Deathbird Stories

Dust Jacket by Gnemo

Subterranean Press is proud to present the expanded, definitive edition of Harlan Ellison’s landmark collection of stories, in an oversize hardcover edition.

SOME BOOKS BECOME CLASSICS

For more than three decades this singular collection of stories in which the New Gods of freeways, and slot machines, internal combustion deities and evil so enormous that it swallows the streets in shadow, for more than thirty years the power of this book has compelled the attention of not only readers of imaginative bent, but the praise of hard-line literary critics. One cannot codify modern literature of the fantastic without including a reference or selection from this dark book of godly and troubling stories that will not be ignored.

SOME WRITERS BECOME LEGENDS

Ellison. Harlan Ellison. He wrote this book midway toward the earliest acclaim of a career that now goes into sixty years. He’s still with us. the enfant terrible has become an eminence gris but the tongue remains sharp, the wit unpredictable, the manner still singular. He has outwritten and outlived his caste, and the words in this book carry the fire and truth of his career.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword: Oblations at Alien Altars
• A Word about Time (*)
• From A to Z, in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet (*)
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs
• Along the Scenic Route
• On the Downhill Side
• O Ye of Little Faith
• Scartaris, June 28th (*)
• Neon
• Basilisk
• The Face of Helene Bournouw
• Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38°54’N, Longitude 77°00’13’’W
• Rock God
• Bleeding Stones
• Ernest and the Machine God
• Delusion for a Dragon Slayer
• Corpse
• Shattered Like a Glass Goblin
• Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes
• Paingod
• At the Mouse Circus
• The Place With No Name
• The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore (*)
• The Deathbird
• Afterword: Moving in Mysterious Ways (*)
• A Word About the Cover Art (*)

(*) Exclusive to the Expanded Edition

Trade: Fully cloth bound hardcover edition and sold out at the publisher

Limited to 500 signed numbered copies, slipcased, bound in leather, with illustrated endsheets by Leo & Diane Dillon and sold out at the publisher

Lettered: 26 deluxe hardcovers, bound in leather, with illustrated endsheets by Leo & Diane Dillon, housed in a custom traycase and sold out at the publisher

Consignment (Tim's Stuff) - Lettered (As New): 

This is a unique one of a kind copy, it is not Lettered or marked PC, the book is bound as a lettered book and housed in a lettered  traycase BUT it is designated "Founder's Copy" on the limitation line. No other copy of this book is designated in this manner, this is your chance to own the rarest and most unique Lettered State of this book. 

PROOFS:

We offer here two proofs, the story is as follows:  Back in or around 2003, Bill offered us the proof dated August 23, 2000 bound in lime green.  We were told the proof was one of three that Harlan Ellison signed, dated and wrote the city and state.  Whether there were more unsigned copies I was never told. We put it on the shelf!  Both proofs are 8 1/2 x 11.

In August of 2020, Bill sent us the proof dated August 3, 2000 bound in orange, to sell from his collection, it sat on the shelf with ours until i could get more information.  I asked how many of these there were, Bill did not know, but it would not be many, it could be the only one.

Fast Forward to 2025, being totally out of Deathbird Stories and having Tim's to list, I figured we better list them all so I pulled the two proofs from the shelf and compared.  The orange proof has hand corrections, in blue, red and some in what appears black.  The handwriting is from at least two individuals.  There is no indication any were done by Harlan.  The lime green proof contains the corrections.

That is all we know, never seen another, Harlan is obviously not signing, I have no idea where the other two signed copies are.  They are pictured above, sorry they are sideways.