Product Description
Ray Bradbury is a modern cultural treasure. His disarming simplicity of style underlies a towering body of work unmatched in metaphorical power by any other American storyteller. And here, presented in a new trade edition, are thirty-two of his most famous tales--prime examples of the poignant and mysterious poetry which Bradbury uniquely uncovers in the depths of the human soul, the otherwordly portraits of outrÉ fascination which spring from the canvas of one of the century's great men of imagination. From a lonely coastal lighthouse to a sixty-million-year-old safary, from the pouring rain of Venus to the ominous silence of a murder scene, Ray Bradbury is our sure-handed guide not only to surprising and outrageous manifestations of the future, but also to the wonders of the present that we could never have imagined on our own.Ray Bradbury is a modern cultural treasure. His disarming simplicity of style underlies a towering body of work unmatched in metaphorical power by any other American storyteller. And here, presented in a new trade edition, are thirty-two of his most famous tales--prime examples of the poignant and mysterious poetry which Bradbury uniquely uncovers in the depths of the human soul, the otherwordly portraits of outre fascination which spring from the canvas of one of the centurys great men of imagination. From a lonely coastal lighthouse to a sixty-million-year-old safari, from the pouring rain of Venus to the ominous silence of a murder scene, Ray Bradbury is our sure-handed guide not only to surprising and outrageous manifestations of the future, but also to the wonders of the present that we could never have imagined on our own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Golden Apples
I like just about everything that Ray Bradbury has written, and this is a collection of his short stories. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Ray Bradbury or science fiction/fantasy. The book was in excellent condition and shipped promptly. Amazon Verified Product.

The Highlights are the True Science-Fiction Tales
Ray Bradbury's skill as a storyteller permits him to paint beautiful pictures of the otherwise mundane.A lot of his tales sound rather ordinary by their descriptions, and rarely like science-fiction; his gift is to enchant you anyway, whether by offering a fresh perspective or just using his beautiful command of language as his artist's palette.

Golden Apples isn't the best example of this, though.With a few exceptions, the best stories in this collection are those which could never happen, and which truly are science-fiction (or at least fantasy), and the forgettable ones have the least going on.In addition to perhaps the greatest known Bradbury short ever ("A Sound of Thunder," about time-traveling big game hunters who alter the future), the best tales depict an ageless boy wandering the earth in search of new parents; a dinosaur emerging from the ocean's depths to heed the call of a fog horn it mistakes as kin; a ghost inhabiting a real girl's body to experience falling in love; and, in Tell-Tale Heart-like fashion, a man goes insane while covering his post-murder tracks.

Of the non-science-fiction stories, the predominant themes are nuclear apocalypse, media and technology's intrusion in our lives, and ethnic pride and race relations.Some work ("The Big Black and White Game," "The Murderer"), and some don't ("Sun and Shadow," "Embroidery").It struck me that those tales offering the most social commentary entertained the least.

Strong Collection, but Not Extraordinary
I've read mostly all of Bradbury's lengthier fiction repretoire, and have only begun dipping into his collections of short stories. As a writer during the "Golden Age" of science fiction, Bradbury is unsurpassed: All at once, he manages to show the reader a future of hope, of surprise and of brightness. His writing style is simple and terse, and it takes some time to get used to the cadance with which he writes.

One of the aspects I've always appreciated about Bradbury's writing is that his stories extend beyond the "science fiction" genre. Encapsulated within the SF exterior, Bradbury manages to capture portraits of humanity - throughout all of his stories, it is apparent that he prescribes to the idea that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thus, while he writes about space travel and other fantastical subjects, he retains a sense of humanity which transcends the differences in environment.

Without a doubt, my favorite story in this anthology is "R is for Rocket." This story alone is worth buying the book for...I am enraptured with the way Bradbury tells of the carefree summers the boys enjoy, and then juxtapose it to the pressure of a career in space exploration.

Generally, I find Bradbury's fantasy to be somewhat boring (though this can also be attributed to my lack of enthusiasm for fantasy as a whole). Don't let this faze you - this is a very strong collection, and excellent introduction, to Bradbury's short story abilities. About 90% of the stories in this book are really excellent..But the other 10% almost seem like simple writing exercises and are no way indicative of Bradbury's true talants as a writer.

Another Bradbury Treat
I'll admit I haven't finished this book but what I've read has taken my breath away.The writing is classic Bradbury, poetic and enticing. The stories themselves surprised me a little since I don't think I'd yet read a Bradbury story that wasn't science fiction or fantasy."The Fruit at the bottom of the bowel" is one of these and is fantastic.Of course, it seems to me that Bradbury's preoccupation has always been with people rather than magic or technology.Thus it makes sense that his "realistic" fiction would be just as effective as his other.In any case, Bradbury is a masterful storyteller and anyone would deprive themselves if they didn't read his work, including this collection.

great book!!!
i read this book so many times by now and i still fall in love with it every time i read a story in it!!!
he is really one of the best writers, and this is one of his best books!!
buy it and see for youself. ... Read more

Product Description
Green Town, Illinois stands at the very heart of Ray Bradbury Country. A lovingly re-imagined version of the author's native Waukegan, it has served as the setting for such modern classics as Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Farewell Summer . In Summer Morning, Summer Night, Bradbury returns to this signature locale with a generous new collection of twenty-seven stories and vignettes, seventeen of which have never been published before. Together, they illuminate some of Green Town's previously hidden corners, and reaffirm Bradbury's position as the undisputed master of a unique fictional universe.

In the course of this volume, readers will encounter a gallery of characters brought vividly to life by that indefinable Bradbury magic. Included among them are a pair of elderly sisters whose love potion carries an unexpected consequence; a lonely teacher who discovers love on Green Town's nocturnal streets; a ten-year-old girl who literally unearths the intended victim of a vicious crime; and an aging man who recreates his past with the aid of a loaf of pumpernickel bread.

Each of these stories is engaging, evocative, and deeply felt. Each reflects the characteristic virtues that have always marked the best of Bradbury's fiction: optimism, unabashed nostalgia, openness to experience, and, most centrally, an abiding generosity of spirit. Summer Morning, Summer Night is both an unexpected gift and a treasure trove of Story. Its people, places, images, and events will linger in the reader's mind for many years to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Lure and Satisfaction of Nostalgia...
An extremely special surprise! Vivid, new vignettes of iconic Green Town, Illinois. Powerful tales of longing and contemplation and loneliness and mystery. I first read "Dandelion Wine" as a youth of sixteen, and this book completely transported me back to that time and place, even more so than did "Farewell Summer." An eerie, deep and disconcerting feeling, welcomed like an old friend not seen in forty-one years, yet oddly unchanged. I know now that nostalgia can be as strong a human need as love, or food and drink, or rest...Live Forever, Ray!

Few authors are as gifted as Ray Bradbury
This book contains 27 of Ray Bradbury's short stories.This particular selection was published in 2008 and contains stories back to 1948(Eve of Summer) four stories from the first half of the 1950s, one each from 1979 and 2002, with the majority undated.

So what binds these stories - is there a theme?

I confess that I was not looking for a single theme, or for fantastic literature (as in new worlds of fantasy).What I was looking for and what I found in each story was the joy of well-written prose where each word had its place.Yes, I found optimism, nostalgia and a generosity of spirit as themes central to the stories.

Yes.It is time for me ti read (or reread in some cases) more of Mr Bradbury's prose.I may well start with `Dandelion Wine'.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

What happened to this book?
This book seems to have been printed for a short time... Why?

One of the four library systems, in my area, had copies so I was able to read the book. Ray Bradbury is a master story teller and most of his stories are wonderful as in this current collection. Most of the stories were not printed in other collections with the exception of the first story (published in Driving Blind)...

It's summertime
Ray Bradbury loves to write stories of small American towns in the Midwest, swathed in colour, magic and sunlight. And that's basically the entire content of "Summer Morning, Summer Night" -- exquisitely written little nuggets of ordinary experiences, with an element of magic and mystery woven into them like golden threads.

A number are vignettes without much actual plot -- a young woman going for a nighttime stroll meets a lover, a loaf of bread brings back memories of childhood summers, a teenage girl have has first kiss with a new boyfriend, an aged woman looks through old calendars full of forgotten memories, old people recount important deaths, and a middle-aged man falls in love with a beautiful young woman he sees in passing.

Then there are the full-blown short stories. Here a chaste romance blossoms between a teacher and her brilliant young student, a beautiful woman's memory lives on long after her death, an elderly woman's long-lost lover may have returned, a spinster seeks perfume, and two old sisters make a secret "love potion" with some unwanted results.

There's no straightforwardly fantastical elements in this book, but there are moments of horror and comedy. On one hand, we have stories where a young girl hears a woman shrieking underground, and a serial killer's excited chase of a woman he's stalking. On the other, a family's scheme to get a pretty cousin married off backfires, and a couple of sweet old people have a day out shopping and having fun.

"Summer Morning, Summer Night" is sort of a Ray Bradbury mosaic -- lots of little fragments making up a sun-filled, warm, shimmering summertime filled with shady trees and warm nights. It's a little like visiting Bradbury's nameless small town for a week at its most lovely, absorbing some of the history of the people there, and then drifting back out.

One thing has never changed is Bradbury's vivid, lush prose ("they were a trio of black velvet and white ermine conspirators, half moon, half shadow"), which is steeped in nature metaphors ("as fine as a maple leaf between winds that blew just right"). His writing is precise enough that he can tackle a taboo subject -- such as love between a teacher and student -- without inspiring outrage.

And he drops in plenty of symbolism -- new shoes, dismantled porches, ribboned hats, first kisses ("it tasted like apricats and fresh apples and as water tastes when you rise at night...").

As the final touch, Bradbury's characters are a colourful, varied lot -- teenage girls, serial killers, legendary beauties, middle-aged men and small children vowing to never forget this summer. Bradbury seems a bit preoccupied with mortality, since many of his characters here are troubled by life and love in their middle or twilight years -- except maybe the Alexanders, who seem happy to frolic into old age together.

Warm, mellow and sweet as an apple, "Summer Morning, Summer Night" is a series of tiny portraits of small town life. But Ray Bradbury manages some surprises along the way.

A wonderful issue
This is a handsome sturdy and beautifully made book and is certainly one of the great Bradbury editions.The stories are magical evocations of people and place and time, without any science fiction or weird stuff, but there is plenty of Bradbury's poetic imagery and writing.Half the book consists of stories written in the late 40s and 50s (8 of them) and there is one from 1979, and the other half of the book consists of 18 stories and sketches of recent years, some quite small. This volume is a treat to read and the publisher has done Bradbury and his fans proud. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Remarkably effective
Who would have thought that Bradbury was such a fine poet?He tended toward the miniature as he grew older, honing these to a mirror finish. This collection contains a number of poems from different periods of his life.

They are not "Mary had a little lamb" type, the mediocore lines of an Alan Ginzberg or the blank verse of T.S Elliot.Each poem carries an apt titled, the language always rich and correct.These are not words of (necessarily) wisdom nor are they deep, obtuse thoughts.Rather they are like his prose, easygoing, informative and flowing.Bradbury's poems have an internal rhthym with a fine meter.

He, unlike many writers of the modern age, does not suffer from xenomania.He was, like Ben Franklin, the quintessential countryman, self-accomplished, hard-working and gifted in both practicality and style.I have one of the first books published on Disney's EPCOT; Bradbury wrote the introduction.This was before the experiment became mired in politics, commercialism, triteness and showmanship.His words captured the moment of both the place and the era...so do his poems. ... Read more

Product Description
It is a rare treat to hear an author of Ray Bradbury's magnitude read these entertaining, provocative tales. This new package of two previously released story collections--The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--showcases his international reputation as a master storyteller. Bradbury's own introduction to The Martian Chronicles adds significant insights to this work that first established the brilliance of his writing. 4 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Loved It!!!!!
When I frist saw this on Amazon I was so excited I screamed.My excitement only increased when I heard Ray Bradbury read his own work.There is a certain magic hearing any author read their own work and Ray Bradbury is no exception.I have listened to it numerous times and I find it thrilling each and every time.A must have for any Bradbury fan.

Great, yet lacking
When I saw 19 stories on tape, read by Ray Bradbury, written by Bradbury, I rushed to get my copy.Do not get me wrong--I love the tapes.However, there is something lacking in his tone of voice that can cause one topossibly fall asleep or simply drift away when one should be payingabsolute attention to the story.I suppose part of my dissapointment comesfrom the fact that we all read a story a certain way, and sometimes it isdissapointing to see how the author meant for it to be read.It is alsoenlightening, however, to be able to find new meaning in his words as heoriginally intended.I will definitely keep these tapes for a lifetime,and cannot wait to use them in the classroom.

Ray Bradbury creates magical worlds in his readers own homes
The only thing better than reading a Ray Bradbury story is having that story read to you by Ray Bradbury, himself.In this collection of nineteen stories from The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man, this "grand master of inner and outer space" (as the cover of this collection dubs him) comes home with his readers to tell his tales of Mars and the Earth, of the future and the present, of human behavior and human nature.

The passion and honesty of Bradbury's work has found its perfect medium in the audio recording; in no other way could the reader's imagination interact as actively and imaginatively with Bradbury's stories than by listening to him.Every one of his stories is more than just something to be passively experienced by reading.Bradbury would not be the successful writer that he is if it was not for the imaginations which his readers bring with them to his work.These nineteen stories read by Bradbury himself epitomize the accessiblity and the liveliness of his writing style.His written words, coupled with his own voice, take his stories into a new dimension of experience for his readers.

Few authors can create the magical and believable worlds that Bradbury can.This collection of tapes enables the reader to experience these worlds through the compassionate guidance and infintite wisdom of Ray Bradbury.This collection's appeal is not limited only to his die-hard fans; anyone who can appreciate an original tale which is creatively narrated will find these stories entertaining as well as thought-provoking.Whether the story is about Martians or the active imaginations of children, Ray Bradbury's enchanted voice draws his readers into the story, asks them to participate by imagining along with him, and gives them a new perspective on life and on themselves.

Good Stories Read by the Author
Back in the late 1970s, Ray Bradbury performed several short stories on record. This collection is comprised of four tapes, two of which feature stories from The Martian Chronicles and two feature short stories which were released in the 70s under the title The Illustrated Man, although the stories came from a variety of sources.

Of course, all the stories have been published before, so if you are familiar with Bradbury's work, there is a good chance you have already read most of the stories contained on these tapes. In fact, reading The Martian Chronicles will give you eleven of the stories. "There Will Come Soft Rains," included on The Illustrated Man tapes, is actually a late chapter of The Martian Chronicles.

However, listening to a story on tape is different than reading a story, and many of these stories are short enough that you can practically listen to an entire story while driving to the corner story. What you gain from hearing these stories on tape is the sound of Bradbury's voice reciting his own stories and giving them the inflections and patterns in which he conceived the stories. Bradbury's voice is good for reading, without an annoying accent. Furthermore, the technicians set the sound levels properly.

The stories, of course, are vintage Bradbury. Although usually labelled a science fiction author, Bradbury's writings tend more towards the horrific. The terror inherent in "The Illustrated Man," "The Crowd" or "The Third Expedition" ranks with anything traditionally labelled "horror." The unthinking cruelty shown in "The Dwarf" is as applicable in the 1990s as it was when Bradbury published the story in 1953.

In fact, many of these stories by Bradbury have aged quite well and read better in the 1990s than many of the stories published in his most recent collection, Driving Blind.

Although a minority of The Martian Chronicles stories are represented on these tapes, they were chosen well enough that there is still a narrative quality running through those tapes.While The Illustrated Man tapes don't have the same narrative coherence, the stories form a sort of "Best of Ray Bradbury" collection. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

Ray Harryhausen The Master!!!!

Ray Harryhausen An Animated Life is a book you can not miss in a good collection of classic movie fans.

Harryhausen fans will be delighted with the high quality of this book. Fantastic designs, full information, details magnificos. Great editing and a good choice.
The contents of the book tells the story of Ray from its firsts works until his last film with an amazing amount of details.

Ray Harryhausen is the king.

Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life
I was lucky enough to meet Ray Harryhausen at an Archon convention in Collinsville, IL several years back. What amazed me is how layed back Ray Bradbury and he was with the fans that day. These were Gods in our world and yet they would talk to us like we were sitting playing cards or something. Ray Harryhausen had touched my life long before that when I first saw his B&W movies on TV. The one that truly made my jaw drop though was when I saw the just released color movie "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" at the Granada theater in Mt. Vernon, IL. I never forgot the magic dream quality of those creatures and so I made sure any other movie he did the special effects for I went and saw. And if someone copied his creatures, "Jack the Giant Killer", et cetera, I went to see them too. This book gives us a great look into his life, art, and stop motion techniques. I highly recommend it to not only fans of Ray and special effects, but to anyone with an interest in movies. Great foreword, writing, pictures, and editing.

CA Luster

A TRUE ARTIST WHO NEVER COMPROMISED HIS ART
So much has already been said & written about this amazingly talented man that although his talents have always been savored like fine wine....talking about his painstaking incredible stop-motion animation abilities almost seems to be redundant. Suffice it to say that so many of us monster kids sat in awe of Ray's work as we watched " The 7th Voyage of Sinbad " circa 1958.Harryhausen has always accomplished more on the movie screen with his special effects techniques than computers will ever be able to do. This book lovingly details all of the richness of Ray Harryhausen----Thanks for a great book, Ray !

Long overdue, but worth the wait.
Die-hard fans of special effects master Ray Harryhausen may recall Jeff Rovin's book "From the Land Beyond Beyond", which arrived in 1977. It was a welcome addition to the Harryhausen legacy, but was too subjective and fan-based for some tastes. Hard to believe it took almost thirty years for this definitive, color version of the Harryhausen story to arrive on the scene. Some will feel it is merely an extension of Ray's previous work, the Film Fantasy Scrapbook, and in many ways, it is, but there's so much detail here that this deluxe volume is worth picking up. Though of course modern special effects have become almost ridiculously complex, it's wonderful to hear Ray describe in great technical detail the processes and techniques he used to bring his animals and fantasy creatures to life in films like "7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts". He's also candid about which films worked for him (and audiences) and which somehow missed the mark. Even readers who prefer modern spectacles to Harryhausen's classical, stately epics should find something of value here, and there is plenty to inspire any animator, filmmaker, or budding cinematographer. This book isn't just a special effects guide, it's a valuable and integral part of the history of film: Harryhausen's career spanned five decades, and he worked with some of the greats in the industry--not only effects geniuses like Willis O'brien, but actors like Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, James Franciscus, Honor Blackman, Richard Carlson, Jane Seymour and Raquel Welch. A little pricey, but worth the cost. A must have for Harryhausen fans, naturally, but anyone interested in the movies will come away satisfied.

A Monument To Creativity
This is a top-notch compilation of genius on the cutting edge of our cultural history. ... Read more

Product Description
SUMMARY:
A beautifully illustrated, fascinating exploration of the mysteries of the cosmos and beyond, featuring original fiction by award-winning science fiction authors and essays by the leading scientists in the field.

In this book, we gather together the scientists, the intellectuals, and the artists, to learn about and speculate upon the cosmos. The world right now desperately needs both the physicist and the dreamer. G-d has blessed us with the most magnificent world imaginable. We have barely made the first steps in seeing all the light in the darkness. Perhaps it is the dreamer who will find out the nature of dark matter; perhaps it is the scientist who will find solutions to needless hunger and mindless war. For them both, the bounty of the Earth and the cosmos is the currency of hope. Humanity must use what it has been blessed with to survive. Then, as in Paul Simon’s phrase, we all might be dancing together “with diamonds on the soles of our shoes.” They will be the diamonds of the stars and it will be a dance of peace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Baradbury
Since it was my summer reading assignment, I didn't expect that it will be so interesting. This book is great! ... Read more

Product Description
Ray Bradbury's first poetry collection to be published outside the U.S. First published by Salmon in 2002, this 2008 edition is updated with additional poems. This volume is a gift to generations who have read and loved his remarkable work. Most of the.poems in this collection from the unquenchable Bradbury are new, but all have his evergreen touch - accessible, humorous, quietly emotional. Bradbury can't long restrain his usual luxuriating in the sensual wonder of life. Bradbury fans, Hibernophiles, general readers, even some contemporary poetry snobs, will find this a lovely read.""-Publishers Weekly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Note from the Publisher
I Live by the Invisible: New & Selected Poems is Ray Bradbury's first poetry collection to be published outside the U.S. First published by Salmon in 2002, this 2008 edition is updated with additional poems. This volume is a gift to generations who have read and loved his remarkable work.

A master of poetic nuance in his prose work, his poetry is at once immediate, subtle, revealing, political, philosophical and magical. The world of Ray Bradbury has always been a special place. Millions of people have shared in it; shared his longing; his insight; his visionary knowledge of things which humanity holds dear.

These poems are haunting, telling, nostalgic, satirical, funny and wise. In his late 80s, Ray Bradbury is still sharing, and giving so much.

Ray Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter to become a full-time writer in 1943, contributing numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing the collection, Dark Carnival, in 1947. His reputation as a visionary writer was established with The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth men to colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury's masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published seventy-two books of short stories, poems, essays, and plays. His new novel, From the Dust Returned, was published by William Morrow at Halloween 2001. Morrow will release One More For the Road, a new collection of Bradbury stories, in April, 2002. Ray Bradbury's work has been included in three Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medial for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City. Bradbury has been nominated for an Academy Award (for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright), and has won an EMMY (for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree). He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's Ray Bradbury Theater. Married since 1947, Mr. Bradbury and his late wife Maggie had four daughters together. Mr. Bradbury lives in Los Angeles. ... Read more

Product Description
Bradbury 13 is a collection of 13 radio dramas masterfully adapted from classic short stories by veteran science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's stories refract our own fears and foibles through otherworldly prisms. Each dramatization is approximately thirty minutes long and includes original music. This collection includes the following:

A Sound of ThunderTime Safari, Inc., offers hunting enthusiasts the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to travel back in time to bag the biggest trophy of all time, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the ''Thunder Lizard.''
Dark They Were and Golden EyedHarry Bittering is resigned to the idea of living on Mars for a while with his family, until a nuclear war back on Earth strands the settlers forever. Now, will Mars devour the earthlings?
The Happiness MachineAn old man builds the ultimate machine, a ''happiness machine'', which is meant to make anyone who enters it happy. But the most important person in his life is not amused!
The Fox and the ForestEscaping war in the year 2155, a couple flees back in time to twentieth-century Mexico, a paradise compared to their world of disease bombs and widespread horror. But they are being tracked by those who want them to return.
Here There Be TygersProspectors from Earth travel to a world that seems to know of their hearts' desires, and makes their every wish come true. But a member of the crew has darker desires, and pays the ultimate price.
KaleidoscopeA routine space flight suddenly ends in a huge explosion, throwing the crew into space with only their space suits and radios to keep them alive. Knowing rescue is impossible, they face their innermost demons.
The ManThe captain and crew of a ship land on a planet to make first contact, only to discover their thunder has been stolen by a previous visitor.
Night Call, CollectThe lone survivor of a rocket crew on Mars has waited his lifetime to be rescued and taken back to Earth. Then one day when he is 80 years old, his telephone rings!
The Screaming WomanNine-year-old Margaret Leary is playing in a field by her house, when suddenly she hears a woman screaming for help from the ground! Can she get anyone to believe her?
There Was an Old WomanOld Aunt Tildy is shocked and angry to find a mortician has come to take her to the mortuary. How dare he put her body in an old wicker basket! She's still using it!
The VeldtA wealthy couple builds the ultimate virtual playroom for their spoiled children, complete with an African savanna and man-eating lions. It is so real, you can even smell the lions' last meal.
The WindWhere does the wind come from? Is it ''born'' somewhere? Is it intelligent? A terrified man seems to know all about the wind and who it seems to be after.
The RavineA strangler has been terrifying a small town by murdering single women. Will the dark and mysterious ravine be enough to save Lavinia and her friends from the ''Lonely One''? ... Read more

Product Description
In Something Wicked This Way Comes, two teenaged boys try to save the souls of the town when a "dark carnival" sets up its frightening attractions. In A Sound of Thunder, a safari company transports adventurers back in time to hunt animals, but one foolish hunter upsets the plan, and with it, the course of the future. ... Read more

Product Description
Avram Davidson was one of the great original American writers of this century. He was erudite, cranky, Jewish, wildly creative, and sold most of his wonderful stories to pulp magazines. They are wonderful.

Now his estate and his friends have brought together a definitive collection of his finest work, each story introduced by an SF luminary: writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, Poul Anderson, Gene Wolfe, Guy Davenport, Peter S. Beagle, Gregory Benford, Thomas M. Disch, and dozens of others. This is a volume every lover of fantasy will need to own.
Amazon.com Review
The Avram Davidson Treasury may be the most satisfying short-storycollection of the decade. Davidson (1923-1993), one of science fiction andfantasy's greatest writers, was "a master shaper of small stories," writesAlan Dean Foster in his introduction to "Or the Grasses Grow." Foster isjoined in introducing the stories by dozens of extraordinary authors,including Ursula K. Le Guin, Gene Wolfe, William Gibson, Poul Anderson, andmany others. Davidson was clearly adored, and often emulated, despite hisreputation for being somewhat curmudgeonly. His mastery of language wasexquisite, and his stories glittered like diamonds. Each of the 38 tales inthis collection spanning five decades is a self-contained wonderland. Oneof the most famous (and most often plagiarized) short stories in sciencefiction appears here: "Or All the Seas with Oysters," tells of slightlysinister safety pin pupae, coat hanger larvae, and bicycle adults in aworld where machines are more than they seem.

Of "Dagon," John Clute writes, "It is as vicious as the world of a fish,and wise. It is masterly.... it cannot be read. It can only be re-read." Onthe surface, this is the story of an American military officer in Peking in1945, but lurking underneath are ancient gods, Chinese magicians, and theobscene torpor of hell. As Ray Bradbury writes in his afterword, "Many ofthese stories are complete mysteries, puzzles. Avram Davidson starts us ina fog and lets us orient ourselves slowly.... His knack for a proper paceis that of a true teller of tales." But all of Davidson's stories aren'tdark--far from it. He was a satirical genius, able to poke fun at sacredcows and turn a comic phrase with the best of them. Some of these storieswill make you laugh out loud.

To the fan of great literary short fiction: Don't skip over this deeplyfulfilling treasury because Avram Davidson was "only" a science fictionauthor. He's been compared to Rudyard Kipling, Saki, John Collier, and G.K.Chesterton, if you need a literary excuse.

And to the science fiction or fantasy fan: This amazing and creative Hugo,Edgar, and World Fantasy Award winner, nominated for seven NebulaAwards by his fellow writers, will astound and amaze you. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Priceless
When I read a particularly good short story I look back and try to imprint the author's name on my memory (nowadays with mixed results).As far as science fiction & fantasy goes, the first time this happened was with a story by Avram Davidson, many years ago.As time went by I would notice his name on several memorable works.To say he had a style all his own is not quite right, since he actually had several styles, all fascinating.What I didn't know until fairly recently was that AD was surprisingly obscure, considering his amazing talent and prolificacy (try searching for his work on Amazon).

This collection brings together much of his finest short stories.Each one is chosen and introduced by another writer - Avram was evidently an author's author.While I probably would have made a few different choices, I was grateful to be able to experience many excellent works that I had never seen before.Chances are, even if you're an old Davidson fan, you'll find a few stories that are new to you as well.You would have to search far and wide - and at great expense - to replicate this compilation.

The collection is too long and varied to elaborate on the individual pieces, but suffice it to say, reading Davidson is a real joy.The quality of the story and the effortless technique are something you will see very rarely.The downside of reading a collection like this (are there any like this?) is that it spoils you.Afterwards, most other writers seem flat and uninspired by comparison.

A writer writers will never read, alas
I hate some of the stories in this book; the remainder leave me gibbering with awestruck, overwhelmed delight. The specific stories a reader might revile or adore (or both) will vary. It's a huge, manifold collection of shorts by one of the best writers in English from...

OK, I'm hesitant to say, "the last century" or "the century recently passed", partly because that's awfully goofy, and partly because I'm not near well-read enough to make such claims with authority. I'm gonna say it anyway. I stumbled upon a copy of a long out of print and svelter collection of Davidson's work (Or All The Seas With Oysters...) at fourteen and I've never been quite the same. He's not the writer whose works I wish I could have written: he is the writer whose works I would have wished I could have written had I been the writer I wished I could have been.

(we see why a writer I am not, Yoda knowingly says)

Davidson had a dear whimsy, a weariness, and a bite that was, dare I say it, very Jewish. When I (re)read his stories I feel as if I (an agnostic Gentile) have magically been allowed to understand & overhear the Yiddish folk yarns the kindly, crusty grandfather spins for the kids while the middle generation shouts in the background.

Davidson wrote as well as Singer. Perhaps better, at his best. No small praise; I know what I am claiming. Do not allow my muddy writing dissuade any reader from buying and luxuriating in this important collection.

Avram Davidson Treasury is readers delight.
As a long-term reader of science fiction and an admirer of the writings of Avram Davidson the publication of this particular book was, for me, a noteworthy event. I was able to renew my acquaintance with some of the delightful stories I had first read ten to twenty-five years ago. Each story is preceded by a thoughtful introduction by author friends of the late Mr. Davidson. I found these short essays generally very helpful since most of the writers maintained a correspondence with AD and could provide personal insights and biographical data related to the stories.

The 38 stories are grouped chronologically by the decade in which they were published; Fifties to Nineties. I noticed that the excellent Ray Bradbury afterward had been used as an introduction to another out-of-print AD collection, Strange Seas and Shores, Doubleday, 1971.

My only grouse is that I wish the editors had included a listing of the titles of AD books, novels and short story collections. Thank you editors Silverberg and Davis, a beautiful book and a fitting tribute to "one of the finest short story writers ever to use the English language"...Robert Silverberg.

Quirky, lovely, some of the best short fantasy ever
Avram Davidson died in 1993. He was, as so often said, one of the great originals. His writing was elegant and complex: always adapted to the voices of his narrators and characters, always at some level humorous even when telling a dark story. He was one of those writers whose stories were always enjoyable just for wallowing in the prose: for its sprung rhythms and fine, out of the way, images. And his stories were enjoyable for wallowing in the atmosphere: for its evocation of exotic place-times, whether it be late '50s New York City or early '70s Belize or turn of the century Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania or far future Barnum's Planet, and for its evocation of exotic world-views, and the packing and repacking of wondrous, seemingly inconsequential (though rarely truly so) tidbits of history and unhistory into the backgrounds. And his best stories took these characteristics and harnessed them in the service of well-honed themes or (sometimes) clever plots.

This collection is organized as a retrospective, with the selections placed in order of first appearance. This is, I think, an excellent choice for any collection of this magnitude in that it allows the interested reader to try to track evolutions in the writer's style and thematic concerns over time. (I would suggest, perhaps, that the older Davidson was more prone to explorations of esoterica than the younger, and less often openly angry. Throughout his career he was ready with the comic touch, even in the midst of a darker context. His style was always special, but perhaps grew more involved as he grew older.)

Another feature of this collection is the introductions, by many of Davidson's friends: mostly fellow authors and editors, but also his bibliographer, Henry Wessels, and his son. This represent a significant chunk of "value added": they include some personal reminiscences, some analyses of the work, some elegiac passages. I'll add that the book is nicely and elegantly put together, and that editors Robert Silverberg and Grania Davis (as well as Tor in-house editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden) deserve thanks and applause for working to bring us this book.

But, of course, there is no Avram Davidson Treasury without the stories Avram Davidson wrote, of which 38 are assembled here. And the stories are the only real reason to buy and exult in this book. I'm a big Davidson fan, make no mistake: I come to this review not at all objective, and having reading all but a few of the stories already, many of them several times. At least one, "The Sources of the Nile", is firmly on my personal list of the best SF stories of all time.

There is not space to discuss the delightful stories herein contained. Suffice it to say that this collection is big enough, and varied enough, to whet the appetite of any reader whose ear can be tuned to catch the strains of Davidson's voice. And even this large collection inevitably leaves out many fine stories (the other Eszterhazy and Limekiller stories, "The Lord of Central Park", many more), to say nothing of his engaging collection of essays, Adventures in Unhistory, in which he discusses at length many obscure legends, and their possible bases in fact. So buy it and read it, and very likely you will find yourself searching out the out of print and small press books which house the rest of his work (for now), and very likely too you will be hoping with the rest of us Davidson lovers for a few more treasures to be dug from his papers.

much better than Stephen King
Still targets a squarely middle brow audience. Also, seems very dated,rooted in the '50's.

Most of the stories are of the "TwilightZone"/"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" form and structure. I.e.,creepy setting, followed by twist ending. And this is more of a fantasy andsupernatural book than science fiction.

There is a lot of erudition ondisplay here, but it is the fussy, showy kind often displayed by theautodidact. The pace and economy of some of the stories suffer becauseunnecessary erudition is packed in with everything else. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

While these are not Bradbury's best, even less than his best is excellent.
Some people classify Ray Bradbury as a science fiction writer, but to me he is first and foremost a fantasy writer that occasionally uses science fiction scenarios. This collection of stories reveals his powerful imagination, in one he invents a complete society where people only live a few days and there is even a story about simple imagination.
My favorite in this collection is "The Rocket Man", a story about a family where the husband/father is a rocketeer traveling between the planets. More than that, he is a man with an overpowering urge to engage in interplanetary travel. He loves his family dearly, but when he is on Earth for a few days he can no longer resist the siren cry of space. It is a simple story, yet wrapped up within it is the overwhelming human desire to explore and conquer new frontiers.
The seventeen stories in this collection are:

*) R is for rocket
*) The end of the beginning
*) The fog horn
*) The rocket
*) The rocket man
*) The golden apples of the sun
*) A sound of thunder
*) The long rain
*) The exiles
*) Here there be tygers
*) The strawberry window
*) The dragon
*) The gift
*) Frost and fire
*) Uncle Einar
*) The time machine
*) The sound of summer running

Bradbury has always been the writer that was able to keep me most spellbound with his stories. While these are not his best, even less than his best is excellent.

Classic tales
This is another book of short stories from the master writer Ray Bardbury.The shortest in the collection is three pages and the longest is forty-seven, but most are around ten pages.As the title suggests most of these stories are science fiction, but some are fantasy and some are about the magic of every-day life.In many stories there is an atmosphere of small-town-America, an America which seems to have been lost since the 1950's.Not surprisingly most of the tales have a copyright date somewhere in that decade, but this did not spoil the book for me at all.The text is much too well drafted to suffer from minor points like that.This book is ideal if you only occasionally have an hour, or half an hour, to spare in a busy life.This book will dazzle you for that short time and leave you feeling like you have had a short holiday in another world.

Classic tales
This is another book of short stories from the master writer Ray Bardbury.The shortest in the collection is three pages and the longest is forty-seven, but most are around ten pages.As the title suggests most of these stories are science fiction, but some are fantasy and some are about the magic of every-day life.In many stories there is an atmosphere of small-town-America, an America which seems to have been lost since the 1950's.Not surprisingly most of the tales have a copyright date somewhere in that decade, but this did not spoil the book for me at all.The text is much too well drafted to suffer from minor points like that.This book is ideal if you only occasionally have an hour, or half an hour, to spare in a busy life.This book will dazzle you for that short time and leave you feeling like you have had a short holiday in another world.

Classic tales
This is another book of short stories from the master writer Ray Bardbury.The shortest in the collection is three pages and the longest is forty-seven, but most are around ten pages.As the title suggests most of these stories are science fiction, but some are fantasy and some are about the magic of every-day life.In many stories there is an atmosphere of small-town-America, an America which seems to have been lost since the 1950's.Not surprisingly most of the tales have a copyright date somewhere in that decade, but this did not spoil the book for me at all.The text is much too well drafted to suffer from minor points like that.This book is ideal if you only occasionally have an hour, or half an hour, to spare in a busy life.This book will dazzle you for that short time and leave you feeling like you have had a short holiday in another world.

Classic tales
This is another book of short stories from the master writer Ray Bardbury.The shortest in the collection is three pages and the longest is forty-seven, but most are around ten pages.As the title suggests most of these stories are science fiction, but some are fantasy and some are about the magic of every-day life.In many stories there is an atmosphere of small-town-America, an America which seems to have been lost since the 1950's.Not surprisingly most of the tales have a copyright date somewhere in that decade, but this did not spoil the book for me at all.The text is much too well drafted to suffer from minor points like that.This book is ideal if you only occasionally have an hour, or half an hour, to spare in a busy life.This book will dazzle you for that short time and leave you feeling like you have had a short holiday in another world.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bradbury's classic parable on the evils of censorship
I am teaching "Fahrenheit 451" as the example of a dsytopian novel in my Science Fiction class, although it is certainly one of the most atypical of that particular type of narrative discourse. Compared to such heavy weight examples as George Orwell's "1984," Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," Yevgeny Zamiatin's "We," Ray Bradbury's imaginative meditation on censorship seems like light reading. But the delicious irony of a world in which firemen start fires remains postent and the idea of people memorizing books so they will be preserved for future generations is compelling. Of course, there have been more documented cases of "book burning," albeit in less literal forms, since "Fahrenheit 451" was first published in 1953, so an argument can be made that while all the public debate was over how close we were the Orwellian future envisioned in "1984," it is Bradbury's little parable that may well be more realistic (especially in terms of the effects of television).

The novel is based on a short story, "The Fireman," that Bradbury published in "Galaxy Science Fiction" in 1951 and then expanded into "Fahrenheit 451" two years later. However, those who have studied Bradbury's writings caw trace key elements back to a 1948 story "Pillar of Fire" and the "Usher II" story from his 1950 work "The Martian Chronicles." Beyond that, there is the historical record of the Nazis burning books in 1933. The story is of a future world in which everyone understands that books are for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montage is a fireman who has been happy in his work for ten years, but suddenly finds himself asking questions when he meets a teenage girl and an old professor.

"Fahrenheit 451" is not only about censorship, but also about the inherent tension in advanced societies between knowledge and ignorance. Reading this novel again I am reminded about Pat Paulsen's editorial on the old "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (a series well acquainted with the perils of censorship) about how we might enjoy freedom of speech in this country but we do not enjoy freedom of hearing because "there is always the danger of something being said." Censorship, in practical terms, is the effort of those who do not want others to hear what they find offensive, for whatever reasons, basically because it leads to people thinking thoughts they do not want them to be thinking. Through the rambling diatribes of Captain Beatty, Bradbury makes this point quite clear to his readers.

Even though this is essentially a novella, Bradbury's work retains the charm of a short story. The recurring use of animal imagery throughout the story, the use of the mythic ideas of the salamander and the phoenix, make "Fahrenheit 451" more poetic than any other dystopian work. Even if it is predominantly a one note argument regarding censorship, it is impossible to deny that Bradbury makes a clear and convincing case for his position. Besides, there is something to be said for any work that insures that beyond the point at which water freezes the only other recognizable number on the Fahrenheit scale is the point at which book paper starts to burn. ... Read more