I’ve been making a list of books I want for Christmas this year and while looking for I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison, I’ve noticed how expensive it is. I usually get stuff off of Amazon, and the paperback and hardcover are both around 100+ usd. Is the physical copy of this book rare or something? Why must it be so expensive? What are some other places I can purchase a physical copy of this book from that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? Hardcovers don’t matter to me much, so long as I can obtain the physical copy somewhere…
Is it that particular collection that you are looking for or just a collection that includes that story? It has been included in a good many anthologies over the decades.
Is it a requirement that they be hardcover? Because with library apps like Libby or Hoopla you can borrow from a library.
Ellison’s books have been out of print since his death, increasing in price accordingly. There is a new retrospective book of his collected stories called Greatest Hits due early next year, which will include ‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’.
Here is a list of every publication the story appeared in, you should be able to find one on ebay or abebooks or elsewhere
Thriftbooks has a copy of Ellison’s Alone Against Tomorrow, a collection of short stories which includes I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream for less than $30 US.
Direct sales links are not allowed, so I can’t link to it for you. Just search for Thriftbooks and then on their site search for Harlan Ellison or Alone Against Tomorrow.