Paingod and Other Delusions

Paingod and Other Delusions is a collection of short stories by author Harlan Ellison. It was originally published in paperback in 1965 by Pyramid Books. Pyramid reissued the collection four times over the next fifteen years, with a new introduction added for a uniform edition of Ellison books in 1975. Ace Books issued an edition in 1983. The collection's only hardcover edition is The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison, which compiles it together with Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream".^[1]

The general theme that runs through each of these stories (in some way) is the rejection of the establishment and the fight of the individual against a corrupt authority. ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman", "Wanted In Surgery", and "The Crackpots" are particularly famous examples of this theme in Ellison's work.

Contents

• Introduction (1965): "Spero Meliora: From the Vicinity of Alienation"
• New Introduction (1975 and later editions): "Your Basic Crown of Thorns"
• "Paingod"
• ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman"
• "The Crackpots"
• "Sleeping Dogs"
• "Bright Eyes"
• "The Discarded"
• "Wanted In Surgery"
• "Deeper Than the Darkness"

Reception

Spider Robinson, reviewing the 1975 reissue, noted that the stories came from an early stage of Ellison's career, describing the concepts as "striking and brilliant" but finding that "the craft, the execution of those ideas, might best be described as impulsive".^[2]

References