Just a reminder that next Tuesday, October 4, 2022, Library of America will be releasing its second Ray Bradbury collection. Edited by Professor Jonathan Eller, it will contain THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, OCTOBER COUNTRY, and 27 other short stories as selected by Professor Eller. The book lists for $40.00, but you can save 20% by purchasing the book directly from the Library of America website:

https://loa.org/books/717-the-...ountry-other-stories

For the most part Jon Eller's choices for the other 27 short stories in the LOA collection are good, but a few of his choices are puzzling to me. Do many people consider "Asleep in Armageddon" and "The Lost City of Mars" among Ray's best stories? They are both good story ideas but the prose quality is not up there with his best work. I always considered TLCoM one of his weakest Mars stories. I can think of numerous stories that I would substitute in place of those two. The one good thing is that neither of those stories appear in THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY or BRADBURY STORIES, so people who have both volumes will be getting something different in this LOA volume.

I also think the twenty-seven stories are a good selection, and I have no problem with "Asleep in Armageddon" and "The Lost City of Mars". They're not frontline Bradbury, but they're fine. Both were overlooked for the two 100-story books issued during Ray's lifetime.

On the other hand, I am very happy to see "R Is for Rocket" included, since it was, for me, the most baffling omission from both THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY and BRADBURY STORIES. Did Ray simply overlook it?

JRES, what would you have included, remembering that the stories were selected from Ray's early works?

douglasSP, many of my choices are on Jon Ellers list, but my top choices to replace AiA and TLCoM would be "Hail and Farewell" (my favorite Bradbury story) and either "Perhaps We Are Going Away" or "The Flying Machine," but there are several other high-quality stories from that era (1940s through 1960s) that could also be substituted. Of course I'm just nitpicking, I realize no two people would ever have exactly the same list of favorite Bradbury stories.

And I agree that "R is for Rocket" definitely should have been included in either THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY or BRADBURY STORIES, so kudos to Jon Eller for including it in this new collection.

I'm now thinking that Jon Eller deliberately sought to include stories that were not included in THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY and BRADBURY STORIES. In addition to "Asleep in Armageddon," "The Lost City of Mars," and "R is for Rocket," he also included "Chrysalis," "Pillar of Fire," "A Touch of Petulance," and "A Miracle of Rare Device," none of which appeared in the collections noted above. Given that he sought to give these "lost" stories greater exposure, I withdraw my nitpicking about story quality. In this context I still wish that "Perhaps We Are Going Away" had been included, because it also was not included in the two massive Bradbury collections.

In its newsletter of today's date, Subterranean Press announced that it is offering, on its website, a free e-book of its out-of-print Ray Bradbury chapbook, SKELETONS, which featured two versions of Ray's classic short story. The free e-book is only going to be available through the end of October of 2022. For more information and a link to access the e-book, see below:

https://subterraneanpress.com/skeletons-free-ebook

"Exciting news!

"We recently decided to give away some very special reading in the form of free ebooks over the next year and beyond as a thank you to, well, you, our dear readers. Today we're pleased to present the first such book, which contains both versions of one of Ray Bradbury's signature tales, including a rarity not frequently seen since the 1940s. Only time will tell what’s next!

***

"For the spooky season, we're pleased to offer Skeletons, a free ebook that gathers the two versions of Ray Bradbury's classic tale, 'Skeleton.'

"We originally published the physical chapbook nearly a decade-and-a-half ago. It remains one of the most popular chapbooks in our history.

"Please note that this free ebook of Skeletons will disappear from our site at the end of October.

"Virtually everyone has read Ray Bradbury's classic tale, 'Skeleton', of a man who becomes aware of the bony framework housed inside his skin. What most readers don't realize is that this famous tale is Bradbury's second take on the idea.

"For the first time in over 60 years, the other tale, also titled 'Skeleton', will see print alongside its classic counterpart, featuring a number of vignettes and text ornaments by Dave McKean.

"Dave McKean has gone above and beyond for this chapbook. Instead of the four or five illustrations agreed upon, he has turned in more than twenty, and helmed the design of the chapbook himself."

From Caitlin R. Kiernan:

“Decades before we talked about ‘body horror,’ Ray Bradbury was onto it. And in the most simple, unsuspecting, poetic way. You are not precisely what you’ve always imagined you are. You are not a whole. You are divisible. And, of course, some particular part might not be welcome, might even wish you ill. Regardless, the horror is just knowing that it’s there. There is an alien being within, peering out, moving in time with your every move. Suddenly, the very knowledge of it is unbearable, an existential blowtorch to the mind. But worse...it’s not an invader after all, but a symbiote, and...where...and what...would you be without it? ‘Skeletons’ is, I think, what we used to call ‘fiendishly clever.’ The scaffolding of us becomes monstrous and indispensable. Brilliant.”

From Stephen Gallagher:

“ ‘Webster saw the skull beneath the skin,’ wrote T. S. Eliot, and a similar perception surely inspired the young Ray Bradbury to the brief vignette that he penned and placed with Script, an LA-based film magazine, in April 1945. ‘Skeleton’ describes a character’s moment of sudden and disturbing self-awareness that the author then went on to develop into a fully-fleshed story for Weird Tales later that same year. Pairing the two pieces now offers a glimpse of his process; the steps from notion to narrative, from a snapshot of a mood to a tale with a sting. An insight into the young writer’s creative method exposing its layers and revealing, as it were, its bones.”

Just a reminder that HOME TO STAY! THE COMPLETE RAY BRADBURY EC STORIES is scheduled to be published this coming Tuesday, October 18, 2022. The book, which will be released by Fantagraphics, will re-print all of the Ray Bradbury stories which were adapted by, and appeared in, the legendary EC Comics line back in the 1950's. The book is priced at $75:

https://www.fantagraphics.com/...-bradbury-ec-stories

For anyone who might be on the fence about purchasing the forthcoming limited edition graphic anthology SEASONS OF TERROR (described in my posting of July 5, 2020 above), the publisher, Cemetery Dance, is having a Black Friday sale until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, November 26, 2022. Until then, all books ordered directly from the publisher, including those that are forthcoming, are eligible for a 50% discount. When you check out, click on HAVE A COUPON?, enter the code FRIDAY50, and then click APPLY. Again, SEASONS OF TERROR will contain stories by Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Robert McCammon and Ray Bradbury, whose contribution to the book is "The Screaming Woman". By using the aforementioned discount code, SEASONS OF TEROR can be purchased for $30 instead of $60. Not a bad deal!

https://www.cemeterydance.com/seasons-of-terror.html

Subterranean Press announced this morning that it has available a limited number of additional copies of the second printing of THE COMPLETE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. Five copies are signed by Ray Bradbury, and will be distributed at random to five lucky buyers. The selling price, as before, is $200. The previously available copies of this book sold out almost immediately, so if you're interested, you shouldn't wait to order. Ordering information can be accessed via the link below:

https://subterraneanpress.com/...ion-second-printing/

It appears that Subterranean Press has sold out of its copies of ZERO HOUR, the beautiful chapbook published last year of Ray Bradbury's classic short story, as described in my posting of October 18, 2021 above. However, copies are of the Classic and Half-Leather editions of the book are still available directly from the publisher, Thornwillow Press. (The Patron edition is sold out.) Ordering information for this fine press, hand-printed book can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

https://thornwillow.com/zero-hour

Today's Gauntlet Press newsletter contained the following update on the status of PHOENIX 451, by Ray Bradbury:

"We have received the signed numbered and unsigned copies. We will be shipping in January. With 175 books to ship it's going to take several weeks. We appreciate your patience as we are working to get the book out as quickly as possible."

(No word yet on the status of the expensive lettered edition, which will contain three previously unpublished Bradbury short stories not in the other editions.)

For an on-line review of the recent Fantagraphics book, HOME TO STAY! THE COMPLETE RAY BRADBURY EC STORIES, with many pages from the book included in the video, click on the link below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwAod05Et-Q

Good news! Cemetery Dance has announced that MIDNIGHT UNDER THE BIG TOP, originally published as a limited edition hardcover that sold out from the publisher almost immediately, is being re-issued this summer as a much more affordable ($25) trade paperback. The books is a collection of eerie stories relating to the circus by such literary giants as Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Ray Bradbury. (Ray is represented by his classic short story, "The Black Ferris.") For more information about the book, including how to order, click on the link below:

https://www.cemeterydance.com/...0e&mc_eid=5138a3b671

Coming later this year from McFarland Books, THE FIRST GEEKS: RAY BRADBURY, FORREST J ACKERMAN, RAY HARRYHAUSEN AND THE FOUNDING OF SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM, by Orty Ortwein. For more information about the book, including how to order, click on the link below:

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/The-First-Geeks/