As most of his wins were in the 60s+70s, we might be taking fewer mind altering drugs than the Hugo and Nebula voters who awarded Zelazny little statuettes?
You don't need drugs to explain poor taste; although maybe, networking might have been a factor. How else to explain a writer like M.K. Jemisin making such a noise in SF with such mediocre books as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms? (Which I reviewed here (http://www.ed-rex.com/unpopular_arts/books/the_hundred_thousand_kingdoms) if you're interested. And which on looking back, I see I said then reminded me of none other than Zelazny)?
SF is still a small field and was much smaller then; it's not beyond the realm of possibility that networking had a lot to do with his reputation back in the day.
Might not have been the drugs
You don't need drugs to explain poor taste; although maybe, networking might have been a factor. How else to explain a writer like M.K. Jemisin making such a noise in SF with such mediocre books as The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms? (Which I reviewed here (http://www.ed-rex.com/unpopular_arts/books/the_hundred_thousand_kingdoms) if you're interested. And which on looking back, I see I said then reminded me of none other than Zelazny)?
SF is still a small field and was much smaller then; it's not beyond the realm of possibility that networking had a lot to do with his reputation back in the day.