The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury – A Literary Biography with Unprecedented Access to Private Archives, Unpublished Letters, and Interviews (P.S.)

Overall, I enjoyed the book, which is written by an author who is more of a Bradbury fan than someone who is coming to Ray Bradbury the man and his material cold. Weller’s does a good job in describing Bradbury’s life in a straight forward and chronological fashion, which is both its strength in terms of ease of readability, but also its weakness with regard to probing the depths of the man. Weller is a fan of Bradbury and they ended up being personal friends as result of the biography. I too am a fan of Bradbury’s books, but not to the point that I’m not aware of his short comings. Upon finishing “The Bradbury Chronicles” one comes away dissatisfied, almost as if the book has whet the appetite with an excellent entre in preparation for an amazing main meal, which then does not appear. The book shares a chronological history, interesting anecdotes and flotsam and jetsam concerning Ray Bradbury, but it doesn’t really get at the heart of what made him tick. You leave the book wanting to know more. Secondly, the biography doesn’t delve deeply enough into Ray’s signature novels – it gives what I feel is a brief overview of his main books such as the Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and Something Wicked Comes This Way. Weller goes into the preparation of drafts, submissions to publishers and when the books were published, but he doesn’t pull apart plots, characters, motifs or the mechanics of the books, their origins or how they were put together. When he does start to do this the book becomes extremely interesting, but he does so far too infrequently. If you are a writer, you don’t really get much of an insight into Bradbury’s tools and his inner workings in relation to his stories. In terms of a whole vision of the man himself, whilst Weller does cover some of Bradbury’s infidelities, they get only cursory mention, and again whilst you are given many facts and events, you don’t come away with a strong flavour for what Ray Bradbury was really like and what drove him. His books and short stories of course speak volumes of the man himself, but we are given little insight into their gestation, construction and execution. Weller’s biography on Bradbury is good, but it could have been much better.

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.

Sam Weller has managed to capture the essence of the boundless Ray Bradbury. The Bradbury Chronicles is an intimate portrait of a writer who has put his stamp on our culture. It is a page-turner and a must-read for every Bradbury fan.

This is a really interesting read that drives home the point that, even in his most far-out science fiction stories and tales of the fantastic, Bradbury managed to insert elements of his own life experience into the mix. I look forward to re-reading Bradbury's stories and novels with this biography as "background".

Ray Weller's biography of Ray Bradbury, the prolific author of such seminal works of sci-fi and fantasy as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and Something Wicked This Way Comes, grew out of an article he wrote in observance of Bradbury's 80th birthday year for Chicago Tribune magazine. In a disarming preface Weller recounts his meeting and immediate rapport with the author and his wife, and admits to being an unabashed fan. This is most apparent in Weller's reticence about the author's private life, in particular his longlasting but nevertheless troubled marriage. Nor is he critically evaluative of Bradbury's voluminous output, preferring to leave that to literary scholars. That still leaves a lot of worthwhile writing about a boy who grew up in small-town Illinois in frequent near-poverty and who never went to college. Bradbury's simple tastes and disdain for technology (he refused to fly in an airplane or use a computer for most of his life) seem at odds with his literary visions; neverthess, his gifts, ambition and discipline (for most of his life Bradbury has produced at least one short story every week) have led him to the place he occupies today as one of America's most well-known authors, credited by many other writers as a major influence on their work. The author's story has enough interest on its own that it works best when Weller steps back and simply tells it, particularly his frequently troubled relationships with luminaries in film and television such as John Huston (for whom Bradbury penned his most successful screenplay, "Moby Dick") and Rod Serling, whose "Twilight Zone" series frequently paid homage to, and possibly plagiarized, Bradbury's ideas while rejecting the author's own teleplays. When Weller attempts something more his own writing can be embarassingly naive and gushy: "Ray's speech...was fifteen minutes of love, joy and inspiration. That night, Ray Bradbury jumped off the cliff and built his wings on the way down." Such passages are happily few and far between in this by and large worthwhile book for Bradbury's many admirers.

Bradbury didn't reveal too much about his life in print.This book he was interviewed, helpful to the author and his story is just as jaw dropping as one of his stories or films! Fans will be amazed!

My favorite author growing up. Love the way he uses words, builds worlds. Interesting life, of course he wasn't perfect, but then who is? Enjoyed the book immensely.

Excellent bio with a lot of anecdotal stories relating to the short stories (sources, inspiration, etc.).Although the author is obviously a fan and had a friendship with RB, it is very objective. It shouldprompt readers to go back and reread the stories they remember - and read the ones they missed.

If you've read and loved Ray Bradbury's many novels and short stories, then this will interest you as it reveals the man behind them all. I found it fascinating.

Very good book and in excellent condition I will recommand it to all my friendsIt tells in details the life of Bradbury and all about his novels

thanks