Ray Bradbury unbound / Jonathan R. Eller.

Fully established in the slick magazines, award-winning, and 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. Here, author 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 opportunity to adapt Moby Dick for film, Bradbury soon established himself in Hollywood's vast and overlapping film and television empires. The work swallowed up creative energy once devoted to literary pursuits and often left Bradbury frustrated with studio executives. Yet his successes endowed him with the gravitas to emerge as a much-sought-after cultural commentator. His passionate advocacy in Life magazine and other media outlets validated the U.S. space program's mission--a favor repaid when NASA's astronauts gathered to meet Bradbury during his 1967 visit to Houston. Over time, his public addresses and interviews 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 many years of interviews with Bradbury as well as an unprecedented access to personal papers and private collections, to portray the origins and outcomes of Bradbury's countless creative endeavors. The result is the definitive story of how a great American author helped shape his times.--From publisher description.

Part I: A place in the sun. Loomings ; Strangers in a strange land ; Indecisions, visions, and revisions ; Fatal attraction ; A whale of a tale ; "Floreat!" ; A place in the sun -- Part II: The end of the beginning. Post-scripts ; Invitations to the dance ; Pictures within pictures : The October country ; Laughton and Hitchcock ; "The first to catch a circus in a lie is a boy" ; Various wines ; The end of the beginning -- Part III: Dark carnivals. Strange interlude: Dandelion wine ; Return to Hollywood ; "And the rock cried out" ; Berenson at Sunset ; The unforeseen ; Dreams deferred ; The great wide world ; The Dreamers ; Dark carnivals -- Part IV: "Cry the cosmos." Medicines for melancholy ; Escape velocity ; Martian odyssey ; "Cry the cosmos" ; In the twilight zone ; Something wicked this way comes ; Out of the deeps ; Machineries of joy -- Part V: If the sun dies. A backward glance ; Stops of various quills ; The world of Ray Bradbury ; If the sun dies ; Truffaut's Phoenix ; A colder eye ; The isolated man ; A touch of the poet ; "Christus Apollo" ; "Take me home."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-300) and index.

Print version record.

English.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide