Bradbury Stories: 100 of his Most Celebrated Tales

Bradbury Stories: 100 of his Most Celebrated Tales
by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury was one of the true giants of 20th century literature, with close to fifty books published, including classics such as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, etc. He also wrote poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays and screenplays -- he was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay to John Huston's version of Moby Dick. But one of the things he'll be best remembered for is the hundreds, yes, hundreds of short stories he wrote over the course of his career. I grew up reading his classic collections, such as R is for Rocket and S is for Space in my school library as a kid, growing into The Martian Chronicles and others as I got older. For me, Bradbury has become one of my top five favorite authors off all time. He's had so many stories published in his lifetime, that it is sometimes difficult to track them all down. This collection, Bradbury Stories, assembles 100 of his absolute best short works, and is a perfect way to pay tribute to the master, now that he has passed away, just this month. It's impossible to single out which of Ray's stories have most affected me over the years -- he's such a lyrical, stylized writer, with a gift for capturing a "sense of place" and nailing characters in just a few phrases. But, if you've never read Bradbury (shame on you), I would definitely start with "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "A Sound of Thunder" (perhaps one of the two or three best "time travel" stories ever written!). Though those two stories are not in this particular 2003 volume (from which I'd recommend "The Burning Man" and "The Toynbee Convector"), this collection is still to be savored -- don't try to read it all in one short period of time -- instead, read a few stories at a time and spread out the pleasure. You've got a treasure chest waiting to be opened! [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of Bradbury's other short story collections or novels, including Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Illustrated Man, The Halloween Tree, and many more. Another excellent story collection is The Stories of Ray Bradbury, released in 1980.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [subscribe to Scott's monthly "It's All Geek to Me!" booklist newsletter or any of the 35+ other newsletters available through the libraries Books, Movies & More email newsletter service!]

[ Ray Bradbury entry on Wikipedia with numerous off-site links ] | [ official Ray Bradbury web site ] | [ Ray Bradbury entry on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database ]

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