''Slippage'' is a collection of short stories by American author

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

. In the introduction, Ellison introduces the concept of "slippage", or the falling apart of one's life, as the underlying theme of the book. In addition to the stories listed in the table of contents, the book includes a short narration of an unhealthy relationship with a woman named Charlotte as an example of a "slippage" in the author's life. Charlotte was the name of Ellison's first wife, married to her from 1956 to 1960.Weil, Ellen and Gary K. Wolfe, "Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever" Ohio State University Press, 2002, pg. 36. Several of the stories in ''Slippage'' won awards. "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" was selected for inclusion in the 1993 edition of ''The Best American Short Stories''. "Chatting With Anubis" won the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...

for best short story in 1995. The collection as a whole also won a Locus Poll Award for best short story collection in 1998. '' Mefisto in Onyx'' had previously appeared as an award-winning novella with cover art by

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

. It won the Bram Stoker Award in 1993 and the Locus Pool Award in 1994 for best Novella in each respective year. ''Slippage'' includes the screenplay for "

Crazy as a Soup Sandwich "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich" is the sixty-third episode, and the twenty-eighth episode of the third season (1988–89), of the television series ''The Twilight Zone''. The episode was written by author Harlan Ellison. In the episode, a mob boss con ...

", which originally aired as an episode of TV show''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

''in 1989.

*Introduction: "The Fault in My Line" *"The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore" *"Anywhere But Here, With Anybody But You" *"

" *"Darkness Upon the Face of the Deep" *"The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon Pays its Way and Makes Change" *"The Lingering Scent of Woodsmoke" *"The Museum on Cyclopse Avenue" *"Go Toward the Light *'' Mefisto in Onyx'' *"Where I Shall Dwell in the Next World" *"Chatting With Anubis" *"The Few, The Proud" *"Sensible City" *" The Dragon on the Bookshelf" (written in collaboration with

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

) *"Keyboard" *"Jane Doe #112" *"The Dreams a Nightmare Dreams" *"Pulling Hard Time" *"Scartaris, June 28" *"She's a Young Thing and Cannot Leave Her Mother" *"Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral"

References

{{Harlan Ellison 1997 short story collections Short story collections by Harlan Ellison Houghton Mifflin books

Contents

References