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Rockabilly
He claims he's not a fan of rock-and-roll, but somehow Harlan Ellison's seminal novel based on the career of Jerry Lee Lewis ended up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of the first - and still one of the best - dissections of the wildly destructive rock-and-roll lifestyle, Spider Kiss isn't about giant cockroaches that attack Detroit or space invaders that smell like chicken soup. Instead, it's the story of Luther Sellers, a poor kid from Louisville with a voice like an angel who's renamed Stag Preston by a ruthless promoter. Preston's meteoric rise on the music scene is matched only by the rise in his enormous appetites - and not just for home cooking - and soon the invisible monkey named Success is riding him straight to hell. This raucous early novel reinforces Ellison's reputation as one of America's most dynamic writers.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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520 people want to read
About the author
Harlan Ellison
1,080 books2,800 followersHarlan Jay Ellison (1934-2018) was a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, teleplays, essays, and criticism.
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 21, 2024
I did not know that Ellison wrote books like this, not sci fi, horror or speculative fiction (despite the misleading ways the book has been shelved on Goodreads). In this book, a poor young man with a wonderful voice is discovered in Kentucky by an agent and his assistant/ fixer. Luther is quickly renamed Stag Preston and the combination of his mesmerizing singing, charisma and good looks turns him into a star. Unfortunately, Stag (who was none too nice to begin with) is able to indulge all of his worst instincts. This leads to scandals that the fixer can’t prevent.
This was a really entertaining and realistic glimpse into the dark and gritty side of the rock and roll life, where anything goes and loyalty is not in the vocabulary. 4.5 stars
This was a really entertaining and realistic glimpse into the dark and gritty side of the rock and roll life, where anything goes and loyalty is not in the vocabulary. 4.5 stars
September 5, 2025
I believe that this is Ellison’s first novel and parts of this feel like a novice writer. There are no characters that you can root for. And the final chapter is completely unnecessary
December 23, 2022
“There are those people in this world who are born for evil. They never bring any real happiness to anyone. They can only cause misery, heartache, and trouble. The Hitlers, the Capones, the little people with the touch of rot about them. Everyone knows someone like that, but few of them have any range and power. They’re limited. What if they get loose? Gain status?”
When you think of ‘Harlan Ellison’ you usually think of either science fiction or horror. This is neither. This splendid little ditty is hard to pigeonhole, but for the sake of discussion let us call it “Rock-n-Roll Noir.”
Published when he was but 27 years old (1961), Spider Kiss is Harlan before life twisted him up and ground him down and made him the cranky, cantankerous old sonofabitch that I (born in 1962) would later come to know and love. His writing here is prototypical. You see the talent and the craftsmanship of the author, minus all the seasoning and cynicism that would later become his trademarked style.
This is the Ellison I can wholeheartedly recommend to my friends who like great fiction but dislike the peculiarities of sci-fi.
When you think of ‘Harlan Ellison’ you usually think of either science fiction or horror. This is neither. This splendid little ditty is hard to pigeonhole, but for the sake of discussion let us call it “Rock-n-Roll Noir.”
Published when he was but 27 years old (1961), Spider Kiss is Harlan before life twisted him up and ground him down and made him the cranky, cantankerous old sonofabitch that I (born in 1962) would later come to know and love. His writing here is prototypical. You see the talent and the craftsmanship of the author, minus all the seasoning and cynicism that would later become his trademarked style.
This is the Ellison I can wholeheartedly recommend to my friends who like great fiction but dislike the peculiarities of sci-fi.
June 2, 2012
One of the best novels written about Rock n' Roll. Written pre-Beatles, and one of Ellison's earlier novels, the plot centers around a Presley/Holly type performer and is full of cynical looks at the music business. The plot and theme has an eerie resemblance to the film, A Face in the Crowd which also examines much of the hype and con-artist capacities of popular artists and the music industry. Ellison seemed to have been on hyper drive while writing this and, while it is quite different from most of his work, it is a forgotten classic.
November 11, 2021
60 years ahead of its time.
Harlan is gone and he's still relevant and kicking my ass across the floor.
Harlan is gone and he's still relevant and kicking my ass across the floor.
June 16, 2017
Written before rock'n'roll as we have come to know it even existed, pre-British invasion when Elvis was a young star of rockabilly, this is Ellison's only non-sf novel other than the crime novel Web of the City. It examines the lure of celebrity and the magic of the music with an unforgiving and unapologetic eye. It's still one of the best rock novels ever written. If you don't believe me, ask the folks at the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
March 10, 2018
Well, I didn't do this slightly ambitious pop/noir offering by a very young Harlan Ellison any favors by reading it overlapping first with a novel by J.-K. Huysmans and then one by Kathy Acker. Ellison's 20-something attempt at cynical noir set in the rock-'n'-roll business of starmaking, with the usual kinky sex, Faust theme, and eventually a murder thrown in, just couldn't compare to the more original authors in-between which I sandwiched his little book. Still, the prose is vigorous--and typically Ellisonian: I read a later collection of his stories not so long ago and the style he writes in today, judging from Spider Kiss, was pretty much fully developed before he hit thirty.
Given the author's age, then, the novel's weakest link is the typical noir-ish but somewhat forced cynical, world-weary voice of Shelly, the narrator. At 26-7, when he composed this little opus, Ellison himself was much more like the hungry rockabilly singer Luther/Stag--a man bent on making a name for himself, sleeping with every woman in the continental United States, and becoming a living legend. Some of the cynicism reads forced, I think, for the reason that Ellison just wasn't cynical enough himself yet to sell it. Later yes, here no. Shelley is a weakly drawn character verging on cliche--particularly his Jewishness, something that Ellison could write from his own experience, but which he didn't make anything more of than the usual show-biz noir novel cliche it so often is. Interesting that. Maybe that's Harlan's tension as a writer for me, what I both love about his writing and yet aesthetically condemn, I guess, keeping me from taking him wholly seriously--he's always calculating, I think, what his audience wants, always self consciously pop, and therefore fails to take real chances with his writing.
The novel also has Milton's problem in Paradise Lost--the antagonist is the most interesting character and I was rooting for him pretty much the whole time, even in the end. Maybe this is why I felt he was the real Harlan Ellison in the portrayal. But, instead of for-fronting his own demons, Harlan pretended to be the agent/narrator/observer Shelly and attribute those demons to another character, working out the morality play from the distance of the enabler's staying and continuing to enable or abandoning the rock star monster he, himself, has created. (Yeah, see a Frankenstein sheep in rockabilly celebrity clothing). But Harlan is no agent, he's 100% showman, with talent to spare and those demons do pop up in his work from time to time--that's the most honest he gets--and it's all to please voyeurs like us.
Given the author's age, then, the novel's weakest link is the typical noir-ish but somewhat forced cynical, world-weary voice of Shelly, the narrator. At 26-7, when he composed this little opus, Ellison himself was much more like the hungry rockabilly singer Luther/Stag--a man bent on making a name for himself, sleeping with every woman in the continental United States, and becoming a living legend. Some of the cynicism reads forced, I think, for the reason that Ellison just wasn't cynical enough himself yet to sell it. Later yes, here no. Shelley is a weakly drawn character verging on cliche--particularly his Jewishness, something that Ellison could write from his own experience, but which he didn't make anything more of than the usual show-biz noir novel cliche it so often is. Interesting that. Maybe that's Harlan's tension as a writer for me, what I both love about his writing and yet aesthetically condemn, I guess, keeping me from taking him wholly seriously--he's always calculating, I think, what his audience wants, always self consciously pop, and therefore fails to take real chances with his writing.
The novel also has Milton's problem in Paradise Lost--the antagonist is the most interesting character and I was rooting for him pretty much the whole time, even in the end. Maybe this is why I felt he was the real Harlan Ellison in the portrayal. But, instead of for-fronting his own demons, Harlan pretended to be the agent/narrator/observer Shelly and attribute those demons to another character, working out the morality play from the distance of the enabler's staying and continuing to enable or abandoning the rock star monster he, himself, has created. (Yeah, see a Frankenstein sheep in rockabilly celebrity clothing). But Harlan is no agent, he's 100% showman, with talent to spare and those demons do pop up in his work from time to time--that's the most honest he gets--and it's all to please voyeurs like us.
April 19, 2022
It's a little surprising to me that this novel is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because it's a cautionary tale more than anything else that shows the darker side of the business. A great novel that was written in 1961 but is very timeless. We have the story of the rise of a Rockabilly star (think Elvis) and his management (think Colonel Parker, although the main management character is harder for me to place.)
Ellison openly states not to put real names on his fictional characters, as they are all composites, and that's obviously true. But if you just HAD to pick names, it would be Elvis and Colonel Parker. Although Stag Preston is much darker than Elvis ever was, even at his darkest. (Let's hope.)
Overall a very visceral novel. I'm usually not a big fan of Ellison's writing, as, like Bradbury, I think the prose sometimes gets overblown and confuses the story. But now I think it's more the subject matter than confuses me, as this was much easier to digest than his science fiction, at least to me.
Overall this is a great Rock and Roll Novel, and nothing comes to mind that's even close. If you have any interest in the early days of Rock and Roll and enjoy dark drama, this is worth a read.
Ellison openly states not to put real names on his fictional characters, as they are all composites, and that's obviously true. But if you just HAD to pick names, it would be Elvis and Colonel Parker. Although Stag Preston is much darker than Elvis ever was, even at his darkest. (Let's hope.)
Overall a very visceral novel. I'm usually not a big fan of Ellison's writing, as, like Bradbury, I think the prose sometimes gets overblown and confuses the story. But now I think it's more the subject matter than confuses me, as this was much easier to digest than his science fiction, at least to me.
Overall this is a great Rock and Roll Novel, and nothing comes to mind that's even close. If you have any interest in the early days of Rock and Roll and enjoy dark drama, this is worth a read.
September 16, 2013
Harlan Ellison, I have the deepest of writing crushes upon you.
Now and then one comes across a writer whose every word titillates and entices. Reading their stories, regardless of what they are, is a pleasure: even their 'just ok' writing makes you think, makes you wonder, makes you hungry for more. I've a handful of authors I can think of that do that for me.
Unquestionably, Mr. Harlan Ellison is one of them.
Spider Kiss is a rock and roll fable, effortlessly splicing together the various stories of a down and out kid and his meteoric rise to fame. Where Spider Kiss differs from other stories of this nature is not only the fact that it predates the now cliche trope becoming trope... it also is nowhere near the heartwarming story one is used to hearing. Real life often isn't that way, and Ellison certainly doesn't shy away from depicting real life.
Character flaws are abundant, and for that the character's come off as rather more human. The fable is a fable, and as such the stereotypes do exist within the text. All the same, the stereotypes reinforce what audiences have been sold for ages now. It's incredible to think that this book was written in 1960, and it's more incredible that this book isn't better known.
Music fans? You gotta read this, if only for how well it mirrors the stories we all know so well.
Now and then one comes across a writer whose every word titillates and entices. Reading their stories, regardless of what they are, is a pleasure: even their 'just ok' writing makes you think, makes you wonder, makes you hungry for more. I've a handful of authors I can think of that do that for me.
Unquestionably, Mr. Harlan Ellison is one of them.
Spider Kiss is a rock and roll fable, effortlessly splicing together the various stories of a down and out kid and his meteoric rise to fame. Where Spider Kiss differs from other stories of this nature is not only the fact that it predates the now cliche trope becoming trope... it also is nowhere near the heartwarming story one is used to hearing. Real life often isn't that way, and Ellison certainly doesn't shy away from depicting real life.
Character flaws are abundant, and for that the character's come off as rather more human. The fable is a fable, and as such the stereotypes do exist within the text. All the same, the stereotypes reinforce what audiences have been sold for ages now. It's incredible to think that this book was written in 1960, and it's more incredible that this book isn't better known.
Music fans? You gotta read this, if only for how well it mirrors the stories we all know so well.
April 18, 2025
Some books introduce us to characters we come to love and adore. In our minds they transform into parents, teachers, siblings or lovers. These are the characters that grab our imagination and continue to move us through the story with a strong, swift hand. And then there are books who give us characters that we know a little too well to like, characters that are more comprised of bits and pieces of ourselves than we'd like to acknowledge. And then there are books that give us characters we hate so strongly that they hold more power over us than the other two combined. Spider Kiss possesses the most striking example of the third and more than a healthy dose of the second, so naturally, I found it impossible to put down.
Music from this era has never completely done it for me. I like it, it's nice, I have plenty of it on my ipod. But an entire book centered around the subject based in a time period I think is rather dull? Not very exciting stuff. And yet as the story progresses, as the characters fall into a never ending cycle of greed and depravity all of this slips away because really, the story is universal. The basic frame of the plot is only a cleverly built vehicle for the real meat of the story. Ellison could have based it anywhere on anyone and it would have packed the same punch.
There's really not much more to say other than for me to express my utter awe that this book doesn't have more reviews yet. Ellison's prose jack knifes off the page as he tackles his subject. The novel its self is an eerie blend of social criticism, moral rebuke, demonology, feminist telling and good old fashioned noir pulp. If you haven't read it do so now.
Music from this era has never completely done it for me. I like it, it's nice, I have plenty of it on my ipod. But an entire book centered around the subject based in a time period I think is rather dull? Not very exciting stuff. And yet as the story progresses, as the characters fall into a never ending cycle of greed and depravity all of this slips away because really, the story is universal. The basic frame of the plot is only a cleverly built vehicle for the real meat of the story. Ellison could have based it anywhere on anyone and it would have packed the same punch.
There's really not much more to say other than for me to express my utter awe that this book doesn't have more reviews yet. Ellison's prose jack knifes off the page as he tackles his subject. The novel its self is an eerie blend of social criticism, moral rebuke, demonology, feminist telling and good old fashioned noir pulp. If you haven't read it do so now.
August 4, 2022
Yes indeed a strange book. About sex and sex and sex and rock ‘n’ roll. About the dangers of success. and ultimately about the power to walk away from the Damned.
does every person have some potential? And is that potential both for good or for evil?
does every person have some potential? And is that potential both for good or for evil?
November 25, 2021
I had always wondered what the deal is with this book, and why I hadn't heard about it more. I think there are a few reasons for that:
- This sort of realistic story isn't what Ellison is best known for.
- It contains what could charitably be called "outdated portrayals of race". The same thing applies to the sexual violence in shows like Game of Thrones: just because it's the bad guys perpetrating it doesn't necessarily mean that you want to see/experience it.
- It's still early days, so much early days that THE POINT OF THE BOOK IS IN ITALICS ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE NOVEL.
Having said that, this isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, and much of what made Harlan Ellison an icon is fully-formed here. However, it's hard not so think in parts how much better it would be if even the Ellison from 10 years after this point had written it.
- This sort of realistic story isn't what Ellison is best known for.
- It contains what could charitably be called "outdated portrayals of race". The same thing applies to the sexual violence in shows like Game of Thrones: just because it's the bad guys perpetrating it doesn't necessarily mean that you want to see/experience it.
- It's still early days, so much early days that THE POINT OF THE BOOK IS IN ITALICS ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE NOVEL.
Having said that, this isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, and much of what made Harlan Ellison an icon is fully-formed here. However, it's hard not so think in parts how much better it would be if even the Ellison from 10 years after this point had written it.
September 25, 2022
Spider Kiss is an early work by Harlan Ellison, written in 1961 at age 27 before he had decided to focus on speculative fiction. The plot involves the rise and precipitous fall of a young rock star who squanders fame and fortune on a life of debauchery ... sex, drugs, alcohol and rock and roll.
The book showcases Ellison's writing talents, which are significant despite his youth.
The book showcases Ellison's writing talents, which are significant despite his youth.
March 3, 2025
Now, who on God's green earth allowed Mick Jagger to babysit Harlan Ellison for three months? And why the fuck did he write the most insulting book about it? I'm genuinely surprised that this old fart only had seven assassination attempts against him at this point.
Anyway, this shit was so incredibly fire.
Anyway, this shit was so incredibly fire.
February 12, 2019
The Incredibly over-the-top morality tale about an evil rockabilly man was good
June 10, 2014
At first it seemed like I was going to like this book a lot.
It opens with a crowd of girls eager to see Stag Preston, a young crooner (it feels a little weird to call him a rocker since so much rock has happened between now and the fifties) with a lean body and fitted clothes and a sweet ass red pompadour. Oh, and it's important to note the girls are wearing tight sweaters. As they did at rock shows in the fifties.
I think that's a pretty accurate description of certain fandoms. It turns out, though, Stag Preston sings songs that are no deeper or lyrically impressive than a Justin Bieber song. It's the way he sings them that gets everyone.
I feel like I have to be a synesthete to understand this. Whatever, it sounds cool.
The book is written from almost an omniscient point of view, but not quite. It's mostly told through Shelly (aka Sheldon), who's Stag's manager or publicist or something. Anyway, once Shelly discovers Stag and he cuts a record, we find out Stag is a horrible human being. Shelly gets home one night and receives a frantic call from Jean, a stenographer.
Shelly heads to the hotel where Stag and Jean are, thinking lovely thoughts along the way. Thoughts like he doesn't care if Jean has her "ass stripped off" as long as Stag's rep stays intact. Once he gets there, he sees Jean has clobbered Stag into unconsciousness, and he complains about her doing that to his "meal ticket." She's not hurt, not that Shelly bothered to ask. We know, though, because he's doing it with Jean on the next couple pages.
In one scene, Stag tries to come on to Shelly's girlfriend, Carlene, while Shelly's in the next room. Carlene is trying to fix him a drink.
Upon getting rejected in such an awesome manner (easily my favorite part of what I managed to read), Stag reacts by calling Carlene a bitch multiple times and threatens to "climb her frame." I have no problem with reading about a terrible guy like this, but when the rest of the book has little to offer, it's not really any fun.
There are a couple more scenes with Stag getting aggressive with women, like really aggressive. He rips the dress of a nightclub singer while she's singing in the nightclub. And then he gets a young black singer pregnant and yells at her about having to protect his career and he's not marrying her, blah blah blah.
This book should have been awesome. It's hard to believe, with all this drama, that it manages to be boring as hell. I mean, this is rock 'n' roll. It's pretty hard to make it boring (although judging by that movie Rock of Ages, maybe not that hard). I think it's Ellison's writing style. He seems pretty enamored of his own cleverness. Like, thanks for the three page discourse on hipsters. "A hipster is a pseudo." Got it.
Well, then, Mr. Ellison, maybe you shouldn't have filled your book with them.
It opens with a crowd of girls eager to see Stag Preston, a young crooner (it feels a little weird to call him a rocker since so much rock has happened between now and the fifties) with a lean body and fitted clothes and a sweet ass red pompadour. Oh, and it's important to note the girls are wearing tight sweaters. As they did at rock shows in the fifties.
Girls bit their fists as their eyes started from their heads. Girls spread their hands against their breasts and clutched them with terrible hunger. Girls fell back into their seats, reduced to tears, reduced to jelly, reduced to emotional orgasms of terrifying intensity.
I think that's a pretty accurate description of certain fandoms. It turns out, though, Stag Preston sings songs that are no deeper or lyrically impressive than a Justin Bieber song. It's the way he sings them that gets everyone.
But there was a subtext to the song. Something dark and roiling, an oil stain on a wet street, a rainbow of dark colors that moved almost as though alive, verging into colors that had no names, disturbing colors for which there were only psychiatric parallels. Green is the dead baby color ...
I feel like I have to be a synesthete to understand this. Whatever, it sounds cool.
The book is written from almost an omniscient point of view, but not quite. It's mostly told through Shelly (aka Sheldon), who's Stag's manager or publicist or something. Anyway, once Shelly discovers Stag and he cuts a record, we find out Stag is a horrible human being. Shelly gets home one night and receives a frantic call from Jean, a stenographer.
"Please ... get over here, will you! ... He's breaking down the, Jeezus, Shelly, please!"
Shelly heads to the hotel where Stag and Jean are, thinking lovely thoughts along the way. Thoughts like he doesn't care if Jean has her "ass stripped off" as long as Stag's rep stays intact. Once he gets there, he sees Jean has clobbered Stag into unconsciousness, and he complains about her doing that to his "meal ticket." She's not hurt, not that Shelly bothered to ask. We know, though, because he's doing it with Jean on the next couple pages.
In one scene, Stag tries to come on to Shelly's girlfriend, Carlene, while Shelly's in the next room. Carlene is trying to fix him a drink.
"This isn't too funny, Mr. Preston."
"Hot and cold running Stag."
"Mr. Preston."
"Stag! You don't have to get nasty about it. I'm only being friendly. Extending a little good cheer to my friend's girl."
"Hot or cold, Mr. Preston?"
"Depends on the receptacle."
Her carefully plucked eyebrows rose. "They've taught you big words, too. I thought all you knew were words for your songs; the ones with one syllable."
Upon getting rejected in such an awesome manner (easily my favorite part of what I managed to read), Stag reacts by calling Carlene a bitch multiple times and threatens to "climb her frame." I have no problem with reading about a terrible guy like this, but when the rest of the book has little to offer, it's not really any fun.
There are a couple more scenes with Stag getting aggressive with women, like really aggressive. He rips the dress of a nightclub singer while she's singing in the nightclub. And then he gets a young black singer pregnant and yells at her about having to protect his career and he's not marrying her, blah blah blah.
This book should have been awesome. It's hard to believe, with all this drama, that it manages to be boring as hell. I mean, this is rock 'n' roll. It's pretty hard to make it boring (although judging by that movie Rock of Ages, maybe not that hard). I think it's Ellison's writing style. He seems pretty enamored of his own cleverness. Like, thanks for the three page discourse on hipsters. "A hipster is a pseudo." Got it.
Cliches begin to stink after they've lain around a few years ...
Well, then, Mr. Ellison, maybe you shouldn't have filled your book with them.
October 7, 2013
This book was written half a century ago, when Harlan Ellison, a mere 27 years old, was a potentially brilliant writer who would become even better as his fiction matured. I may be prejudiced about the man's work, as he has been one of my very favorites since 1971, but the story remains one of the best examples, if not THE best, of how society treats its self-made gods. Having been in the music business myself a number of years ago, I can relate first-hand how the powers that be create their gods, then strangle them in their own greed and self-indulgence. Harlan Ellison has successfully turned a modern-day success story into a chilling, emotion-drenched horror tale. He is one man who can find the darkest, most unforgiving part of the human heart, yank it right out, then shove it in your face. He has entered forbidden territory here, where we worship our heroes and protect them at all costs, then discard them the moment they disappoint us by showing us that they are no different from us. We've been doing this to ourselves for many years, yet we always seem to find a demented pleasure and an almost religious justification for doing so.
Dated somewhat in racial and sexual mores, this story still packs quite a punch.
This novel is an early example of Harlan Ellison in-your-face (before he started getting really angry).
Dated somewhat in racial and sexual mores, this story still packs quite a punch.
This novel is an early example of Harlan Ellison in-your-face (before he started getting really angry).
May 18, 2011
For being written in 1961, or somewhere close to that, this is a mean novel. It doesn't hold back like I thought it would just because it's from 50 years ago. The language, the sex, the violence, the drugs, this holds nothing back. It is called the baddest rock novels of all time and I'd have to agree. This is in the Rock and Roll hall of fame and, now that I have completed it, I can see why. Reading the description of the book doesn't tell a person anything about the story, just what to expect from the story. This shows a nobody that comes up from nothing, makes a name for himself, and then it shows how it can all be lost. If you are a fan of music and like knowing the back stories to the artists, this novel gives good insight into the life of a rock and roll star. Read this book.
February 29, 2008
Harlan Ellison wrote this book in the early 1960s, pre-Beatles, when Elvis was in the army, and Little Richard found Jesus, and Chuck Berry was in jail, and Buddy Holly was dead. Actually, he is still dead. And critics and reporters were saying that the music was over and were calling Rock 'n' Roll a fad. This is the only book to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It contains the decadence and wild possibilities of that era. The hippies hadn't formed yet, but rockabilly music moved the nation. And Stag Preston, the protagonist of the book, if you can call him that, is a con man at best. Throughout the book, the reader comes to realize that maybe Rock 'n' Roll was the biggest con of them all. I'm one of the biggest rock fans around, and this book is a true rock classic.
December 23, 2014
Rockabilly is a classic example of how a book can have a crime as a pivotal element in a story line, yet not be a crime novel. There are a few such books--Leave her to Heaven comes to mind. Nor is the book about the central character of the book whose downfall comes at that pivotal moment. It's about the narrator whose life is affected by the Rockabilly star who he elevates to stardom.
This is the first book I've read by Harlan Ellison and I was amazed at how much of his own ego comes through on every page. I've never been so aware of the author's presence, almost to the point of distraction.
This is the first book I've read by Harlan Ellison and I was amazed at how much of his own ego comes through on every page. I've never been so aware of the author's presence, almost to the point of distraction.
May 4, 2011
When I first picked this book up, I had read a bit of Ellison's work here and there. Short stories mostly, as that is typically what he writes. I didn't know at all what to expect from this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised. If you're a fan of the behind-the-scenes of the lives of notorious celebrities, the idea that fame given to the wrong person can become catastrophic, then this book will appeal to you. It takes that concept and blows it up into something really menacing and fascinating. This book cemented that I would seek out more of Ellison's work, and I'm definitely not sorry.
July 6, 2012
Although there are dozens of books on the rock and roll lifestyle, Ellison 's book is the granddaddy of them all. Although it's supposedly basic on the life of Jerry Lee Lewis, there are aspects of others as well, particularly Elvis Presley. Ellison does an amazing job creating characters that you both loath and care about; sometimes simultaneously. There is a depth to even the most peripheral characters. A great read with depth . There is a reason why it's the only book of it's kind in the Rock u' Roll Hall of Fame.
September 8, 2008
Harlan Ellison retains his conjurer's ability to place you right inside the mood and minds of his characters. Although I don't necessarily identify with these characters, I certainly cared about their fates, and I definitely appreciate the seamless, smokeless way in which Ellison reveals entire psyches of his characters. He continues to be one of my all time favorite authors, and this epic story of rock-and-roll stardom is no exception.
September 17, 2013
I couldn't believe this was written in 1961, the year I was born.
It seemed like it could have been written yesterday.
Sheldon Morgenstern who works for Colonel Jack Freeport gets a little more than he bargained for when he discovers Luther Sellers when all he was looking for was a friendly poker game. It turns out that Luther can sing but he turns into a monster when he becomes Stag Preston and starts to hit the big time.
It seemed like it could have been written yesterday.
Sheldon Morgenstern who works for Colonel Jack Freeport gets a little more than he bargained for when he discovers Luther Sellers when all he was looking for was a friendly poker game. It turns out that Luther can sing but he turns into a monster when he becomes Stag Preston and starts to hit the big time.
February 17, 2008
As a true a work of fiction about the essence of early rock and roll and its demented hybrids as you are likely going to read. The main character (by Ellison's own admission) was drawn from Jerry Lee Lewis--and this ain't no Dennis Quaidish Jethro Bodine-cartoon. Worth digging for--it ain't easy to find.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2016
Ellison's slick, conversational style and wild metaphors are perfectly suited to this story about a young rock star's rise to fame. This may not have any hint of the speculative whatsoever, but the narrative is undoubtedly Ellison's. The dichotomy of corruption and morality is as evident here as in any of his best short fiction. A fantastic read.
July 16, 2014
I went on a fierce reading jag of Ellison, pretty much gobbling up everything I can get my hands on. Although this isn't my favorite of his works (I prefer the short stories) he does demonstrate his versatility.
January 10, 2008
Not Harlan's finest, but Harlan on an off day is better than nearly everything out there....
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February 17, 2021
"If you haven't read Harlan Ellison, you haven't read." ~ Richard Halasz
January 24, 2021
At the start of Rockabilly (later reprinted as Spider Kiss) by Harlan Ellison, the rock and roll crooner Stag Preston is finishing a concert. He spots an attractive young girl in the audience and wants to sleep with her. He approaches his public relations agent, Shelly Morgenstern, and demands that he approach her with the message that the famed singer wants to see her backstage. The PR man is not happy about this but goes along with it anyway. So the stage is set for this novel about the relationship between the two men. On one hand, this is the story of Stag Preston’s rise and fall and on the other hand it is about the existential crisis that Shelly Morgenstern has in his relationship with the rock star. The latter theme is actually the more prominent of the two.
Morgenstern is a New Yorker who works for Jack Freeport, a sleazy businessman who sometimes involves himself in the entertainment industry. Shelly Morgenstern overhears Stag Preston playing guitar and singing while sitting in on a poker game in Kentucky. He immediately recognized the talent and takes him to meet Freeport who also realizes that they have something big on their hands.
Stag Preston proves to be truly gifted and becomes a teen idol. He later stars in a movie, furthering his fame and making people realize that he was a natural actor, too good to be in such a schlocky movie. But off stage and off camera he is a complete lout, hard-drinking, violent, obnoxious, irresponsible, and addicted to fast and easy sex with naive groupies.
Shelly Morgenstern’s job as public relations agent is to manage Stag Preston’s image. In reality, this turns out to be little more than a highly-paid babysitting position that involves getting the infantile musician out of all the trouble he makes. Morgenstern gets pushed to the limits of his tolerance after some embarrassing incidents. One is when Stag gets a teenage African-American girl pregnant; FReeport insists on paying for an abortion and a non-disclosure agreement that cost him more money than he wants to pay. But more importantly, Morgenstern is disgusted by the racist comments that Stag Preston makes about her and the sexist way he thinks of her as less than human. Another time, Stag Preston gets all drugged up and allows himself to be filmed for a porn movie with two women. The man who arranged the situation threatens to release the film footage to the public if hush money isn’t paid in regular installments. The worst episode comes when a teenage girl dies because Stag Preston tried to rape her.
While the action of the story is provided by Stag Preston, the moral commentary is personified by Shelly Morgenstern. As the plot progresses, the PR man becomes increasingly morally conflicted about his relation to Stag. He is dependent on the rock star’s career to maintain his comfortable lifestyle but he feels like he is defending the actions of a monster to do so. He feels like he is a leech or a parasite but also knows that Stag Preston does not have the mental capacity to manage his life on his own. Shelly Morgenstern gets severely depressed and his dilemma is whether or not he should continue his relationship with Stag.
Halfway through the book, Shelly compares himself to Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein and Stag Preston to the monster. Notice that the monster was created by the doctor and in parallel, the agent Shelly Morgenstern created the career and image of Stag Preston. Here we can take into consideration that Shelly Morgenstern is obviously modeled on the author, Harlan Ellison. By following this line of reasoning, we can interpret this novel as an examination of the relationship between an artist and their art. It examines the responsibilities a writer has when creating a character. Stag Preston’s public persona is one of being charming and wholesome; this persona was created by Shelly Morgenstern while in reality Stag Preston is an oaf, a loser, and a sorry excuse for a human being. The image does not fit the reality and Shelly Morgenstern is responsible for managing the image. So if Shelly is a stand-in for Harlan Ellison, we get the existential dilemma of the new author standing at the crossroads of his future career. The young and obviously talented Harlan Ellison, knowing that he had potential, could have been considering whether he wanted to follow one path of writing trashy pulp novels at the margins of the noir genre and making some easy money or the other path of using his skills to take a more nuanced and meaningful look at the human condition. The way that Shelly resolves his own conflict in the end says a lot about where Harlan Ellison would be going as a writer in the future.
Rockabilly is an energetic novel but it certainly has its flaws. The trajectory of Stag Preston’s career and artistic development is glossed over and related in a rapid succession that sometimes has the feel of amateurish journalism. The relationship between Stag and Shelly is not always well-drawn either. The two men at several points say that they are good friends and, despite his misgivings, Shelly sometimes claims to admire Stag. But most of the dialogue involving the two is argumentative; they fight all throughout the book. The warmer side of their relationship is never fully realized and it is hard to understand why the two think of each other as friends. A passage or two detailing the affection they have for one another would have given the story a necessary depth and complexity, the absence of which makes the story a little hard to believe at times.
Harlan Ellison would go on to write bigger and better stories but Rockabilly is well worth reading. Its depiction of the celebrity lifestyle and the entertainment industry is brutally frank and at times disgusting. Stag Preston is a rock star archetype and his personality would later show up in real-life characters like Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Sid Vicious. Ellison’s foreshadowing of things to come is uncanny. This novel is a truly American story. While that may be a discredit to its characters, it is a credit to Ellison’s talents as a writer, even at such an early point in his career.
Morgenstern is a New Yorker who works for Jack Freeport, a sleazy businessman who sometimes involves himself in the entertainment industry. Shelly Morgenstern overhears Stag Preston playing guitar and singing while sitting in on a poker game in Kentucky. He immediately recognized the talent and takes him to meet Freeport who also realizes that they have something big on their hands.
Stag Preston proves to be truly gifted and becomes a teen idol. He later stars in a movie, furthering his fame and making people realize that he was a natural actor, too good to be in such a schlocky movie. But off stage and off camera he is a complete lout, hard-drinking, violent, obnoxious, irresponsible, and addicted to fast and easy sex with naive groupies.
Shelly Morgenstern’s job as public relations agent is to manage Stag Preston’s image. In reality, this turns out to be little more than a highly-paid babysitting position that involves getting the infantile musician out of all the trouble he makes. Morgenstern gets pushed to the limits of his tolerance after some embarrassing incidents. One is when Stag gets a teenage African-American girl pregnant; FReeport insists on paying for an abortion and a non-disclosure agreement that cost him more money than he wants to pay. But more importantly, Morgenstern is disgusted by the racist comments that Stag Preston makes about her and the sexist way he thinks of her as less than human. Another time, Stag Preston gets all drugged up and allows himself to be filmed for a porn movie with two women. The man who arranged the situation threatens to release the film footage to the public if hush money isn’t paid in regular installments. The worst episode comes when a teenage girl dies because Stag Preston tried to rape her.
While the action of the story is provided by Stag Preston, the moral commentary is personified by Shelly Morgenstern. As the plot progresses, the PR man becomes increasingly morally conflicted about his relation to Stag. He is dependent on the rock star’s career to maintain his comfortable lifestyle but he feels like he is defending the actions of a monster to do so. He feels like he is a leech or a parasite but also knows that Stag Preston does not have the mental capacity to manage his life on his own. Shelly Morgenstern gets severely depressed and his dilemma is whether or not he should continue his relationship with Stag.
Halfway through the book, Shelly compares himself to Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein and Stag Preston to the monster. Notice that the monster was created by the doctor and in parallel, the agent Shelly Morgenstern created the career and image of Stag Preston. Here we can take into consideration that Shelly Morgenstern is obviously modeled on the author, Harlan Ellison. By following this line of reasoning, we can interpret this novel as an examination of the relationship between an artist and their art. It examines the responsibilities a writer has when creating a character. Stag Preston’s public persona is one of being charming and wholesome; this persona was created by Shelly Morgenstern while in reality Stag Preston is an oaf, a loser, and a sorry excuse for a human being. The image does not fit the reality and Shelly Morgenstern is responsible for managing the image. So if Shelly is a stand-in for Harlan Ellison, we get the existential dilemma of the new author standing at the crossroads of his future career. The young and obviously talented Harlan Ellison, knowing that he had potential, could have been considering whether he wanted to follow one path of writing trashy pulp novels at the margins of the noir genre and making some easy money or the other path of using his skills to take a more nuanced and meaningful look at the human condition. The way that Shelly resolves his own conflict in the end says a lot about where Harlan Ellison would be going as a writer in the future.
Rockabilly is an energetic novel but it certainly has its flaws. The trajectory of Stag Preston’s career and artistic development is glossed over and related in a rapid succession that sometimes has the feel of amateurish journalism. The relationship between Stag and Shelly is not always well-drawn either. The two men at several points say that they are good friends and, despite his misgivings, Shelly sometimes claims to admire Stag. But most of the dialogue involving the two is argumentative; they fight all throughout the book. The warmer side of their relationship is never fully realized and it is hard to understand why the two think of each other as friends. A passage or two detailing the affection they have for one another would have given the story a necessary depth and complexity, the absence of which makes the story a little hard to believe at times.
Harlan Ellison would go on to write bigger and better stories but Rockabilly is well worth reading. Its depiction of the celebrity lifestyle and the entertainment industry is brutally frank and at times disgusting. Stag Preston is a rock star archetype and his personality would later show up in real-life characters like Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, and Sid Vicious. Ellison’s foreshadowing of things to come is uncanny. This novel is a truly American story. While that may be a discredit to its characters, it is a credit to Ellison’s talents as a writer, even at such an early point in his career.
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