Harlan Ellison is an author you can't stop reading

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If there's any author that tickles my soulstrings loudly, it's Harlan Ellison. One of the best speculative fiction authors I have ever read, Ellison is a writer's author, the kind of wordsmith you thought long deserted us.

Ellison, 84, has written short stories mainly, and they're often wrongly dubbed sci-fi. Some of his best work (anthologies Shatterday , Slippage, No Doors No Windows) are only sparsely populated by robots. This guy can tell a story you can't stop reading, there's nothing like it. He does what Robert Frost said poetry should do: grip you by the throat.

I read a great recent interview with Ellison from the Onion's "serious" writing division. Here's part one and it's an eye-opening read. Ellison is the kinda guy who tells it like it is. An unpredictable dinner guest, Ellison would gladly rip into Hollywood politics while sitting with bigwigs who'll soon be paying his rent. See, Ellison has written episodes of Babylon 5; he's published several books of TV criticism; Robin William adores him. But Harlan doesn't give a flying frisbee what he's talking about to whom. He just goes on these meandering rants that make perfect sense. Don't believe me? Watch this.

So seek Harlan out, it will be worth your time. If you need recommendations on what exactly to get from this genius, let me know.