It took far longer than I had expected, but I did finish a wonderful short story collection with an awful title by Harlan Ellison: "Gentleman Junkie and Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation." I have to start by saying that this has to be the best collection of short stories I've ever read. Ever. I won't comment on runners-up here...
I read a gorgeous copy that was relatively recently published...included lots of extra content and now includes a light coffee stain on its side. It's just due to mileage...it was a well-loved book while I was carrying it around.
Harlan Ellison was an extremely talented writer. He was also prolific, thankfully for his readers. I've read tons of stuff by him and it varies between good to great and then from great to astounding. You don't even see it coming necessarily when he approaches the apex of his storytelling abilities. You're just taken in and...well...astounded.
I don't know why this book took me like eight months to finish. I think I was savoring it....
Ellison considered titling this work "No Doors No Windows", which is a great title, but he kept it in his back pocket and used it for another book down the road. The theme of the stories in this book are about folks who don't have a lot of options in life and are nudged into tough situations as much by their own choices as by the fact that the world can be a tough place to live. It's that resilience of life that is moving...that effervescence in spite of the desperation that often drives it forward.
Somewhere I read about Harlan Ellison entering an office full of people (at his editor's work? somewhere else?) shortly after he wrote this book and getting lots of spontaneous applause and accolades. He was understandable confounded. Dorothy Parker herself had written a review of the book...incidentally the only paperback book she ever reviewed...with glowing praise. An excerpt from it is on the back of this publication.
Harlan Ellison isn't afraid of tough or controversial topics, and it shows here. He doesn't do this to shock anyone...it's more just to try to portray the world and its inhabitants realistically and to tell stories that resonate profoundly. I, also, can't recommend this book too vehemently.