This is a nice little book.

Published as part of MadCon 2010, and in honor Harlan being the guest of honor at the conference (purportedly the last time he will visit a conference as a guest) it contains a small collection of Harlan’s writing along with brief pieces by others who are friends with/who work with him. The Harlan pieces include two of his stories (“’Repent Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” – a story you can never go wrong by re-reading - and his latest work “How Interesting: A Tiny Man”) and an essay on movies of the forties - “Some Frightening Films of the Forties - which is really more of a remembrance of one of Harlan’s initial forays into obstinacy as a young boy. There are pieces by Tim Richmond (the author of the someday-to-be-published complete bibliography of Harlan’s work) on Harlan’s fiction books, Frank and Robert Garcia on Harlan’s work in television, Michael Reed on how the “On the Road With Ellison” audio series got started, and Mike Richardson on Harlan’s graphic novel production. It also includes artwork by Leo & Diane Dillon whose illustrations (which include portraits of Harlan) have graced many of his books, and a comic strip by Neil Gaiman.

This is a limited edition and already relatively hard to come by. So it is probably more the purview of the Harlan completist (or, in my situation, the wannabe completist). However, if you stumble across it, take the chance to read it to get a quick sneak peek at what Harlan is all about. (Of course, a look at what “Harlan is all about” would take more than even the 1700 published pieces that already exist, but you know what I mean.) The odds are you won’t see this book, and you probably wouldn’t even buy it if you did see it. But in the event the stars align, take a shot and pick this one up.

As I said, it is a nice little book. ( )