No one but Ellison could have written [the tales in "Deathbird Stories"]. No one but Ellison could have prefaced them with a box headed "CAVEAT LECTOR," containing the following words: "It is suggested that the reader not attempt to read this book at one sitting. The emotional content of these stories, taken without break, may be extremely upsetting…." Like the prose in the box, the stories offer a mixture of overheated Hype and genuine concern for the human condition. It is Ellison's conceit that these stories form a "cycle" dealing with the death of mankind's old gods and the search for newer deities. A few stories, not necessarily the best, seem to fit into this framework; among them are the overrated "Paingod" and "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes." A story about a highway duel in the near-future, "Along the Scenic Route," doesn't fit at all; stripped of pretensions, it is...