I have read a fair amount of Bradbury, but I learned so much about all the other projects he was involved with, as well as his influences behind the stories I love. I thought it was a decent biography.

Justo el libro que uno espera cuente la historia de un gran escritor como Bradbury. El foco está puesto en el carácter de Bradbury y su personalidad de niño eterno, lo cual hace entretenida la lectura.
Entra esta bio y la de Asimov siento que aprendí mucho de la industria editorial.

The definitive biography of one of the giants of American 20th Century speculative fiction. Weller had Bradbury's complete cooperation on this, but it's not a hagiography. This is an even-handed portrait of a truly original writer. Highly recommended.

A great biography of an outstanding author who helps pry open the imaginations of young minds.

Bradbury was a fascinating man whose stories spoke to the heart of humanity. This is a good bio, although the author can be somewhat fawning at times. He also breezes past everything after about 1965. I find it hard to believe that RAY BRADBURY was up to so little over four decades.

An eye-opening biography of one of my favorite authors. Like Ray Bradbury, I am half Swedish (Ray on his mother's side and me on my father's side). We both were born and grew up in Illinois. I visited Waukegan often as a child. My Swedish grandfather's brother lived there and so did cousins of my own age. Waukegan was a magical place where I could read the comic books and pulp magazines of my relatives. I got to visit the same library as young Bradbury to read some of the same books Ray did, but I didn't know it at the time. I knew who Ray Bradbury was because I loved his illustrated stories in Weird Science Fantasy and Crime Suspense Stories and the other EC horror comics my father made me burn when I was twelve and he made me do away with childish things and forced me to act more like an adult. So, as an adult, I began reading hardbound sf novels and cheap paperback reprints from the pulps. Like Ray recollecting Buck Rogers after he tore up his collection of comic strips, as an adult I recollected all of those ECs and re-read the Bradbury stories again and again. I now own copies of all of Ray's stories and novels, including an autographed copy of the Feb 1951 issue of Galaxy with "The Fireman" by Bradbury. Thank you, so very much, Sam Weller for this wonderful romp through recollections of my childhood imaginings and for providing insights into the mind of one of the greatest authors ever.

I've been a fan of the fiction of Ray Bradbury for many years, but I knew very little about the man's life. Bradbury is now considered one of the most important American authors of the 20th century. This biography is a comprehensive overview of the author's life and career. It's easily one of the best literary biographies I've read. Sam Weller has written a well-balanced book, leaving us with a burning enthusiasm for Bradbury's writing whilst simultaneously highlighting the cultural impact that the great man had on the genres of science-fiction, fantasy and horror.
Far from being a hagiography, Bradbury's flaws of character are also laid bare, and I found it a compelling and evocative life story, one that left me with a great sadness as I reached its end. Highly recommended.

From his childhood in Waukegan, IL to his teen years in Hollywood, CA and beyond,the life of this extraordinary writer is wonderfully conveyed by Sam Weller.
Some interesting facts about the man who often put us aboard rocketships and envisioned the future: He never learned to drive and was afraid to fly (he did eventually get on a plane when he was in his sixties, but never drove a car!). He wrote the screenplay to John Huston's film of "Moby Dick" (something I never knew).
I read many Bradbury books when I was younger and agree with the criticism that the science in his science fiction tales is pretty weak, but his use of language is remarkable and very poetic. He evokes mood, nostalgia, and a sense of "humanity" as well as anyone I've ever read. His work transcends genre fiction (sci-fi, horror, etc...) putting it in the realm of the best that literature has to offer.
An excellent bio. of a great writer.

This was interesting. I haven't read much Bradbury, but I've liked what I read, and I was curious to know more about the man behind the books. This biography having been the result of many interviews with Bradbury, it has the positives and negatives of any biography that has its subject's direct input. Future biographers, free to be more analytical and critical, will benefit from the wealth of information here. I did feel, however, that the quality of the writing here was often pedestrian, and there was a certain amount of unnecessary repetition, as well as a tendency to provide information that would be well known to nearly every reader. Another round of editing would have helped there. Ultimately I had the feeling that the author gained a good understanding of everything that makes Bradbury a man much like other Americans, but that the key to Bradbury's brilliance remains a mystery.

This biography is thoroughly researched. The author had access to Bradbury's family, especially his wife Marguerite, as well as friends and colleagues: thousands of hours of interviews covering all the author's. The first half of the book was fascinating, recording his long search for his lifes purpose, his slow evolution to finding his destiny as a writer. His success resulted from an amazing discipline. He wrote one story a week, writing the first draft on Monday, then revising every day and on Friday sending it off to his agent who shopped it to Publishers, first to pulp sci fi, fantasy, and horror magazines, and eventually to the leading "slicks" -- the New Yorker, etc. The chapter on Farenheit 451 was fascinating, as was the one dealing with his angry fight against Mccarthy and the whole radical, right-wing Republican Party.

My interest waned as he achieved world wide acclaimed. The last half of the book detailed his rise to world wide fame, turning into a chronicle of the famous people he befriended, his relentless work to publish and to expand into screenwriting, theater, screenwriting, television. I skimmed much of this -- it was too much a story of ego, a rockets escape from his origins.

Still, I recommend the book for its thorough documentation of a life both well live Quixotic quest with a happy ending and its exhaustive but in the last half exhausting of a life well-lived but in other ways not.

Beni tanıyanlar, büyük bir Ray Bradbury hayranı olduğumu bilir. Gelmiş geçmiş en büyük öykücü olarak gördüğüm Ray Bradbury hakkında okumayı eskiden beri istiyordum. Geçen aylarda fırsatım oldu ve yıllardır kitap listemde olan Bradbury Chronicles'ı satın aldım.

Yazar, Bradbury ile günlerce, haftalarca görüşerek bu yaşam öyküsünü kaleme almış. Oldukça samimi ve detaylı bir anlatım söz konusu. Bradbury'nin üzerine yapışmış "bilim kurgu yazarı" etiketiyle tatlı mücadelesi özellikle ilgi çekici bir detay.

Açıkçası, kitabın sayfaları ilerledikçe, hayranı olduğum bu çocuk-adam ile hayli ortak yönümüz olduğunu farkettim ve bundan mutluluk duydum.

Bradbury hayranları dışındakiler için çok fazla anlam taşımayan bir kitap, ancak sıkı bir Bradbury okuruysanız, bu yaşam öyküsünü de okumanızda fayda var.

A Great Overall History of Ray Bradbury

This book is a great tribute to the life and work of the author, Ray Bradbury. The author obviously knew Ray Bradbury well, but the author does sugar coat certain things about his life. He shows all of the warts and the great parts of Ray's life. It's a well rounded biography.