan Ellison savaging.
excellent
May 17, 2013
Ryan
marked it as to-read
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Harlan Jay Ellison is a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, teleplays, essays, and criticism. His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writ...more
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