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Martian Chronicles Question

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18 January 2002, 11:01 PM
TimC
Martian Chronicles Question
Is is true that different editions of this book contain different stories?
19 January 2002, 04:21 AM
dandelion
Man, that is true of just about EVERY Bradbury book which APPEARED in different editions! A hardcover first edition of "The Martian Chronicles" is among the rarest finds; what you have will surely be a later version. The man is a rewriting FIEND! Not only were stories added along the way, certain stories were rewritten for different editions and for inclusion in collections such as "The Stories of Ray Bradbury." Anyone seeking, as in "Fahrenheit 451," to "become" one of Bradbury's books would probably short-circuit just choosing which version!
19 January 2002, 05:54 PM
douglasSP
To start with, the U.S. edition had "Usher II", but not "The Fire Balloons."

Then the British edition reversed this.

I have two copies of the British edition, and when I recently checked the contents pages, I saw that one was exactly the same as the US edition, while the other omitted "Usher II", and had "The Fire Balloons" as mentioned above.

But I believe editions exist which contain both stories. And of course, the British version was called The Silver Locusts. So I actually don't have a book called The Martian Chronicles on my bookshelf!

Confused? Not my fault ... By the way, I remember "The Fire Balloons" was reprinted in Omni in the late 70s or early 80s. I still have this in a box somewhere. I never read it in Omni; I wonder if it was revised?