Spirit of America Bookstore

Ray Bradbury
[1920-2012]

early book jacket portrait of Ray Bradbury           short profile

primary works
other novels
works about Ray
image gallery
friends & family links

short stories
poetry
other works

movies, TV & video, other media
audio & ebooks
stageplays & operas


Although known as an award-winning science-fiction & fantasy author,
Ray Bradbury has written over 500 books and short stories – across a wide range of genres
— as well as poems and illustrated children's books and dramatic & musical works

       Raymond Douglas Bradbury was born 22 August 1920 in the small town of Waukegan, Illinois. He started writing daily at the age of twelve. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1934, where Ray spent time around Hollywood and in the Downtown Library. He became lifelong pals with later sci-fi editor & collector Forrest J. Ackerman [1916-2008] and later stop-motion animation wizard Ray Harryhausen; they often met at Clifton's Cafeteria in Downtown L.A. even far into adulthood.
       Ray graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1938, sold his first story in 1941, and became a full-time writer in 1943. He married Marguerite 'Maggie' McClure on 27 September 1947; they raised four daughters: Susan, Ramona, Bettina & Alexandra, with grandchildren & great-grandchildren since. His wife died in late 2003, after 56 years of marriage.
       Ray suffered a stroke in November 1999, and began using a wheelchair; but he still generated boundless enthusiasm for life and for writing: He had several books published each year thereafter, with several more scheduled for publication.

       While scifi great Isaac Asimov is known for his limitless intelligence, and Arthur C. Clarke for his vision, Ray was a child turned loose with a pen: He thought and spoke like a child, free to visit love and grace and nameless fears and the ever-presence of death. Ray Bradbury was the Poet Laureate of the science fiction & fantasy world.

       Awards given to Ray included: the O. Henry Memorial Award [1947 & 1948], the Benjamin Franklin Award [1954], the Aviation-Space Writers Association Award [1968], the World Fantasy Award [1977], the Balrog Award [1979], the Jules Verne Award [1984], the Prometheus Award [1984], the Nebula Grand Master Award [1988], the Bram Stoker Award [1989], the Los Angeles (California) Citizen of the Year Award [1995], and the National Book Award [Nov 2000]. He was inducted into the original Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1970, and into the revised/modern Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, the National Book Foundation awarded him its Distinguished Contribution To American Letters Award; in December 2007, France awarded him the Commandeur Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal.
       Ray Bradbury died in Los Angeles, California on 5 June 2012 at age 91.

Email Petition for Los Angeles
'Ray Bradbury Branch Library'

click here

"The  Martian  Chronicles"  [1950 bestseller]
"Rocket Summer", "The Summer Night", "The Earth Men", "The Third Expedition", "And The Moon Be Still As Bright", "The Green Morning", "The Locusts", "Night Meeting", "The Musicians", "Way In The Middle of The Air", "The Naming of Names", "Usher II", "The Martian, "The Luggage Store", "The Off Season", "The Silent Towns", "The Long Years", "There Will Come Soft Rains", "The Million-Year Picnic"
Martian Chronicles book by Ray Bradbury  Martian Chronicles audio  
Bantam pb [7/94] for $5.85
Avon hardcover [2/97] for $12.80
Chivers UNABR audio [3/86] 6 tapes for $44.98
Chivers Audio [3/97] for $56.94
BooksOnTape audio [9/87] out of stock/used
interactive 'Martian Chronicles' video game  interactive "Martian Chronicles" video game
S&S CD-ROM for Windows PCs [1/97] for $39.99
S&S CD-ROM for Apple/Mac PCs [5/96] for $39.99
'Martian Chronicles' TV series video  1979 tv mini-series
Directed by Michael Anderson; script by Richard Matheson
Republic VHS video [7/98] 5 episodes out of prodn/used
Anchor Bay color VHS [10/95] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb

listed by Amazon Editors on '100 Young Adult Books to Read in a Lifetime' (9/2015)  GOLD STAR: listed on Business Insider's  The 35 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lifetime, 9/2013  "Fahrenheit 451: A Novel"
[book 1953, PlayboyMagazine serial 1954]
Fahrenheit 451 book by Ray Bradbury   Kindle Edition from Simon & Schuster Digital Sales [11/2011] for $7.50
Simon & Schuster 8¼x5½ pb [1/2012] for $7.90
Ballantine 8¼x5½ trade pb [8/96] out of print/hundreds used
Ballantine mass pb [2/95] out of print/hundreds used
Simon & Schuster 8½x5¾ hardcover [1/2012] for $18.22
Simon & Schuster 8¾x5¾ hardcover [9/93] out of print/50+ used
book entry at Wikipedia
Fahrenheit 451 audio   audio CD read by Christopher Hunt
Harper UNABR audio CD [12/2005] for $14.53
audio read by Ray Bradbury
Caedmon UNABR audio CD [10/2001] out of prodn/used
Harper UNABR audio [10/2001] 6 tapes - out of prodn/used
Caedmon UNABR audio [10/2001] out of prodn/used
audio tapes read by Michael Prichard
BooksOnTape UNABR audio [9/88] out of prodn/many used

1966 Fahrenheit 451 movie  feature film [Universal France Sept 1966, USA Nov 1966]
Directed by François Truffaut [1932-84]; cinematography by Nicolas Roeg;
starring Oskar Werner, Julie Christie {dual role} & Cyril Cusack
Universal 50th Anniv. widescreen color Blu-ray [6/2017] for $9.75
Universal widescreen color DVD [4/2003] for $9.47
Image Ent. letterbox color DVD [10/2000] out of prodn/used
Universal color VHS [6/96] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
watch trailers on YouTube: official trailer [2/2008 upload; 2:20]
        long trailer [11/2011 upload; 4:16]
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 graphic novel drawn by Tim Hamilton  
"Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation" graphic novel [2009]
Drawn by Tim Hamilton, Introduction by Ray Bradbury

Hill & Wang 9x6½ pb [7/2009] for $12.78
Hill & Wang 9¼x6¼ hardcover [7/2009] out of print/40+ used

"Fahrenheit 451" TV movie [H.B.O. Films for May 2018?]  
Fahrenheit 451 2018 TV movie on H.B.O.  Announced for 2007 release, then for 2012 release as a Castle Rock / Frank Darabont project; UPDATE 4/2017: H.B.O. Films will adapt Ray Bradbury’s classic novel "Fahrenheit 451" starring Michael B. Jordan & Michael Shannon, with Ramin Bahrani attached to co-write & direct the film; filming began in July 2017 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada • Co-produced by Ramin Bahrani, Michael B. Jordan, and others; co-written by Amir Naderi; starring Michael Shannon, Michael B. Jordan, Sofia Boutella, Lilly Singh, Laura Harrier, Grace Lynn Kung, Saad Siddiqui, Jane Moffat, Marissa Kate Wilson, Aimee Lenihan, Kylie Lenihan, Alison Smiley
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available •
latest info at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
watch official trailers online at YouTube: 2/2018 official teaser #1 [1:12]4/2018 trailer #2 [2:11]

"Dandelion  Wine:  A  Novel"

Dandelion Wine novel by Ray Bradbury  "Dandelion Wine" [1957]
Bradbury's classic tale of the Magical Summer of 1928 in Greentown, Illinois begins with 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding's new pair of sneakers . . .
Bantam Spectra pb [4/85] for $7.99
Avon hardcover [2/99] for $12.91
Farewell Summer novel  "Farewell Summer: A Novel" [2006]
The publisher thought that "Dandelion Wine" was too long, so the second half was removed; this sequel restores the continuation of Douglas Spaulding's journey toward adulthood.
Harper mass pb [10/2007] for $7.99
Wm. Morrow 8½x5½ hardcover [10/2006] for $16.47

Announced 8/2011: Mike Medavoy & Doug McKay of Phoenix Pictures will produce a feature film adaptation of
Bradbury’s classic 1957 novel “Dandelion Wine”. R.G.I. Productions is also signed, with Natasha Shliapnikoff as
producer and Rodion Nahapetov as screenwriter • latest info at IMDb


Ray Bradbury's  Other  Novels

Short Stories are on Page 2

Now and Forever novellas   "Now and Forever: Somewhere A Band Is Playing and Leviathan '99"
[2 novellas 2007]

Harper mass pb [8/2008] for $7.99
Wm. Morrow 8½x5½ hardcover [9/2007] for $16.47
Let's All Kill Constance novel by Ray Bradbury  "Let's All Kill Constance" [2003]
"Bradbury's depiction of Hollywood as its first great glory begins to deteriorate effectively recaptures the past ... and he does so with more belly-[laugh]ing humor than nostalgia." — Paula Friedman, Los Angeles Times
Avon mass pb [12/2003] for $7.50
Wm. Morrow 8½x5¾ hardcover [12/2002] out of print/dozens used
From The Dust Returned stories novel by Ray Bradbury  "From The Dust Returned: A Family Remembrance" [2001]
Connected short stories: the Eternal Family is on the brink of a reunion on Hallowe'en, and foundling (mortal) son Timothy is told the stories of its members.
Announced 5/2012: Major motion picture from M.G.M. (see Movies Section)
Avon pb [9/2002] for $7.99
Wm. Morrow 8¾x6¾ hardcover [10/2001] out of print/dozens used
Harper ABR audio read by Ray Bradbury [10/2001] out of print/many used

Green Shadows, White Whale novel by Ray Bradbury  "Green Shadows, White Whale: A Novel of Ray Bradbury's Adventures Making Moby Dick With John Huston In Ireland" [1992]
Harper Perennial 8x5¼ pb [9/98] for $13.99
Spectra mass pb [7/93] out of print/used
Knopf 8¾x6 hardcover [5/92] out of print/many used

see also Magic Lantern Bookstore's John Huston Page and-or
        Spirit of America Bookstore's "Moby-Dick" [1851] Page

Graveyard for Lunatics novel by Ray Bradbury  
"A Graveyard For Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities" [1990]
An all-night party in a Hollywood cemetery next door to a movie studio turns deadly . . .
Harper Perennial 8x5½ pb [6/2001] for $11.38
Knopf 8½x5¼ hardcover [7/90] out of print/100+ used
Dark They Were & Golden-Eyed novel by Ray Bradbury  "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" [1990]
New Readers Press pb [6/90] for $4.75
Econoclad YA hardcover [10/99] for $11.05
DH Audio cassette [12/94] out of stock/used
Death Is A Lonely Business novel by Ray Bradbury  "Death Is A Lonely Business" [1985]
Avon 8x5¼ pb [3/99] for $9.60
EconoClad YA hardcover [10/99] for $20.30
BooksOnTape audio [8/90] for $24.00
Something Wicked This Way Comes novel by Ray Bradbury  "Something Wicked This Way Comes" [1962]
Avon pb [3/98] for $6.99
Avon 7¼x5¼ hardcover [6/99] for $11.17

Illustrated edition, by J. K. Potter & V. Tony Hauser
Bantam pb [5/76] out of print/used
Bantam pb [10/90] out of print/used [aka ISBN 0606049274]
2003 play at Edgemar, Santa Monica CA

Something Wicked This Way Comes video  1983 movie directed by Jack Clayton
Starring Jason Robards jr & Jonathan Pryce
Anchor Bay VHS video [6/2000] for $9.99
Anchor Bay letterbox VHS video [9/99] for $13.99
Anchor Bay letterbox DVD [9/99] for $21.49
new Robert Zemeckis project, script by Laeta Kalogridis
no entry yet on IMDb [Oct 2003]

Halloween Tree novel by Ray Bradbury  "The Halloween Tree" [1972]
Illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini

Knopf YA pb [9/99] for $4.49
Knopf hardcover [10/88] out of stock/used
1993 Cartoon Network program
Hanna-Barbera VHS video [9/96] for $13.99

Quotations  from  Chairman  Ray
The thing is to be madly, madly in love all the time.

Make haste to live. Oh, God, yes. Live. And write. With great haste.

People on a jet have only been on a trip; people on a train have been on a journey.

I can't name a writer who's had a more perfect life. My books are all in print,
I'm in all the school libraries, and when I go places I get the applause
at the start of my speech.

from "Fahrenheit 451"

A book is a loaded gun.

Those who don't build must burn.

Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as though you'll drop dead in 10 seconds.


Works  About  Ray  Bradbury

Writers of the XXIst Century Ray Bradbury book edited by Martin Greenberg & Joseph Olander   "Ray Bradbury" critical essays & bibliography [1980]
Edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander

Taplinger 8¼x5½ pb [1980] out of print/used
Taplinger hardcover [1980] out of print/used
Bradbury Chronicles book edited by William F. Nolan & Martin Greenberg  "The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories In Honor of Ray Bradbury" [22 stories, 1991] Edited by William F. Nolan & Martin H. Greenberg
contributors include: Isaac Asimov (tribute); Gregory Benford ('Centigrade 233'); Orson Scott Card; Norman Corwin ('The Muse'); Bruce Francis; Ed Gorman; Charles L. Grant; James Kisner; Roberta Lannes; Richard Matheson; F. Paul Wilson; and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro; as well as Bradbury himself
Roc 8½x5½ pb [12/92] out of print/many used
N.A.L./Roc 9x6 hardcover [11/91] out of print/many used
Ray Bradbury Poetics book by William F. Touponce  "Ray Bradbury and The Poetics of Reverie: Gaston Bachelard, Wolfgang Iser & The Reader's Response To Fantastic Literature" [1997] by William F. Touponce
Borgo Press 8¼x5¼ pb [11/97] out of print/rare
Borgo/Millefleurs hardcover [11/97] out of print/rare
Ray Bradbury Icon video   "Ray Bradbury: An American Icon" [47-minute documentary 1992]
Directed by Robert Duncan

Monterey Home Video VHS [9/97] for $21.99
Journey to Far Metaphor book by Jerry Weist  "Bradbury: An Illustrated Life - A Journey To Far Metaphor" [2002]
by Jerry Weist; intro by Ray Bradbury

Wm. Morrow {bargain priced} hardcover [10/2002] for $9.99
Wm. Morrow hardcover [10/2002] out of print/used
Ray Bradbury bio by JRE & WFT  "Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction" [2004]
by Jonathan R. Eller & William F. Touponce

Kent State Univ Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [6/2004] for $23.12
Conversations With Ray Bradbury  "Conversations With Ray Bradbury" [2004]
Edited by Steven L. Aggelis

Univ Press of MS 9x6 pb [6/2004] for $14.00
Univ Press of MS 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/2004] for $48.00
Ray Bradbury bio by Weller  "The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury" [2005]
by Sam Weller

Harper Perennial 7¾x5¼ pb [2/2006] for $12.44
Wm. Morrow 9½x6¾ hardcover [4/2005] for $20.48
Bradbury Speaks essays  
"Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon From The Cave, Too Far From The Stars" [2005]
Essays by Ray Bradbury

Harper Perennial 8¼x5¼ pb [8/2006] for $11.66
Wm. Morrow 9&fracx5½ hardcover [8/2005] out of print/many used

Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age  "Conversations With The Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: At The American Film Institute" [2006] by George Stevens, Jr.
Knopf 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2006] for $23.10
interviews with 32 major writers, directors & cinematographers, including Ingmar Bergman, writer Ray Bradbury, Richard Brooks, Frank Capra, William Clothier, Stanley Cortez, George Cukor, Federico Fellini, George Folsey, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, James Wong Howe, John Huston, Elia Kazan, Gene Kelly, Stanley Kramer, Fritz Lang, David Lean, Ernest Lehman, Mervyn LeRoy, Harold Lloyd, Rouben Mamoulian, Satyajit Ray, Jean Renoir, George Stevens, King Vidor, Hal Wallis, Raoul Walsh, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, William Wyler & Fred Zinnemann

"Conversations With Ray Bradbury" [6/2004] Edited by Steven L. Aggelis
http://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Ray-Bradbury-Literary/dp/1578066417/

"The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury" [4/2005] by Sam Weller
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bradbury-Chronicles-Life-P-S/dp/0060545844/

"Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon From The Cave, Too Far From The Stars" [essays 7/2005] by Ray Bradbury
http://www.amazon.com/Bradbury-Speaks-Soon-Cave-Stars/dp/B000GG4LSA/

"Classic Storytellers: Ray Bradbury" [YA 4/2006] by Michele Griskey
http://www.amazon.com/Bradbury-Classic-Storytellers-Michele-Griskey/dp/1584154551/

"Ray Bradbury Uncensored! the Unauthorized Biography" [7/2006] by Gene Beley
http://www.amazon.com/Ray-Bradbury-Uncensored-Unauthorized-Biography/dp/059537364X/

"Listen To The Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews" [6/2010] by Sam Weller
http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Echoes-The-Bradbury-Interviews/dp/1935554034/

"Becoming Ray Bradbury" [8/2011] by Jonathan R. Eller
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Ray-Bradbury-Jonathan-Eller/dp/0252036298/


Image  Gallery

statue of Ray Bradbury unveiled at Waukegan Public Library in August 2019         


Friends  &  Family
Raymond Douglas Bradbury was born in August 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois; he sold his first story in 1941, and became a full-time writer in 1943;
he suffered a stroke in November 1999, and died in Los Angeles, California in June 2012 at age 91.

wife Marguerite 'Maggie' McClure Bradbury [d. 2003] - married September 1947
they raised four daughters: Susan, Ramona, Bettina & Alexandra, with grandchildren & great-grandchildren since

lifelong pal sci-fi editor & collector Forrest J. Ackerman [1916-2008]

lifelong pal SFX wizard Ray Harryhausen [1920-2013]

L i n k s
Ray Bradbury pages at Wikipedia
a thorough bibliography on CyberSpace Spinner

browse the Ray Bradbury Store at Amazon

'Salon' interview by James Hibberd [Aug 2001]
1991 'Quantum Review' interview with Ray
One Book One City, Los Angeles (March 2002): "Fahrenheit 451"
Star #2193 of 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' at 6644 Hollywood Blvd. (ceremony 1 April 2002)
Official Website at HarperCollins
Chris & Kevin's 'RB Online' site
Text of Ray's Speech at Cal Tech Commencement 2000
CJ's Bradbury fansite
detailed bibliography {up to 2002, no stageplays}



here on the Ray Bradbury [1920-2012] Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore

here on Page One: top of pageProfileNovels | Works About RayLinks

on Page Two: top of pageShort StoriesPoetryOther Works

on Page Three: top of pageMovies, TV & VideoPlays & OperasAudio & eBooks

˜                    ˜

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