Ellison Wonderland

(alternate title: Earthman, Go Home!)
1962

Ellison's first widely read collection of science fiction tales was impressive more for what it portended than what it actually contained.

The young writer's broad writing style, the characteristic mix of violence and humanism are all evident here. But his imagination had yet to move beyond superficial shocks and O. Henry endings; none of the stories in Ellison Wonderland could remotely be counted among his best. Great book title, though.

Contents

• Introduction: The Man on the Mushroom (1974 and 1984 editions)
• Commuter's Problem
• Do-It-Yourself (with J. Hensley)
• The Silver Corridor
• All the Sounds of Fear
• Gnomebody
• The Sky is Burning
• Mealtime
• The Very Last Day of a Good Woman
• Battlefield
• Deal From the Bottom
• The Wind Beyond the Mountains
• The Forces that Crush (1962, 1964 editions)
• Back to the Drawing Boards (1974 editions)
• Nothing for My Noon Meal
• Hadj
• Rain, Rain, Go Away
• In Lonely Lands