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22nd out of 28 books
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Angry Candy
The Seattle Times said of Angry Candy: "Ellison's stories rattle the bars of complacency that people put around their souls . . . Razor sharp . . . piercingly profound." Once again, Ellison's writing defies all labels. These seventeen stories by a modern master are an "assembled artifact" of anger and faith - as bittersweet as a"jalapeno-laced cinn...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
September 17th 1998
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 1988)
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This is a very good anthology with the central them; death. Ellison wrote it as a reaction to all of his friends who died in a short time before he assembled this collection. Some of the stories are spellbinding, while others are merely entertaining, but to a word, not a single story is disappointing.
Paladin of the Lost Hour is my favorite Ellison story. It's gentle and powerful and resident with imagery, history and spooky realism. The characters, both of them, are as rich as an...more
Paladin of the Lost Hour is my favorite Ellison story. It's gentle and powerful and resident with imagery, history and spooky realism. The characters, both of them, are as rich as an...more
Harlan Ellison's award-winning 1988 collection Angry Candy holds a mirror to the human condition, and like the portrait of Dorian Grey we see all our corruption and horrors manifest. As our darkest fears copulate with our most intimate and secret fantasies we look into the mirror and call "Mirror, mirror on the wall...", consumed by the beauty of our own atrocity.
Ellison's introduction to Angry Candy, and it's theme of Death, is bitterly candid. He pulls apart the scar-tiss...more
Ellison's introduction to Angry Candy, and it's theme of Death, is bitterly candid. He pulls apart the scar-tiss...more
As we are about to enter into the season of Advent, how appropriate that I read a book themed around -- death? But for Harlan Ellison, death is not always the end of the story. In fact, in many cases death is the start of the adventure. I had not heard of Ellison before a friend of mine not only recommended him, but put this book in my hands. Prolific would be the defining word for this author who has over 1,000 stories, novels, screenplays, etc. to his claim. He has penned episodes for The Twil...more
This is one of those highly visible authors whose work I don't think I've ever read, but have always meant to. Of course, I am a huge fan of the film A Boy and His Dog, which is based on a story of his, and while in a Science Fiction and Utopian Fantasy class in college, I did read a couple volumes of stories for which he served as editor (the Dangerous Visions series), but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ready any of his stories, and now I think I'm hooked. From the beautiful and bi...more
The stories from this collection have always stayed with me, but one of them, called Broken Glass, has downright haunted me since I read it. I've clocked a lot of miles on the Greyhound bus between NY and DC over the last seven years, and I can't tell you how many times during those trips my mind has turned to this story, which takes place on a bus. A woman traveling alone is fantasizing to pass the time, then finds herself being attacked telepathically by someone else on the bus, a sort of meta...more
Pure white-hot grief. The list of all his friends who died (a terribly long collection of names) the year he wrote this collection is the key to the whole thing. Just an incredible look at 20 kinds of loss and rage and poignancy, all through the kaleidoscope of fable and speculative fiction. Ellison was never a man for intricate spiderwebs of reference, but he knew how to build a world you'd never seen and hit you right in the skull with it. RIP, every single one of you dear friends of Harlan's....more
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I had forgotten exactly how much I love reading Harlan Ellison's stuff! He is SO imaginative and creative...a real inspiration to aspiring writers. And, he makes you think! Although this novel was called "Angry Candy" it was not mind-candy - each story has a message, and makes you scratch your chin in introspective consideration. I'm now going to go back and re-read some of his stuff that I originally read in the 70's/80's, and devour his newer stuff as well.
I've finally finished! I enjoyed reading about Harlan Ellison in various sources on the internets more than I enjoyed this collection of short stories. He's a very prolific author and quite a feisty character. This is the first book of his that I've read, and I'm not sure why it didn't hold my attention. The introduction and first short story of this collection did, but after that everything else seemed flat and uninteresting. Being the science fiction nerd that I am, I thought I would appr...more
Read for a college course on SF & horror lit. Ellison wrote the stories as a reaction to the deaths of too many friends. The best of the bunch is "Broken Glass," a story about a woman whose darkest sexual fantasies are invaded by a telepathic sort of rapist. She fights back, but loses an important piece of herself in the process.
Ellison is one fucked-up cat.
I love him.
Angry Candy is a series of topical short stories that carry an emotional wallop like a sledgehammer to the soul. Angry Candy was my introduction to him, and while it isn't my favorite of his, it stands out as an excellent anthology.
I love him.
Angry Candy is a series of topical short stories that carry an emotional wallop like a sledgehammer to the soul. Angry Candy was my introduction to him, and while it isn't my favorite of his, it stands out as an excellent anthology.
This book of short stories made my brain hurt.
It kind of fucked up my whole world of what is real and what could or couldn't possibly be...
Fantastic piece of science fiction for those (such as myself) who don't usually give a damn about the genre.
It kind of fucked up my whole world of what is real and what could or couldn't possibly be...
Fantastic piece of science fiction for those (such as myself) who don't usually give a damn about the genre.
Hit and miss. Stories like "The Function of Dream Sleep" and "Paladin of the Lost Hour" were compelling, while others lost their threads in a mire of philosophizing. In the end it's Ellison's dark and resonant imagery that pull the reader through: the Thanatos mouth, the pocket watch, the sculpture in ice.
A later collection, and a mellower Ellison ... though, of course, with him, that's a relative term! Still grabs you by the throat, but refrains from shaking you till your teeth rattle....
Loved this book. A great collection of short stories focused on the theme of death. Dont really do sci-fi but this is much different and I love it.
I quite enjoyed this death-themed collection, in particular the opening story, "Paladin of the Lost Hour", "Laugh Track" (which I found quite funny) and "Eidolons".
This is a collection of hard-hitting, hard core sci-fi short stories. Thought provoking but not for everyone.
Ellison's masterpiece. The Region Between blew my tiny mind as a kid.
The sixteen stories collected here are spread over the farthest stretches of time and space, but even the bleakest of them is warmed by a passionate faith in the endurance of life and its ultimate possibilities.
Albie
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Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison (1998)
Shari
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Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison (1998)
Second time through for this one.
The work of a ferocious mind
Easily my favorite short-story collection of all time. A gale hits your face every time you crack the cover. Tough stuff, through and through. No suspension of disbelief needed -- the reality of the situation is that the situations exist because Harlan does not allow you to leave without these stories attached to your face. "The Region Between," "Soft Monkey," and "Laugh Track" -- unbeatable, unfathomable. "Prince Myshkin and Hold the Relish" -- no one cou...more
Short stories range from mediocre to pretty good. If Harlan Ellison wants to get out of the "ghetto" of Sci-Fi writers, he needs to write stories that are more than interesting ideas.
I enjoyed this one too.
this is quite certainly one of the best books i have ever read. that it is all a meditation on death, and survival, makes it terrifyingly beautiful. that i was reading it when my grandfather died was timely, and lent it an added depth. such personal stories, such great losses, but it achieves its purpose in helping us through.
Filled with beautiful prose and a turn of phrase that seems to be something genuinely Ellison leave you with more than a sense of enjoyment; his tales leave you thinking for days and sometimes weeks later about a certain plot twist or a certain word choice.
A lot of personal commentary from the author which I think I enjoyed even more than the stories included in the book. He ain't kidding when he says 'angry' candy.
A collection of sci fi short stories loosely grouped around the theme of death and grieving. Some truly haunting stories and characters, and the writing is sharp.
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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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