Despite the strident campaigning of its adherents, science fiction has yet to break into the cultural mainstream. While Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and a number of other writers have produced first-rate literature, only Kurt Vonnegut has been able to break out of the typecasting of 'science fiction' writer and achieve wider acceptance. Now Harlan Ellison, the one-time enfant terrible of science fiction, has his chance to grab for the brass ring with Pyramid books planning to reissue eighteen of his works.

Ellison is a master of the soft cover field, having written and edited over thirty paperbacks during the last fifteen years. While best known for his science fiction, Ellison has also been a short story writer, novelistrscreenwriter (he wrote one of the all time bombs, The Oscar), TV writer, and critic. A large portion of the Pyramid series consists of Ellison's work outside the science fiction/fantasy field.