Third attempt. Cherrypicked. Read the first 67 pages and the Wizard of Oz essay (the specific reason I checked it out for the long Memorial Day weekend). Suffers from repetition and goofiness... I wish Bradbury didn't feel the need to present himself as a constantly perky kid at heart, like some sort of sci- fi Willie Wonka tour guide at a neverending 1938 World Expo. His claims to being a go-to consultant and a Hollywood insider is cringe.

Un libro muy entretenido que cuenta algunos hechos no muy conocidos sobre su vida como su amistad con Bertrand Russell o Walt Disney. Contiene al menos una veintena de ensayos, en su gran mayoría ya publicados en diarios y revistas y unos pocos inéditos. A mi humilde parecer peca de escasa profundidad y la extensión del libro no ayuda mucho ( edición suma de letras tiene apenas 288 pp)la vida de un personaje tan rico e interesante como el en la literatura universal hubiese merecido varios cientos de paginas mas. Por esos dos motivos mi calificación es de solo 3 estrellas.

Returned to library. Not enough time to read it during the lending period allowed.

Got old after awhile. I realize these essays were written in the dark ages before women "did" anything, but Bradbury is so chauvanistic it makes my teeth ache.
And he is such a God-botherer.

http://electric-pages.livejournal.com...

i love ray bradbury. i love his sense of description, the way he views the world...the sense of wonder he brings to most proceedings. it's much better suited for fiction, however.

that isn't to say that this collection of essays doesn't have its own insights or merits. hearing bradbury describe the book store of his dreams, or the joys of trains and bad weather is just as enlightening and enriching as reading his short stories. it's just that, for one, he repeats himself a whole lot, using the same phrases and even telling the same stories several different times. it's great to know the origins of the martian chronicles, or about how he conquered the script for moby dick (by becoming herman melville, of course...), but we don't need to know those things several times throughout the course of a 240-page book.

this is less a criticism of bradbury's writing, though, than it is a criticism of the way this book was put together. i blame the editors. each of the culprit anecdotes make sense within the context of the essay he writes them in, it's just that having those essays in such close quarters lessens the impact through repetition.

if already a great fan of the man and his work, this book is a nice way to learn a little more about him, straight from the horse's mouth. otherwise, consider it unnecessary.

No encontre interesantes todos los ensayos.

Every couple of years, I start to feel a bit of self-deprecation regarding the fluffy, entertaining nature embodied in most of what I read. At these times, I'll pick up something non-fiction, or something old and hallowed, and begin reading. Then I get distracted by something newer, fluffy, and fun, and interrupt my serious book while I read that. Then I try to get back into the serious book, but find myself not actually reading but instead spending more time goofing around online, until I get distracted by another entertaining distraction before trying once more to get into the serious book.
A couple years ago, I came across a group of non-fiction titles written by popular sci-fi/fiction authors and I thought, "Wow! I can read serious writings by the authors I find most entertaining!" and promptly acquired a handful of these titles, and dove into this collection of essays from Ray Bradbury.
That was a couple of years ago. Now, after many, many distractions and other books, I've completed this nonfiction collection from a great fiction author. I kind of enjoyed it, and I'm glad I read it, but I didn't find it entertaining.
This collection includes short non-fiction writings with no overall cohesion. Some were previously published, others weren't, but they're all general musings without much point. I learned some fascinating things about Bradbury (such as his lack of a driver's license, his love of Paris, and the fact that he knew everyone). I gained some insights into his writing process. I learned that the man was a relentless dreamer with cross-discipline interests (especially into film and architecture) and very much a product of his time and place - 20th century American west.
This book left me halfway curious to learn more about Bradbury himself and interested in reading more of his works.

This is a collection of ramblings from Ray Bradbury. While some might be considered winners, I felt like as a whole, they were "just there".

Checked out in honor of the death of Ray Bradbury.

Fun short pieces. Love seeing his view of the crazy city of Los Angeles. I think he might have a point you miss a lot of what makes Los Angeles magic from the freeway.

Good stuff, finally able to finish it since it was due back today.

Read out of order like is my style.

Makes me want to go in a train, and to see the world differently.

Also try to visit Los Angeles and avoid the freeway if I can.

EXTREMELY UTTERLY UNBELIEVABLY ****POOR****

It is quite amazing what can (and apparently has) been published by successful authors. Authors who have apparently grown way too big for their britches - who are so big that there is no possibility that a responsible editor can just say no.

It's almost funny - Bradbury railed against the censors who banned his controversial works and those of other authors. And yet here he is making an argument for libraries not carrying one of his books - not because it expresses contentious views - but because it is trash!

I really did want to read this book - I am a huge Bradbury fan. But there are limits. I cannot come up with any redeeming features whatsoever for this book. What a waste of paper and trees!

My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals to B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.

I would dearly have loved to give this book zero stars, or, failing that, one half star. But one star is the lowest possible for Goodreads - so one star it must be.

It makes me almost want to cry, having to give this essay collection such a low score. I adore Bradbury, love everything he's ever written, love his enthusiasm and sheer zest for life (and honestly, think about it -- how many people can you describe using the word 'zest' accurately? not many, I'll bet). But what destroyed this collection for me was two things: 1) most of these pieces were pulled from previous publications, and taken out of context, they lose their power / appeal. They just lack the emphasis they otherwise would've carried. 2) There's so much repetition here. Several of these essays are just the same stories, told over and over again, to the point that they frequently even use the same words. For someone like Bradbury, who's known for his exuberant use of language and description, that's really a crime. I read his biography not too long ago, and this essay collection reads almost like that bio told in Bradbury's own words, rather than through another writer's voice. So disappointing...