Bradbury

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
This handsome volume is less a formal biography than a stunning visual record of its subject's long, varied career. Longtime aficionado Jerry Wiest has created an affectionate tribute to Ray Bradbury that would be a most striking gift for any science fiction fan.

After briefly touching on Bradbury's boyhood, formative influences, and seminal exposure to SF fandom, Wiest embarks on a profusely illustrated tour of a multifaceted career in the verbal and visual arts. In the process, he addresses Bradbury's primary vocation as a writer of fiction; his long association with the world of comics; his passionate involvement in film, theater, and television; and his lesser-known work as an enthusiastic amateur painter. Textual highlights include an illuminating exchange of letters with EC Comics founder William Gaines, and François Truffaut's log on the filming of Fahrenheit 451. But the real treasures of this volume are visual ones, among them rare private photos, film stills, and posters, excerpts from EC's comic adaptations, a retrospective of Bradbury cover art, and a portfolio of the work of the late Joseph Mugnaini, who, more than any other artist, successfully captured the spirit of Bradbury's work.

Anyone interested in Bradbury's life and work, in science fiction and fantasy, in literature and film, and in the popular culture of the 20th century should spend some time with this uncommonly attractive book. Bill Sheehan

Publishers Weekly

This coffee table study of the celebrated SF writer focuses on his connections to media-pulps, slicks, radio, theater, film and visual art-and manages to be both gorgeous and highly informative. By Bradbury's own admission, he was influenced by movies from the age of three, and the book traces the shape of this influence through his long career. It also tracks how the visual media have represented Bradbury's work, ranging from the fanzine drawings that appeared before WWII, through the covers of the magazines in which his short stories were published and illustrations for the stories themselves, to the jacket art for nearly 50 years of hardcover and paperback books. Add to that posters and scenes from the many films based on his stories and the diary of making Fahrenheit 451 by director Francois Truffaut-and still there's more. Bradbury, who worked with EC Comics when one of their editors was William Gaines, the future founder of Mad, has had a long association with the stage, and is an above-average artist in his own right, as one short chapter here proves. Weist, a comics expert and artist, has ransacked memories, interviews, correspondences and art collections for the clear text and the well-reproduced artwork in this valuable supplement to other documentation of Bradbury's illustrious career. Color and b&w illustrations throughout. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.