The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Bradbury, Ray
(brd´br´´, –br) (KEY) , 1920–, American writer, b. Waukegan, Ill. A popular and very prolific writer of science fiction, Bradbury skillfully combines social and technological criticism with delightful fantasy. His best-known work is probably The Martian Chronicles (1950), the tale of the ruin of Martian civilization by greedy and corrupt earthlings, which was made into a film (1966) and a TV miniseries (1980). His short-story collections include The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), The Last Circus and the Executioner (1980), The Toynbee Convector (1988), Quicker than the Eye (1996), and Driving Blind (1997); among his novels are Fahrenheit 451 (1953, film 1966), Dandelion Wine (1957), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962, film 1983), The Halloween Tree (1972), and A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990). Bradbury has also written scripts for plays and films, a detective novel, children’s stories, and poetry.
See biographies by W. L. Johnson (1980), D. Mogen (1986), and S. Weller (2005); studies by G. E. Slusser (1977), W. F. Touponce (1989 and 1998), J. Anderson (1990), and R. A. Reid (2000).
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