After the artistic triumphs of Deathbird Stories and Strange Wine, what could Ellison do to top himself? Just this.
Highlights? It's difficult to pick them out -- almost every element is, in its way, a pinnacle of storytelling. "Jeffty is Five" is as poignant and revealing a tale as Ellison has ever invented. "How's the Night Life on Cissalda?" is crass and hilarious and sure to inspire book-banning campaigns in sex-phobic communities nationwide. "Shatterday" is a wholly original take on the Jekyll and Hyde theme (later marvelously adapted for TV's revived "Twilight Zone" series). And "All the Lies that Are My Life" was, to this point, the author's most complex mainstream (that is, nonfantasy) work.
OK, so there are one or two clunkers; "The Executioner of the Malformed Children" certainly is not among Ellison's more distinguished efforts. Still, it's a rare misstep at this point in the author's career.
