So, have any of you read it? I picked it up last night. It looks okay. I know that a lot of his later stuff isn't as good as his older stuff. Any opinions on the book?

This book does have a great title, sure enough. It is a sequel to the novel Death is a Lonely Business, so I would recommend reading the earlier book first, before attempting A Graveyard for Lunatics.

I really enjoyed Death is a Lonely Business--the book contains some particulary poetic and melancholy chapters. (I'm thinking of when the narrator goes to visit "the canary lady," though there are many other such passages.) I've read this book several times, always around September or October, when the year is winding down and there's that hint of sadness in the wind.... And while A Graveyard for Lunatics contains some wonderfully descriptive prose as well, I have to say that to me the plot simply didn't make any sense! Not at all--but it's been a while since I've read it, so I can't be more specific off-hand. I much preferred the earlier book.

you will learn a little bit about the Hollywood of the late twenties and thirties and how the studios really conducted their business, behind the "scenes". I like the book as a novel and as a piece of history.

To heck with the plot. The first one, "Death is a Lonely Business," was an easier-to-follow plot, but alas, also easier-to-guess/figure out-the-ending in advance, at least for me. (I had the unfair advantage of having read almost EVERY published word the author ever wrote, and even then, Ray can sometimes still surprise you.) "A Graveyard for Lunatics" is a harder-to-follow plot, but for me by FAR the best-written of those first three! (Yes, I've still yet to read "Let's All Kill Constance.") "Green Shadows, White Whale," well, parts of it were well-written, but did it really have much of a plot?

funny, i've read graveyard for lunatics and let's all kill constance, but not death is a lonely business. I didn't even know what death is a lonely business was about 'till after I already read the first two. I caught on. The best part is that you do get an insight to an older hollywood. Constance Talmadge? I just love the Fritz Lang character. As a classic movie fan, it's interesting to see this other side of the legend. Being from California, I can almost picture what some of these places might've looked like back then. Not his best stuff, maybe, but not because it's later bradbury, but then I much prefer the medium of the short story.