Harlan Ellison on Fandom

Excerpt from "Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth."

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• harlan
• ellison
• fandom
• fans

[dirtsheep]

I myself, after 30 years of reading Ellison, have had quite a good fun ride, but have also had enough. I suspect that if he were honest, he might say the same thing: "I am a crotchety old piece of shit, I've expounded the same ideas time after time for decades, I'm damned smart and damned mad, and I wish I could transcend those things and actually say something important." He's spewed his words. They were brilliant words, sometimes, but most times merely smart and banal and showy. Enough.

[MulkEntertainment]

he really knows how to be diplomatic, doesn't he? Respect that he speaks his mind and I totally understand his point, though I also get fans and fandoms opposite position

[MultiSmartass1]

Fuck fans.

Just because people buy a book doesnt entitle them to anything more than an autograph at a book signing.

I love the fact that Ellison doesnt kiss his fans asses and he doesnt cater to their whims or desires.

Buy it, read it, like it but dont think somehow your insights are worth a fuck or that anybody owes you anything.

If you dont like that, write your own fucking book.

Oh and get a life.

[NotNamedJones]

I had a life drawing model (ie, a naked chick on a stand) once say that people from ohio are all crazy. I think she's right.

[posthumanhero]

@fajaklaus i find the more emotional, idealistic, cool and sensualistic speaker in that old 60s interview much more appealing than this ungrateful whiny jew...........how could they be one and the same person..............somebody explain?

[MrXmyselfx]

I love his shirts.

[fajaklaus]

@bludytiger Yeah I suppose you're right, and he does seem a little more jovial in actual conversation. But from a fan's perspective, I'd really hate to get a reception like that from a writer I admire.

[bludytiger]

@fajaklaus Lol, he does write, and he IS successful at it. He is more of a guy who would like to have a conversation with someone rather then meet someone for 5 seconds to get an autograph from a false idle. It isn't something that has really developed over time with him, he has kind of always been like that. Don't get me wrong, he can be a prick. The guy who stirs things up, goes against the grain, someone who will question and challenge. But that is who he is and what makes him himself.

[vulcangrl13]

"I'm a little Jew from Ohio!"

I laughed so hard. This mas is awesome. :D

[fajaklaus]

What a horrifically ungrateful prick. I would imagine that the act of signing books over and over again for hours on end would be grating on the nerves, but these guys are your FANS. They liked you enough to fork over their hard-earned money so you could be pasted on youTube insulting them. If you are going to write, and you expect to be successful at it, you should at the very least show more gratitude for the people who support you. This crotchety old bastard has none.