The stories were hard to understand. The social references were hard to understand. I am too young for it lol. I enjoyed Sometime Before Dawn the most. I also loved Chrysalis and The Island. Would reread those. I returned it to the library half way thru though because it wasn't doin it for me.

Wonderful stories by a venerable author

I so enjoyed nearly every story in this collection. A nice variety of old and newer writings, sure to please.

Fue agradable porder tener un acercamiento a Bradbury pero ahora desde sus cuentos. Cuentos en los que creo, no en todos llega a crear un final satisfactorio o memorable. Hay algunos títulos que realmente me gustaron y otros que derachamente no entendí jajs.

Haré un top desde el cuento que más me gustó al que menos:

1. El Signo del Gato
2. Muerte de un hombre precavido
3. La casa
4. Actuaremos con naturalidad5
5. Triángulo
6. Cuestión de gustos
7. Cuando llueve me pongo triste
8. Crisálida
9. El eterno oriente express de R.B, G. K. C. Y G. B. S.
10. La transformación
11. La Isla
12. Al jefe, salud
13. Antes del amanecer
14. ¡Olé, Orozco!¡Siqueiros, sí!
15. El completista
16. Los fantasmas
17. 66
18. La hormigonera mafiosa
19. ¿Dónde está mi sombrero? ¿Por qué tanta prisa?
20. Todos mis enemigos están muertos
21. Tren fúnebre de John Wilkes Booth/ Warner Bros/ MGM/ NBC

8/22 stories landed the plane. The rest are in a cornfield. A pro and con of short stories is that they are short. The bad ones are over quickly but the good ones end too soon. These were probably unpublished for a reason? Maybe not a fair first impression of Bradbury.

ending words were good, but out of these numerous stories i only liked maybe one…? one about the man on the beach

Some stories better than others. A lot of them just kind of short and slightly unclear. I liked "A Matter of Taste" the most, I think.

Una buena recopilación de relatos cortos, totalmente Bradbury. Una mezcla entre surrealismo y realismo (este último, básicamente, por el comportamiento humano), que da paso a una serie de circunstancias curiosas y que hacen reflexionar.

What an eclectic collection of short stories by genius Ray Bradbury. I am glad I did not skip the Introduction where the author explains the background for some of these stories. In a way, we travel through Bradbury's career starting in the 40s and going towards the early 2000s.

I really enjoyed Chrysalis written in 1946. I could really feel the era through the eyes of a black boy and his white friend. The author was fascinated with his characters, and with the child's naivety, he discovered that black people tan.

There are a couple of stories about writers and their muses. A Careful Man Dies is a bit dark, but beautifully done. The House has a lighter ending.

You would not be able to read Hail to the Chief without a smile on your face. It is a story about the US Senators gambling away... well, the United States.

The Cat's Pajamas is a very kind-hearted story about 2 people fighting over a stray cat. If you enjoy O'Henry's stories, this tale will similarly warm your heart.

I am having a hard time with the rating of this book. On one hand, it is great Ray Bradbury, on the other, I had to go back and re-read a couple of stories to get their meaning. Bradbury may have written them like this on purpose, but I would prefer less ambiguity. That is why I am only able to give it four stars.

This is my first real encounter with Ray Bradbury (aside from two stories in a different anthology with other authors). I'm not really overwhelmed by the writing.

I think there must be a lot I'm missing. For example, when trying to look up more info on the collection, I found references to the phrase "the cat's pajamas" as someone who is the absolute best at what they do. I had never heard this before, so when I was reading the titular short story, I had no idea of this wordplay/symbolism/whatever you wanna call it. Or in the story about the funeral train: I have no idea who all those people are! I assume there's much more in these stories that I just don't get, because I'm from the future.

There were some that interesting weird atmospheres and plot twists. Very strange "what-ifs", like the mafioso cement mixing machine. And even though there is that weirdness, the focus of the story is always small and on the character, never on big adventures or sci-fi/fantasy worlds. The weirdness is a background to the humanity of the characters, so you can always (or usually) still relate.

My favorites from this collection:
- A Careful Man Dies
- The Cat's Pajamas
- The Transformation
- A Matter of Taste

I didn't like all the stories, but some were good.

I’m not really a fan of random short stories. Although some were good, none are in my top 30 favorites. (That May changeover time though.)

This book has inspired me to get back to writing. So here comes a ton of crap short stories from me! Lol

This collection of stories from many decades started out as a ho hum. It ended with a wow. The Ghosts (1950-1952) is a humdinger. Where's My Hat, What's My Hurry? (2003) is extraordinary Bradbury, bitter and fun. The Transformation (1948-1949) is horrifying and gratifying simultaneously. In a couple of stories, Mr. Bradbury attempts to redeem F. Scott Fitzgerald again. There are enough of these Fitzgerald resurrections around that I wonder if there was a conversation Bradbury could have had with F. Scott and did not; that he feels somehow responsible. The last collected poem is a gathering of The Greats Writers on a funeral train that Bradbury hopes he is able to climb aboard. I picture him aboard - not The John Wilkes Booth/Warner Brothers/MGM/NBC Funeral Train (2003) but a much more celebrated black bunting multicar cortege that honors great writers in comfort and ease for eternity.