Approaching Oblivion

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Approaching Oblivion

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First edition
Author Harlan Ellison
Cover artist Leo and Diane Dillon
Country United States
Language English
Genre short stories
Publisher Walker and Company
Publication date
1974
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 238
ISBN 0-8027-5541-0
OCLC 1134441

Approaching Oblivion is a collection of eleven short stories by American author Harlan Ellison. They had appeared in various magazines throughout the early 1970s with the exceptions of "Paulie Charmed the Sleeping Woman" which originally appeared in 1962 and "Ecowareness" which was previously unpublished.

Harlan Ellison American writer

Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction, and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho, described Ellison as "the only living organism I know whose natural habitat is hot water".

According to the author's introduction, the book was originally conceived in 1970 as a call to action that would contain cautionary tales from Ellison's previous books. Over the ensuing protracted gestation period of four years, however, Harlan Ellison's personal outlook had gradually changed. This resulted in the inclusion of previously uncollected stories with underlying themes of disillusionment and futility in rebelling. Classic examples along these lines are the dystopian "Knox" and "Silent in Gehenna". Other notable stories include "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty" which depicts a man meeting a younger version of himself as a child and finding himself unable to ease the pains of his own childhood. The encounter begins at Lathrop Grade School in Painesville, Ohio where the author himself attended elementary school and experienced many emotionally painful and physically brutal encounters with antisemitic prejudice recounted in the introduction.

Painesville, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Painesville is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Ohio, United States, located along the Grand River. Its population was 19,563 at the 2010 census.

The foreword by fiction author Michael Crichton paints a picture of Ellison as an energetic, eclectic, uncompromising, and sometimes obstinate individual. It also describes the resistance and resentment felt by many of the people who have worked with Ellison in the movie business.

Michael Crichton American author, screenwriter, film producer

John Michael Crichton was an American author, screenwriter, and film director and producer best known for his work in the science fiction, thriller, and medical fiction genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films.

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