Description
Book SynopsisIn Ray Bradbury Unbound, Jonathan R. Eller continues the story begun in his acclaimed Becoming Ray Bradbury, following the beloved author's evolution from a short story master to a multi-media creative force and outspoken visionary. At the height of his powers as a poetic prose stylist, Bradbury shifted his creative attention to film and television, where new successes gave him an enduring platform as a compelling cultural commentator. His passionate advocacy validated the U.S. space program's mission, extending his pivotal role as a chronicler of human values in an age of technological wonders. Informed by many years of interviews with Bradbury as well as an unprecedented access to personal papers and private collections, Ray Bradbury Unbound provides the definitive portrait of how a legendary American author helped shape his times.
Trade ReviewFinalist for the Locus Award, Nonfiction category, 2015.
"A detailed and sensitive account of Bradbury’s perception of his own relationship to his times and to the literary landscape in which he wrote." --
Orbit"Eller captures the joy of creations that new forms allowed Bradbury, such as the intensely visual interpretation of
Moby Dick that he wrote for director John Huston. . . . Fans who know Bradbury only for his fiction are likely to enjoy this diverse look at his work and creative process."--
Publishers Weekly"Intimate, conscientious, and triumphant, a truly profound examination of Bradbury's accomplishments and legacy. Highly recommended for all sf lovers and those with an appreciation for non-fiction and literature."--
Library Journal"Engaging. . . . Eller's second volume of Bradbury's biography is ultimately a melancholy and cautionary tale."--
Washington Post"A fine biography of a fascinating man."--
The Times Literary Supplement"Eller shows how Bradbury's work in the cinema (and his greatest success there) endowed him with a public gravitas that empowered him as a noteworthy speaker on issues pertinent to the Space Age. How the author of the once fantastic seeming
Martian Chronicles could by the early 1970s speak realistically about a very likely journey to Mars in the not entirely distant future speaks, of course, for the acceleration of progress in recent times but also of this important writer's vision."--
American Literary Scholarship"An intimate look at the working life of one of the most important twentieth-century writers. . . . The depth of insight supplied by Eller's archival research imbues this text with a fresh inquisitive style that informs and inspires. . . . A valuable addition to the library of any Bradbury fan." --
Science Fiction Studies"Few contemporary authors have been written about as extensively as Ray Bradbury, but no one has surpassed Jonathan Eller. In his previous study,
Becoming Ray Bradbury, he captured the odd nature of Bradbury's imagination perfectly in the context of his life and age--keeping a myriad of influences and ambitions in perspective. With the publication of
Ray Bradbury Unbound, Eller not only confirms his position as the great comprehensive Bradbury scholar. He has also written what may be the best single account of a major science fiction author's rise to fame and achievement." --Dana Gioia, author of
Pity the Beautiful and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
"A thorough documentation of Bradbury’s career. . . . This warm, informative biography depicts him as a thoughtful and disciplined writer who helped make science fiction a respected literary genre."--
Kirkus "
Ray Bradbury Unbound does not just chronicle a life and a list of publications. It also carefully teases out pertinent artistic, social, and intellectual connections, analyzing them in ways that sometimes Bradbury himself could not."--
ExtrapolationTable of ContentsAcknowledgments / xi
Introduction / 1
Part I. A Place in the Sun / 5
1 Loomings / 7
2 Strangers in a Strange Land / 12
3 Indecisions, Visions, and Revisions / 17
4 Fatal Attraction / 22
5 A Whale of a Tale / 28
6 “Floreat!” / 33
7 A Place in the Sun / 39
P art II. T he End of the Beginning / 45
8 Post-Scripts / 47
9 Invitations to the Dance / 55
10 Pictures within Pictures: The October Country / 61
11 Laughton and Hitchcock / 67
12 “The First to Catch a Circus in a Lie Is a Boy” / 74
13 Various Wines / 81
14 The End of the Beginning / 89
P art III. Dark Carnivals / 97
15 Strange Interlude: Dandelion Wine / 99
16 Return to Hollywood / 106
17 “And the Rock Cried Out” / 110
18 Berenson at Sunset / 116
19 The Unforeseen / 120
20 Dreams Deferred / 128
21 The Great Wide World / 133
22 The Dreamers / 139
23 Dark Carnivals / 144
Part IV. “Cry the Cosmos” / 151
24 Medicines for Melancholy / 153
25 Escape Velocity / 159
26 Martian Odyssey / 167
27 “Cry the Cosmos” / 175
28 In the Twilight Zone / 182
29 Something Wicked This Way Comes / 191
30 Out of the Deeps / 200
31 Machineries of Joy / 208
Part V. I f the Sun Dies / 217
32 A Backward Glance / 219
33 Stops of Various Quills / 225
34 The World of Ray Bradbury / 232
35 If the Sun Dies / 237
36 Truffaut’s Phoenix / 242
37 A Colder Eye / 250
38 The Isolated Man / 257
39 A Touch of the Poet / 263
40 “Christus Apollo” / 269
41 “Take Me Home” / 277
Notes / 285
Index / 301
Illustrations follow pages 96 and 216
