a boy and his dog

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A Boy And His Dog

An Offprint from

BEACHAMï¿½S

GUIDE TO

LITERATURE

FOR

YOUNG

ADULTS

A Boy and His Dog

Mark W, Scott, Publisher, Literature Product

Scot Peacock, Managing Editor, Literature Product

Frank Castronova, Lisa Kumar, Senior Editors; Katy Baker, Kristen A. Dorsch, Marie Lazzari,

Thomas McMahon, Ira Mark Milne, Pam Revitzer, Jennifer Smith, Colleen Laine Tavor, Editors;

Alana Foster, Shayla Hawkins, Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite, Arlene M. Johnson, Thomas Wiloch,

Associate Editors; Jennifer Kilian, Anita Sundaresan, Daniel Toronto, Carol Ullmann, Assistant

Editors; Anna Marie Dahn, Administrative Assistant; Joshua Kondek, Technical Training Specialist

Dwayne Hayes, Managing Editor

Susan M. Trosky, Content Director

Maria Franklin, Permissions Manager

Edna Hedblad, Permissions Specialist

Lori Hines, Permissions Associate

Mary Beth Trimper, Composition Manager Stacy L. Melson, Buyer

Barbara J. Yarrow, Manager, Imaging and Multimedia Content

Randy Bassett, Imaging Supervisor

Robert Duncan, Dan Newell, and Luke Rademacher, Imaging Specialists

Pamela A. Reed, Imaging Coordinator

Leitha Etheridge-Sims, Mary Grimes, and David G. Oblender, Image Catalogers

Robyn V, Young, Project Manager, Imaging and Multimedia Content

Dean Dauphinais, Senior Editor, Imaging and Multimedia Content

Kelly A. Quin, Editor, Imaging and Multimedia Content

While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Gale Group neither guarantees the accuracy of the data contained herein nor assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, or discrepancies. Gale Group accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement of the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

This publication is a creative work copyrighted by Gale Group and fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competitioa and other applicable laws. The authors and editors of this work have added value to the underlying factual material herein through one or more of the following: unique and original selection, coordination, expression, arrangement, and classification of the information.

Gale Group will vigorously defend all of its rights to this publication.

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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 89-18048

ISBN 0-7876-5182-6 ISSN 1529-7446

Printed in the United States of America 10987654321

Introduction

♦

Since the first three volumes of Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults were published in 1989, selecting which literary works to cover has been a long and difficult process. The series editors originally began with a list of over four thousand titles; we then pared this list to about one thousand titles. In paring this second list even further, we had five main considerations: 1) Is the title a popular one that young people like to read? 2) Does the work possess literary merits or social themes that warrant calling it to the attention of young readers, their parents and teachers? 3) Is the work a classic that had over time won a permanent place in young adult literature? 4) Is the title a critically acclaimed work that had won awards, such as the Newbery Medal? 5) Is the book appropriate for a junior high or high school audience?

Scholars, teachers, and librarians offered practical advice about what books were of particular interest to young adults, and each of the titles included in this series meets at least three of the criteria mentioned above. The titles included in the series represent a cross-section of the complex world of young adult literature. Volumes 1-3 cover mainstream novels and short story collections, historical novels, classics, biographies, autobiographies, and nonfiction. Volume 4 covers science fiction, adventure novels, myths, epics, and mysteries. Volume 5 covers fantasy and gothic novels. Volumes 6-8 include novels, biographies, autobiographies/and other nonfiction published since 1980. Volume 9 continued the focus on contemporary fiction and nonfiction.

Beginning with Volume 10, the series returned to its basic tenet of covering works of fiction and nonfictionï¿½both contemporary and classicï¿½that have been widely recognized as important books for young adult readers. The titles we have included vary in reading difficulty and maturity of subject matter, so that there are many titles appropriate for junior high, as well as high school students. We have included titles that have been widely recognized and reviewed, including Newbery Award and Honor Book recipients, but have also included some authors who have been overlooked in the review process. We hope that by including them here, they will begin to gain the recognition they deserve.

Since the publication of the first volumes of Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults, we have discovered that the audience for the series is large and diverse. It includes involved readers who want to know more about their favorite books and authors; students who are researching term papers and book reports; teachers preparing classes; librarians building collections and selecting books for their patrons; parents seeking appropriate reading material for their children; and college students and professors developing ideas for curriculum designs. An easy-to-follow format had to be devised that provides the clarity

that younger readers require, while providing detailed information and depth of thought to satisfy the interests of more experienced readers. Especially useful to teachers planning thematic segments, and to students writing papers and reports, is the appendix that groups titles by themes. There are thematic appendices at the end of Volume 3, in Volumes 4 and 5, and at the end of Volumes 8 and 9. The cumulative index in the current volume provides easy access to authors and titles for the entire series. Each formatted article is divided into the following sections.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The basics of the author's life are laid out here, with particular attention to the events that shaped the writer's work or sensibilities. This section also discusses the author's critical and popular success.

OVERVIEW

This section, which provides a snapshot of the plot and characters, is intended to generate student interest in reading the book, and to give teachers and librarians a quick guide to the subject matter.

SETTING

Many books for young adults are intended to acquaint them with places they have never been and cultures they have never experienced. Novels about faraway lands, futuristic worlds, historical times, the inner city, and the farm all serve to transport readers into the unfamiliar, helping them to broaden their outlook and to understand similarities and differences of other cultures. The "Setting" section acquaints readers with the special aspects of the setting (including additional historical background to explain the merits or weaknesses of a historical novel), as well as showing how the author uses place and time to develop themes and characterizations.

THEMES AND CHARACTERS

This section explains how the themes and characters are woven together to create a unified work of art, and it establishes the groundwork for understanding the characters' motivation and actions. Because some books are more thematically complex than others, the length of the "Themes and Characters" section varies accordingly. The object of this section is to give insight into a work's literary merits by taking an in-depth look at how well rounded the characters are, how plausible they are, and how well they fit into the work's themes. This section is intended to provide serious critical treatment, thereby enriching a reader's appreciation of the literary work.

LITERARY QUALITIES

The "Literary Qualities" section analyzes the techniques authors use to communicate with their readers. It also introduces students to literary devices such as foreshadowing and

archetypes. In explaining the skill behind the artistry, this section shows the reader how to become a more thoughtful critic.

SOCIAL SENSITIVITY

Often books for young adults are controversial. For instance, some old classics for young readers contain racist undercurrents that were overlooked in less enlightened times. On the other hand, since the 1960s the subjects that books for young adults treat have broadened to include topics that were once thought to be strictly for adults, such as sex, drug addiction, and hatred toward one's parents. Some young adult books are very violent, others are intensely frightening, and still others express doubts about the morals and ethics of religion, science, or society. The "Social Sensitivity" section analyzes the social context and explains how the sensitive aspects of the book fit in with its setting, themes, characters, and plot. The "Social Sensitivity" section may alert adults to sensitive issues, but it does not attempt to judge or censor material, including "reality" topics like nuclear war, sexuality, broken homes, racism, religious faith, and a host of other "real world" issues.

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

This section provides a list of topics and questions designed to stimulate classroom discussion. For students conducting research on their own, these questions serve to guide the reader toward the most important elements of theme and character.

IDEAS FOR REPORTS AND PAPERS

This section is designed to lead readers toward ideas for additional reading assignments, writing assignments, and in-class presentations. Its purpose is to help students think about their topics and to offer them some guidance as to what approaches to the book could be effective. It provides suggestions for simple reports as well as complex term papers. Librarians will find this section useful in guiding students who are searching for report topics.

RELATED TITLES/ADAPTATIONS

This section discusses books by the same author that share similarities with the main title, or by other authors dealing with the same themes or characters. Often these books form part of a series, such as the Tillerman cycle by Cynthia Voigt, This section is useful to students who are writing a comparative analysis paper, or who are seeking another title by an author they liked. If a title has been adapted to stage, radio, television, or film, this section compares the adaptation to the original title.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE

In some cases, there is a wealth of published material on a particular author or a particular title; in those cases, the "Further Reference" section guides the reader to the most helpful sources. On the other hand, some of the titles have not been widely reviewed, which limits the bibliography.

RELATED WEBSITES

This section lists websites that contain information about a particular author or title. Each citation includes a brief summary of the website's contents. In some cases, the date that the site was last known to be active is provided.

It is heartening that Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults provides much new material that cannot be found elsewhere, but it also serves as an indication of how very much more work needs to be done in studying the many meritorious works in young adult literature.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

♦

ADAMS, DOUGLAS. A cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Ballantine Books, 1995. Reproduced by permission of Random House, Inc. / Adams,

Douglas, 1993, photograph by Frank Capri. Archive Photos, Inc. © Frank Capri/SAGA. Reproduced by permission.

APPLEGATE, K(atherine) A(lice). Spalenka, Greg, illustrator. From a cover of Everworld: Enter the Enchanted, by K. A. Applegate. Scholastic, Inc., 1999, Copyright © 1999 by Katherine Applegate. Reproduced by permission. / Spalenka, Greg, illustrator. From a cover of Everworld: Realm of the Reaper, by K. A. Applegate. Scholastic, Inc., 1999. Copyright © 1999 by Katherine Applegate. Reproduced by permission. / Applegate, K. A., photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

BAMBARA, TONI CADE. Taddei, Richard, illustrator. From a cover of Gorilla, My Love, by Toni Cade Bambara, Vintage Contemporaries, 1992. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

BARRON, T(om) A. Sweet, Darrell K., illustrator. From a cover of The Merlin Effect, by T. A, Barron. Tor Books, 1996. Illustration copyright © 1995 by Anthony Bacon Venti. Reproduced by permission. / Barron, T. A., photograph by Currie C. Barron. Reproduced by permission of T. A. Barron.

BAT-AMI, MIRIAM. Mosberg, Hilary, illustrator. From a jacket of Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami. Front Street / Cricket Books, 1999. Jacket © 1999 by Hilary Mosberg. / Bat-Ami, Miriam, photograph. Reproduced by permission.

BROYARD, BLISS. Javorek, Mary, photographer. From a cover of My Father, Dancing, by Bliss Broyard. Harcourt, Inc., 1999. Copyright © 1999 by Bliss Broyard. Reproduced by permission. / Broyard, Bliss, photograph by Marion Ettlinger. Reproduced by permission of Marion Ettllinger.

CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, MIGUEL DE. Title page of Don Quixote, 1605. Corbis-Bettman. Reproduced by permission. / de Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel, photograph.

CHEKOV, ANTON. Chekhov, Anton, photograph. The Library of Congress.

CRUTCHER, CHRIS. Lee, Bryce, illustrator. From a cover of Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories, by Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow Books, 1989. Jacket art © 1991 by Bryce Lee. Reproduced by permission of Greenwillow Books, a division of William Morrow & Company, Inc.

DANZIGER, PAULA. Colin, Paul, illustrator. From a cover of P.S. Longer Letter Later, by Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin. Scholastic Press, 1998. Jacket illustrated copyright © 1998 by Paul Colin. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc. / Danziger, Paula, photograph by Paul Abdoo. Reproduced by permission of Paul Abdoo.

DICKENS, CHARLES. Frederic W. Pailthorpe illustrator. From Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. Dodd, Mead & Company, 1942. / Dickens, Charles, photograph.

ELLISON, HARLAN. Ellison, Harlan, photograph by Chris Cuffaro. Reproduced by permission of Chris Cuffaro.

FARLEY, WALTER. Ward, Keith, illustrator. From an illustration in The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley. Random House, 1941. Copyright, 1941, renewed 1968, by Walter Farley. Reproduced by permission of Random House, Inc. / Farley, Walter, photograph by Tim Farley. Courtesy of Random House Children's Publishing. Reproduced by permission.

FREEMAN, RUSSELL. Top left and right, Barbara Morgan, Morgan Press, courtesy of Lloyd Morgan. Bottom left, Dance Collection, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Bottom right, Soichi Sunami, Dance Collection, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations, courtesy of Reiko Kopelson. From a jacket of Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life, by Russell Freedman. Clarion Books, 1998. Copyright © 1998 by Russell Freedman. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. / Freedman, Russell, looking forward, books on shelves in background, photograph. Reproduced by permission.

FRITZ, JEAN. Thompson, Ellen, illustrator. From a cover of Harriet Beecher Stowe and The Beecher Preachers, by Jean Fritz. PaperStar Books, 1998. Cover art© 1994 by Ellen Thompson. Reproduced by permission. / Fritz, Jean, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 2000, photograph. Reproduced by permission.

HERBERT, FRANK. Herbert, Frank, photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

HUGHES, MONICA. Hughes, Monica, photograph. Reproduced by permission.

LEGUIN, URSULA. LeGuin, Ursula, photograph by Lisa Kroeber. Reproduced by permission of Ursula LeGuin.

LOWRY, LOIS. Lowry, Lois, photographer. From a jacket of her Gathering Blue. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Jacket photography © Lois Lowry. Reproduced by permission. / Lowry, Lois, photograph by Amanda Smith. Reproduced by permission of Lois Lowry.

MAUPASSANT, GUY DE. Kelley, Gary, illustrator. From an illustration in The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. Creative Editions, Inc., 1993. Ilustrations © Gary Kelley 1992. Reproduced by permission. / Maupassant, Guy de, photograph.

NIX, GARTH, Nix, Garth, photograph by Janet Bradley. Reproduced by permission of Garth Nix.

OKADA, JOHN. A cover of No-No Boy, by John Okada. University of Washington Press, 2001. Copyright © 1976 by Dorothy Okada. Reproduced by permission. / Okada, John, photograph. From a cover of his No-No Boy. University of Washington Press, 2001. Reproduced by permission.

REYNOLDS, MARILYN. A cover of Beyond Dreams, by Marilyn Reynolds. Morning Glory Press, 1995. Copyright © 1995 by Marilyn Reynolds. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced by permission. / Reynolds, Marilyn, photograph. Bellis Photography © 1991. Reproduced by permission of Marilyn Reynolds.

ROBERTS, NORA. Roberts, Nora, photograph by John Earle. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Putnam, Inc.

ROBINET, HARRIETTE GILLEM. Nickens, Bessie, illustrator. Prom a jacket of Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule, by Harriette Gillem Robinet. Jean Karl Books, 1998, Jacket illustration copyright © 1998 by Bessie Nickens. Reproduced by permission of Bessie Nickens. / Robinet, Harriette Gillem, photograph by McLouis Robinet. Reproduced by permission of Harriette Gillem Robinet.

ROWLING, J. K. GrandPre, Mary, illustrator. From a jacket of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J, K. Rowling. Scholastic, 2000. Harry Potter, characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. © 2001. / Rowling, J. Kï¿½ 1998, photograph. AP/ Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

SWIFT, JONATHAN. Rackham, Arthur, illustrator. From an illustration in Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, by Jonathan Swift. J. M. Dent, 1900, / Swift, Jonathan, painting. The Library of Congress.

TURNER, MEGAN WHALEN. Turner, Megan Whalen, photograph by Alex Madonik. Reproduced by permission of Megan Whalen Turner.

TWAIN, MARK, Hitchcock, Lucius, illustrator. From a jacket of The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories and Essays, by Mark Twain. Harper and Brothers, 1900. / Twain, Mark, photograph. The Library of Congress.

VONNEGUT, KURT, JR. Photograph. National Archives and Records Administration.

WATKINS, YOKO KAWASHIMA. Patrick, Pamela, illustrator. From a cover of My Brother, My Sister, and I, by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, Aladdin Paperbacks, 1996. Cover illustration © 1996 by Pamela Patrick. Reproduced by permission of Pamela Patrick. / Watkins, Yoko Kawashima, photograph by Paul Harder. Reproduced by permission of Yoko Kawashima Watkins.

YOLEN, JANE.Nielson, Cliff, illustrator. From a jacket of Armageddon Summer, by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville. Copyright © 1998 by Jane Yolen and Bruce CoviJle. Reproduced by permission of HarperCollins and Shannon Associates, Inc. for the illustrator. / Yolen, Jane, photograph by Jason Stemple. Copyright © 2000 Jason Stemple. Reproduced by permission.

ZINDEL, PAUL. Home, Dan, illustrator. From a jacket of Rats, by Paul Zindel. Hyperion, 1999. Jacket illustration © 1999 by Dan Home. Reproduced by permission. / Zindel, Paul, photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Contributors

Without the expertise and generosity of the hundreds of contributors to this series, the depth of criticism now available to young adult readers, their teachers, librarians, and parents would not have been possible. To all of our contributors, past, present, and future, we gratefully acknowledge your contributions.

Contributors whose analyses appear in this volume are:

Emily Alward Patrick Jones

Tamra Andrews Marilyn A. Perlberg

Kirk H. Beetz Evelyn Perry

Vicki Cox Robert Redmon

Ellen Donovan Susan Swords Steffen

Melanie C Duncan Harriett S. Williams, Ph.D.

Paula Johanson University of South Carolina

A BOY AND HIS DOG

Novella

1969

Author: Harlan Ellison

-------♦-------

Major Books for Young Adults

Web of the City, 1958

Spider Kiss, 1961

Gentleman ]unkie, 1961

Ellison Wonderland, 1962

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, 1967

From the Land of Fear, 1967

♦ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ♦

The author was bom Harlan Jay Ellison on May 27,1934, in Cleveland, Ohio. In grade school when his father died, Harlan endured a childhood in poverty, raised by his widowed mother. Young Harlan spent a restless boyhood on the road working at odd jobs. When he became old enough to earn a living, Ellison supported his mother. Ellison has written warmly of his Jewish parents, particularly his mother, and has quoted her Yiddish expressions, which have had a colorful influence upon his writing all his life.

As a young man, Ellison went to Ohio State University from 1953 to 1954, before moving to New York City to work as a writer. To gain background for his first

Love Ain't Nothing But Sex

Misspelled, 1968 A Boy and His Dog, 1969 All the Lies That Are My Life, 1980 Vic and Blood: Chronicles of a Boy and

His Dog, 1989

major novel, dealing with juvenile delinquency, he took an assumed name and ran with a youth gang in Brooklyn's dangerous Red Hook sections for ten weeks. In 1957, he was drafted into the United States Army, training at Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and serving two years at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Camp Brekenridge, Indiana. Since leaving the military, he has been a writer in many genres.

Ellison's writing career has spanned nearly fifty years. His works have been translated into twenty-six languages and have sold millions of copies. He has drawn attention to the art of writing by performing the remarkable feat of writing stories in the windows of bookstores (in Paris, London, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and elsewhere),

A Boy and His Dog

Harlan Ellison

stories that have gone on to win major awards and literary prizes. He has covered and written about civil rights marches, riots, antiwar demonstrations, and other scenes of civil unrest. His two books of essays on television, The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat, have sold millions of copies and have been used in media classes in more than 200 American universities.

He has won more awards than any other living writer for his over seventy-five books, 1700 stories, essays, articles and newspaper columns, two dozen teleplays, and one dozen motion pictures. He has won the Hugo, the Nebula, the Bram Stoker Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Georges Melies fantasy film award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Writers' Guild of America Award, as well as the Silver Pen for Journalism by PEN, the international writers' union. He was presented with the first Living Legend Award by the

International Horror Critics at the 1995 World Horror Convention.

Perhaps Ellison's summarizes his own life best in the afterword to his book The Essential Ellison, "For a brief time 1 was here; and for a brief time I mattered."

♦ OVERVIEW ♦

Vic and Blood, a boy and his dog, look out for each other in a hard, cruel world some years after a nuclear war. Through a telepathic link, they communicate at least as effectively as through speech. They work to meet each other's basic needs for survival: food, companionship, and the relief of despair or boredom.

Blood's efforts to educate Vic are not as successful as he would like; Vic would far rather that Blood used his keen sense of smell to find him a girl. During this search they enter a small, rough community of desperate people who prey on each other. Blood does locate a girl, and together Vic and Blood track her out of a jury-rigged cinema. The girl, Quilla June, is seemingly not afraid of Vic or his rough ideas of sexï¿½ though she ought to be. He tracked her down with the intent of raping her several times before either murdering her or abandoning her to die. His plan is interrupted by an attack, and Vic and Blood have to fight several desperate toughs for their lives.

After they escape, Quilla June reveals where she has come from: an underground community in a nuclear fallout bunker, as Blood and Vic had guessed. Quilla June insists that Vic come alone with her inside the bunkered community, leaving Blood outside. The people of the hidden community welcome Vic, but also enslave him as a sperm donor for their young women, as they have no healthy young men. This entrapment was their intent when Quilla June was sent out.

A Boy and His Dog

However, the leaders of the community did not expect Quilla June to revolt when she is not made part of the ruling committee, She kills her parents and others while helping Vic escape from bondage and leave the underground community.

At the hidden entrance, Vic finds that Blood is still waiting for him, though it has been days. Blood is weak from starvation.

Vic cannot keep alive both this girl, who is ignorant of the outside world, and the dog who has saved his life many times. He knows which of them will be a faithful companion for heart and mind as well as helping him survive. He has to choose which he must kill to feed the other.

"A boy loves his dog."

♦ SETTING ♦

The story is set in Arizona, in an unspecified post-apocalyptic time, after what appears to have been a thoroughly devastating nuclear war and environmental disaster. A reasonable guess at the calendar date could be around the turn of the twenty-first century, more than ten years but less than thirty years after the disaster. Vic and Blood wander through a landscape that is desolate, where little approximating food grows. The few people they meet are all trying desperately to survive on scavenged canned goods, and are willing to fight and kill for less than a meal.

It would be hard for either the dog or boy to survive for very long alone in the small town they enter. Far from being a helpful community, the people are preying on each other, Vic and Blood are no better: when they find a woman with her throat cut by rapists and thieves, Vic is upset that they have killed her already. She could have been raped a few more times. Hers is not an uncommon fate, and Vic is not unusual for a young rover.

The community where Quilla June lives seems much better at first glance. In this town, the genteel culture of the American Midwest has been re-created. Security is better in the underground bunker, and the people seem to be leading more civilized, cooperative lives. It is not apparent at first that Vic has been manipulated into entering the bunker, and for what reasons. Though this community may seem Utopian in contrast to the outside world, it is no ideal place for Vic.

♦ THEMES AND CHARACTERS ♦

Harlan Ellison's personal beliefs about the ethical and moral behavior of humans in their various interactions have been made very clear in A Boy and His Dog, and time and again in the themes of his fiction, and overtly in his nonfiction writing. Ellison outlines the themes he writes about in this story, in a quote from The Harlan Ellison Hornbook: "My philosophy of life is that the meek shall inherit nothing but debasement, frustration and ignoble deaths." Ellison goes on to say

that there is security in personal strength; that you CAN fight City Hall and WIN; that any action is better than no action, even if it's the wrong action; that you never reach glory or self-fulfillment unless you're willing to risk everything, dare anything, put yourself dead on the line every time; and that once one becomes strong or rich or potent or powerful it is the responsibility of the strong to help the weak BECOME strong.

The author has made his personal beliefs the themes of this short novel. Through the experiences of Vic, the reader is shown that meek people do suffer and die, that Vic does find some security in his personal strength and his struggles against attacks in the communities he enters, that Vic is willing to take great risks to stay close to Quilla

A Boy and His Dog

June, and finally that Vic decides to help his weak friend Blood survive, though he has no such compassion for Quilla June.

Though Vic is barely eighteen years old, it is clear when the story begins that he has been on his own for years. It is also clear that he could not have survived this long without the dog Blood. Not only are they an effective team for finding food and water and other essentials of life, but they converse together and give each other their attention and loyalty.

The dog is a far more complex and interesting character than the boy. Blood is better educated, from his training and experience and telepathic links with other men in the past, though it is not hard to be better educated than Vic, who is in many respects a feral child. As a medium-sized dog, Blood is tough and strong, a good partner for a skinny young man. With Blood's guidance, Vic is capable and knowledgeable in the hunting and scavenging skills needed to survive in this dangerous environment.

The reader might ask why Blood needs a human companion at all ... but the boy finds them food, tends their hurts, can fire a gun, and can fight to defend his partner in the dangerous world that post-apocalyptic Arizona has become. But even more than that, Vic is someone to talk with and teach. Blood needs that, and he needs a human for him to be loyal to above all else. In that, he is clearly still a dog, for all his memory and conversation and telepathy. He is not a wolf, which hunts its own food and resists domestication by humans.

Even with an experienced dog as his guide, Vic makes choices that are less than wise. His idea of long-term plans is raping a girl more than once before leaving her for dead. It is apparent that Vic does not have sophisticated skills for human interaction. Quilla June has come looking for someone exactly like him, and even as young and

ignorant as she is, she can manipulate him sufficiently for her community's plans.

Vic is not much troubled by the notion of finding a girl in a rough wreckage of a town, where she has no right to be; Vic merely assumes that she has snuck out of a safer bolthole to risk a little danger. That she is bait for a trap to entice him into her sheltered community does not even occur to him. Even when Vic learns of the reason Quilla June was sent out as bait for a young, healthy man, he is still not alarmed at first.

In fact, he rather liked the idea of being kept as a stud for the young women of this sheltered communityï¿½if allowed to couple with them as he expects. Being a sperm donor has considerably less appeal, particularly when his donations are taken by force. And once several of the young women become pregnant, Vic's life expectancy would be zero, as he would no longer be needed. Once again, Vic has found a human community where people are surviving at each other's expense.

The development of the character of Quilla June takes two unexpected turns. Far from being merely a stupid innocent who is risking the dangers of the outside world for excitement, Quilla June is revealed as a conspirator sent out to entice a virile and healthy young man into her secure community, using her body as bait. She is even more resolved to bring Vic in after he survives the fight, during which he proved his strength and dexterity and intelligence, rather than merely settling for returning with a possible new pregnancy.

But when she does not profit as much as she wished from her daring, Quilla June will no longer consent to be manipulated by the ruling committee of her community or her parents. She glories in the slaughter of her own parents and is willing to kill others as she rescues Vic from bondage. She has chosen a partner of proven superior survival abilities, and wants to go with Vic

A Boy and His Dog

to form a team of two in the cruel surface world.

What she does not understand is that there is no place in that devastation for a man and a woman to live together in peace, or even to exploit each other for mutual benefit for more than a few days (as would be far more likely, for Vic and Quilla June). There are few women surviving the roving gangs and solos, and no safe places but the rare underground bunkers like the one she and Vic have escaped. Dogs like Blood can track a woman by her scent, no matter how well she may disguise herself or a companion might defend her. A solo rover like Vic would probably not be able to scavenge enough resources for the two of them, and would certainly not be able to defend her for long against the inevitable series of attacks from other desperate men, alone or in gangs.

Compassion and true love triumph as the story ends. But it is Vic's compassion for his true friend Blood, not the conventional love of woman, which triumphs.

♦ LITERARY QUALITIES ♦

There are clearly some autobiographical elements in Vic, who is the emotional offspring of the young, frustrated Harlan Ellison. The author manages to write the story from the viewpoint of an ignorant young man, one who would be a sociopath and very likely a convicted criminal in an ordinary real-world community. It is probable that Ellison drew on his experience as a young man running with a teen gang in Brooklyn, when creating the character of Vic.

Somehow Ellison shows readers that Vic has committed horrifying crimes and intends to do so in future, while simultaneously making it clear that Vic is the product of his environment and almost completely ignorant about other possible ways to

behaveï¿½without excusing his crimes, Vic knows he is not a "nice" person. He does not seem to know how anyone can care for anyone else. It would seem that what the boy needs most of all is to learn about love and interdependence; and when he realizes what he knows, Vic is able to affirm that love and interdependence.

That he does so by choosing his faithful dog, Blood, over the conniving Quilla June is the stroke of genius that earned A Boy and his Dog the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America.

Edgar Rice Burroughs would have written in a fortuitous lizard-beast for his hero to kill, to feed the loyal dog and the chastened girl. Theodore Sturgeon would have written of Vic's vigil over the dying dog, while the girl leaves and runs into other rovers, who rape and kill her (as Vic had intended to do when they met). Only Ellison could make this ending more honest and natural; it is thoroughly horrifying for the reader.

This story is not an easy, effortless read. It can be an upsetting or emotional experience for the reader. Ellison intends his writing to be a commentary on life, and to encourage introspection as well as action among his readers. For this story and others, and for his nonfiction writing, he has faced hecklers, raving phone calls, obnoxious letters, and death threats.