"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman

Blurb

"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" is a short story by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison. It is nonlinear in that the narrative begins in the middle, then moves to the beginning, then the end, without the use of flashbacks. First appearing in the science fiction magazine Galaxy in December 1965, it won the 1966 Hugo Award, the 1965 Nebula Award and the 2015 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. The story is one of the most reprinted short stories in the English language and has been translated into numerous foreign languages. "Repent..." was written in 1965 in a single six-hour session as a submission to a Milford Writer's Workshop the following day. A version of the story, read by Harlan Ellison, was recorded and issued on vinyl, but has long been out of print. The audio recording has since been reissued with other stories, by Blackstone Audio, under the title "The Voice From the Edge, Vol. 1". It was first collected in Ellison's Paingod and Other Delusions and has also appeared in several retrospective volumes of Ellison's work, including Alone Against Tomorrow, The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison, The Essential Ellison, Troublemakers and The Top of the Volcano.