With his disarmingly simple style and complex imagination, Ray Bradbury has seized the minds of American readers for decades.This collection showcases thirty-two of Bradbury's most famous tales in which he lays bare the depths of the human soul. The thrilling title story, "A Sound of Thunder," tells of a hunter sent on safari -- sixty million years in the past. But all it takes is one wrong step in the prehistoric jungle to stamp out the life of a delicate and harmless butterfly -- and possibly something else much closer to home ...

The Illustrated Man is classic Bradbury - a collection of tales that breathe and move, animated by sharp, intaken breath and flexing muscle. Here are eighteen startling visions of humankind's destiny, unfolding across a canvas of decorated skin - visions as keen as the tattooist's needle and as colorful as the inks that indelibly stain the body. The images, ideas, sounds and scents that abound in this phantasmagoric sideshow are provocative and powerful: the mournful cries of celestial travelers cast out cruelly into a vast, empty space of stars and blackness...the sight of gray dust selling over a forgotten outpost on a road that leads nowhere...the pungent odor of Jupiter on a returning father's clothing. Here living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, Martian invasions are foiled by the good life and the glad hand, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets. Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man is a kaleidoscopic blending of magic, imagination, and truth, widely believed to be one of the Grandmaster's premier accomplishments: as exhilarating as interplanetary travel, as maddening as a walk in a million-year rain, and as comforting as simple, familiar rituals on the last night of the world.

Mars was a distant shore, and the men spread upon it in waves. Each wave different, and each wave stronger.

Ray Bradbury is a storyteller without peer, a poet of the possible, and, indisputably, one of America's most beloved authors. The Mars he imagines in these masterful chronicles is a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor--of crystal pillars and fossil seas--where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is a classic work of twentieth-century literature whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage. In connected, chronological stories, a true grand master once again enthralls, delights, and challenges us with his vision and heart--starkly exposing in brilliant spacelight our strength, weakness, folly, and poignant humanity in a strange and breathtaking world where humanity does not belong.

Ray Bradbury brings wonders alive. For this peerless American storyteller, the most bewitching force in the universe is human nature. In these eighteen startling tales unfolding across a canvas of tattooed skin, living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, and dreams are carried aloft in junkyard rockets. Provocative and powerful, "The Illustrated Man "is a kaleidoscopic blending of magic, imagination, and truth--as exhilarating as interplanetary travel, as maddening as a walk in a million-year rain, and as comforting as simple, familiar rituals on the last night of the world.

In "The Martian Chronicles, "Ray Bradbury, America's preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor-- of crystal pillars and fossil seas--where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.

Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of twentieth-century literature set in a bleak, dystopian future.
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.
Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family." But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn't live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.
When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.

In "The Martian Chronicles, "Ray Bradbury, America's preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor-- of crystal pillars and fossil seas--where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.

""Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to ashes, then burn the ashes."" For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden. In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world's most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in "Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451," the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury's full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag's awakening to the evil of government-controlled thought and the inestimable value of philosophy, theology, and literature. Including an original foreword by Ray Bradbury and fully depicting the brilliance and force of his canonic and beloved masterwork, "Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451" is an exceptional, haunting work of graphic literature. Tim Hamilton has produced art for "The New York Times Book Review," "Cicada "magazine, King Features, BOOM Studios, "Mad Magazine," and ACT-I-VATE. He also adapted Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island "into a graphic novel.
Ray Bradbury is a multiple-award-winning novelist, short-story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. An American Library Association "Great Graphic Novel for Teens" Nominee
"Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner . . . Burn'em to ashes, then burn the ashes."" "For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden. In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world's most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in "Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451," the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury's full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag's awakening to the evil of government-controlled thought and the inestimable value of philosophy, theology, and literature. Including an original foreword by Ray Bradbury and fully depicting the brilliance and force of his canonic masterwork, "Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451" is a haunting work of graphic literature. "A new adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic work "Fahrenheit 451," with a fascinating and challenging new introduction by the author, is a vivid reminder of the special power of a graphic novel, of the genre's ability to do things that words alone can't . . . If you know the novel, you'll still be thrilled by Tim Hamilton's artwork in this new version, which combines a comic-book clarity--the panels are simple and straightforward, without the distraction of a lot of visual razzmatazz--with a deep, humane rendering of the novel's theme."--Julia Keller, "Chicago"" Tribune" "As evidenced by Tim Hamilton's authorized graphic novel, time has not dulled its tart, terrifying resonance. Vibrant and vital, Hamilton's take on "Fahrenheit 451" is far more than an illustrated version of Bradbury's 1953 classic. While its text belongs to Bradbury, Hamilton, a founding member of the online comics collaborative www.activatecomix.com, saturates the story with his own evocative energy and vision. He doesn't use all of Bradbury's words, instead allowing the story's inherent visual propulsion to add even more depth and texture to an already-indelible tale. Given this novel's graphic heft, it's strange that there has been only one film production, a 1966 adaptation written and directed by Francois Truffaut. Then again, perhaps that's because this is a work that, despite its many images of immolation, is more about provocative ideas than things blowing up. And here, Hamilton never compromises the cerebral for the visceral as he lures readers into a world careening into madness . . . Hamilton's arousing adaptation doesn't just update Bradbury's novel. It primes "Fahrenheit 451," long a staple of high school and college reading lists, for rediscovery. Like the greatest works of art, its rugged heart and soul are evergreen; that it is, perhaps, even more relevant today, imbues the book with an unsettling prescience that even Bradbury may never have predicted."--Renee Graham, "The Boston Globe " "A new adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic work "Fahrenheit 451," with a fascinating and challenging new introduction by the author, is a vivid reminder of the special power of a graphic novel, of the genre's ability to do things that words alone can't. Believe me, I often question my affection for graphic novels. I loved Superman as a kid, but when it comes to comics, we're not in Kansas anymore. Graphic novels have become terrifically popular, thanks to fiercely imaginative practitioners like Neil Gaiman, as well as to a growing body of sophisticated theoretical work on the genre by astute writers such as Scott McCloud and Douglas Wolk . . . The new graphic version of "Fahrenheit 451" has helped sort out the contents of my soul. And I'm happy to report that I'm in the clear. I am quite certain that I'd be trumpeting the virtues of this work even if graphic novels weren't on everybody's hot list . . . If you know the novel, you'll still be thrilled by Tim Hamilton's artwork in this new version, which combines a comic-book clarity--the panels are simple and straightforward, without the distraction of a lot of visual razzmatazz--with a deep, humane rendering of the novel's theme . . . Some of my anti-comics correspondents claim that reading a graphic novel is not really 'reading' at all. They're right. It's something else again. In the case of "Fahrenheit 451," it's more like a life-changing immersion in ideas, words, echoes, symbols, characters, lines, colors, nightmares--and finally, daybreak."--Julia Keller, "Chicago"" Tribune"
"[Hamilton] boasts the tools--and chops--to take on a Bradbury classic that's already tripped up the greats (like Francois Truffaut). He turns in a vivid and relevant meditation that will surely become a resurgent favorite of nervous librarians everywhere."--"The Miami Herald"

"This searing cautionary tale, in which 'firemen' destroy all printed material except magazines and comics, remains one of science fiction's best-known works. And it is now, perhaps, one of the best graphic novels of 2009 . . . Where the novel felt scalding, the graphic novel feels necessary. It makes this cautionary tale hip to the present generation and updates it by transporting it to a newly vibrant medium. It's slightly frightening that after more than 55 years, the retelling seems so pertinent."--Laurel Maury, NP

For more than sixty years, the imagination of Ray Bradbury has opened doors into remarkable places, ushering us across unexplored territories of the heart and mind while leading us inexorably toward a profound understanding of ourselves and the universe we inhabit. In this landmark volume, America's preeminent storyteller offers us one hundred treasures from a lifetime of words and ideas. The stories within these pages were chosen by Bradbury himself, and span a career that blossomed in the pulp magazines of the early 1940s and continues to flourish in the new millennium. Here are representatives of the legendary author's finest works of short fiction, including many that have not been republished for decades, all forever fresh and vital, evocative and immensely entertaining.

A lovely book that tells the true story of how the classic Universal Studios Monsters were born from a centenarian who was there when it happened. Enjoy Carla's tale of growing up on her uncles Universal Studio Lot from 1921 to 1937 and not only witnessing the filming of such early classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923, but actually being in The Phantom of the Opera in 1925 and Dracula in 1931, where her "bit" part was that of having the first line of spoken dialogue in that perennial classic vampire film. Beware of vampires and hearses, but enjoy her story's verses! Wonderfully illustrated by MAD Magazines Jack Davis and Hermann Mejia. Foreword provided by master of horror and sci-fi, Ray Bradbury.

Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 is an enduring masterwork of twentieth-century American literature--a chilling vision of a dystopian future built on the foundations of ignorance, censorship, and brutal repression. The origins and evolution of Bradbury's darkly magnificent tale are explored in A Pleasure to Burn, a collection of sixteen selected shorter works that prefigure the grand master's landmark novel. Classic, thematically interrelated stories alongside many crucial lesser-known ones--including, at the collection's heart, the novellas "Long After Midnight" and "The Fireman"--A Pleasure to Burn is an indispensable companion to the most powerful work of America's preeminent storyteller, a wondrous confirmation of the inimitable Bradbury's brilliance, magic . . . and fire.