I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream Paperback – June 3, 2014

I am blown away. What an emotional, mind-bending, unique experience, weaved into every story. Ellison crafts each story, ranging from psychedelic fantasy to straight science fiction, as imperfect, unrepentant, and unrelenting. Threaded through each story is the theme of humanity looking at itself, and terrified at what they find. The characters are petty narcissists with few redeemable qualities, many of them bordering on insanity, but Ellison's addicting prose forces you to continue the stories to their conclusion, wherever that may lead.It's a short collection. Focused, it will take you no longer than a day or two, but I stretched it over a few days to savor the journey. A few of my personal favorites:I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream -- a post-apocalyptic horror story with a mad supercomputer playing a cruel, misanthropic god. A surreal, and horrifying journey from beginning to end.Big Sam Was My Friend -- a galactic circus of gifted 'teepers' (people with powers like teleporting or taming animals) is already a cool setting that I would want to read. But then came the heartache.Delusions For A Dragon Slayer -- The phrase "WTF" came into my head several times. Seriously. You'd think the title would prepare me for the climax -- a dragon does appear -- but at no point did I accurately guess what would happen next. I will not forget this story any time soon.It might be possible to be turned off by the collection -- there were times where I wondered if I would. As I said, these are stories populated thoroughly by a-holes, sexists, narcissists, and generally unappealing jerks. That being said, do not allow that to dissuade you from this unparalleled experience. The whole point of this collection isn't a celebration of these characteristics. Instead, Ellison is inviting you to look at them, as they struggle to look at themselves -- judge, condemn, or pity, that's up to you. Undeniably, though, Ellison purposefully leaves the line between the human characters and monsters treacherously thin.

These were fun stories to read, and I'm eager to read Ellison's other works now. They weren't just fun, in fact, but actually rather morally deep. But at they same time, not preachy.

Disclaimer, I have only read I have no mouth & I must scream thus far; I will tentatively describe what it has left me with. This is a deep unsettle, an all-encompassing sickness that permeates my mind and suffocates the soul. I could not recommend it enough.

A so so collection of stories that are at times so surreal that they are difficult to follow. The first tale is this volume’s lone standout.

I had read this a long time ago; in fact, I actually have a paperback that is autographed by Ellison. It was time to read it again. I had forgotten how well Ellison wrote. After reading the book, I realized how uncomfortable Ellison's stories make me.It is the title story that gets the most attention as it won the Hugo, deservedly so. The other two stories that affected me were "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer" and "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes." The first one left me sad for the title character. The latter one had so much to say about addiction and desire.If you like well-written short stories, you might try this collection.

I have a new addiction. Joining the ranks of Phillip Dick and Neil Gaiman on the list of 'things I will read compulsively' is this little set of short stories. I love short stories, and the human failings and explosive prose in this short work make it well worth the title of 'classic'. The writing is onomatopoeic and sharp and lovely.Oh, fine, I will mention that Ellison himself can be abrasive; the short essays before each short story make this VERY clear indeed. Some might also find that it ruins the immersion. I expect that the style will probably also bug some readers; I get the feeling this prose will be polarizing. It's certainly not an 'easy' read--emotionally or stylistically.Definitely one of the best books I've read so far this year--or ever. I can't wait to read more.