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In
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.
List of contents
Acknowledgments / 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
About the author
Jonathan R. Eller
Summary
A successful, award-winning writer on the brink of placing Fahrenheit 451 in the American canon, Ray Bradbury entered the autumn of 1953 as a literary figure transcending fantasy and science fiction. Jonathan R. Eller continues the story begun in his acclaimed Becoming Ray Bradbury, following the beloved writer's evolution from a short story master to a multi-media creative force and outspoken visionary. Drawn into screenwriting by the chance to adapt Moby Dick for Hollywood, Bradbury soon established himself in film and television. Though the work swallowed up creative energy once devoted to literary pursuits, Bradbury's successes endowed him with the gravitas to emerge as a sought-after cultural commentator and media figure. His passionate advocacy validated the U.S. space program's mission and allowed him to assume the role of a dreamer of futures voicing opinions on technology, the moon landing, and humanity's ultimate destiny. Eller draws on interviews with Bradbury and unprecedented access to personal papers and private collections to tell the story of how a great American author helped shape his times.
