quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
Bless you, Cory!

(On writing the dedication first)

I told that girl I could start right away
And she said, "Listen babe, I got something to say
I got no car and it's breaking my heart
But I've found a driver and that's a start."

The Beatles, "Drive My Car"

Wonder if Heinlein was a fan? Anyone know? His juvenile space adventure The Rolling Stones features an extremely bright, lively four-year-old boy named Lowell but nicknamed Buster. I don't believe I've ever seen Buster used as a first name by any other (human) character in a book (possibly a dog?), of course I've read 1,200 books and can't remember every character name. Buster Keaton was the first to use it as a first name but not the last.

Also called Buster:








(The first is a British comic, with a lead character also called Buster.)

If I knew how to paste photos like Phil (instead of adding attachments) I'd post photos of Buster Posey and Buster Brown (with his dog Tige)!

Like these?







(As a Brit, I confess complete ignorance of these characters. Posted as a service to the internetically challenged Braling II!)

Thanks for your elegant service. "Buster Brown" was a clothing style and later an actual clothing company. I was familiar with some of their products when I was a child.

(Anyone who has read Ralph Moody's Little Britches remembers his mother hand making him a Buster Brown suit, which his father forced him to wear to school during punishment for lying!)

My 11-DVD set The Art of Buster Keaton arrived and I dived right in. During The High Sign I suddenly remembered my late Uncle, Brad Sullivan, an actor, had a Boston terrier named Buster. I hadn't recalled this until a dog like him appeared in the film. To be absolutely certain I pulled out a 1978 photograph and sure enough, there was his name on the back--so my little Buster Kitten is not the first in the family, after all! Buster was Brad's "baby"--he took him everywhere and during one movie in which he appeared, a faint scratching can be heard under the table--from Buster, a great hit everywhere he went. Brad threatened to dress Buster as a baby and bottle-feed him to smuggle him on board ships and places where pets were not allowed, but I don't think he ever did. Seeing the little dog brought back a lot of good memories. Since Buster Keaton loved dogs so much I'm sure he would not mind my saying this.

[(As a Brit, I confess complete ignorance of these characters. Posted as a service to the internetically challenged Braling II!)[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Phil!

The latest is, I heard back from Zee, who says Ray told her he thought there were two recent juvenile titles on him. I must admit my Library of Congress search was cursory--I simply assumed there were no such books as the most arcane and obscure references to Ray always end up posted here.

I checked again and good grief! Ray was right and then some. There are not two such books, there are three! They must have received very little attention as neither I nor anyone here seems to have noticed them. I will find out posthaste how they approach the subject. The two authors whose birthdates are given are younger than I. I was a teenager (or pretty darn close) by the time the male author was born--how humiliating is that? Not hitting the panic button yet--on the subject of my previous book there were six or seven titles and not one was done the way I had in mind so I wrote it anyway.

[ 1 ] Bradbury, Ray, 1920---Juvenile literature. Bankston, John, 1974- Ray Bradbury / by John Bankston. 2011

ACCESS:
Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms
CALL NUMBER:
PS3503.R167 Z57 2011

[ 2 ] Bradbury, Ray, 1920---Juvenile literature. Griskey, Michele. Ray Bradbury / Michele Griskey. 2007

ACCESS:
Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms
CALL NUMBER:
PS3503.R167 Z686 2007

[ 3 ] Bradbury, Ray, 1920---Juvenile literature. Mass, Wendy, 1967- Ray Bradbury : master of science fiction and fantasy / Wendy Mass. 2004

ACCESS:
Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms
CALL NUMBER:
PS3503.R167 Z75 2004

(Are any of these authors members here? If so, please speak up!)

First book--author lives in California but the book was published in England and costs $30 or $40--unless I can find a copy for half that, will see if it's available on Interlibrary Loan. He has cranked out 60 titles so how in depth can any one be?

Second book is about half the price of the first and the third about half the price of the second. Here is the review for the third:

"From Booklist
Reviewed with Edward Willett's J. R. R. Tolkien. Gr. 6-9. Books in the Authors Teens Love series provide introductions to the lives and works of famous writers. Bradbury presents a well-organized biography of the writer as well as plot descriptions of his most famous books. Though written for the same series, Tolkien clearly goes a step beyond the typical series book, offering a more perceptive and more detailed, satisfying portrayal of its subject. Tolkien is a few pages longer than bradbury, and also makes better use of space. Although Bradbury includes many relevant images, several pages are devoted to large photos of famous people with tenuous connections to the writer and his work. Tolkien has fewer photos, but they better illustrate aspects the subject. Each volume includes a great deal of back matter: a time line, a list of selected works, a glossary, detailed chapter notes, and lists of recommended books and Internet sites. Bradbury features a short interview with the writer; Tolkien has a section called "In His Own Words," quoting three interviews with the writer. A series worth watching. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

dandelion, I evidently did know about two of these books, because I've had them listed on my "Books ABOUT Ray" page for at least two years! Admittedly, there is little detail there.

The first book, by John Bankston, isn't from a British publisher. It's from the New York-based Chelsea House imprint. The publisher's page for the book is here:

http://www.infobasepublishing....=1604137789&Ebooks=0

Given that we have a number of teachers and their students reading this forum, there MUST be someone out there who recognises these books.

The Wendy Mass one which I ordered rang a very faint bell when I saw the cover, so I may have come across it in some Amazon.com search of Ray. I'm quite sure I've never seen it up close as it would have made more of an impression. The other two, I would swear I'd never seen or heard of. Of course, the one is new this year. So we all have to update our lists and the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies needs to make sure it has them all.

Zee says if she can turn up copies at her dad's house she is curious to see how they read.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:

Given that we have a number of teachers and their students reading this forum, there MUST be someone out there who recognises these books.

Okay, these needed their own thread under Resources so I started one.

Buster made many excursions into whimsy, fantasy, and comedy, but on Saturday evening we saw him in a dramatic role in an unquestionably Science Fiction story which many here will agree, if they see it, can stand right up with "The Pedestrian" or a number of Ray's works with similar themes. It reminded me of Fahrenheit 451 in its depiction of a citizen devoted to perpetuating the institutions of a soulless society until he gets his wakeup call.

"The Awakening" (1954) is an excellent drama worthy of The Twilight Zone or other programs of the type and time. TZ fans will be reminded of Burgess Meredith in "The Obsolete Man." Buster is fantastic in his first dramatic role as a citizen in a totalitarian dystopia.

Buster's entire performance got to me, but the part where I really want to hug him is where he's sitting at the desk muttering, "Won't nobody help? Don't nobody care?" He had the perfect persona for this part, right down to the imperfect grammar.

It is based on a short story by Russian writer Gogol entitled "The Overcoat." We weren't sure how old but thought it must be 20th Century. I looked it up to see if it was written against the Tzars or the Communists. We were stunned to find it dated to 1842! It has certainly held up well and this adaptation had a very contemporary feel. This version may have been inspired as much by George Orwell's 1948 novel 1984 as the original source, which has been filmed many times, and continues to be so. Here is a link to the text of the full story so those who wish can note the effectiveness of the adaptation and judge how the material stood the test of time. The TV episode is available on You Tube. http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0857.pdf

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

It's turning into a blog, but too bloody bad. Some people turn poet on the message board, I blog.

Just before Thanksgiving experienced a bit of a dip in the record-breaking good mood, worrying about how it might survive a family get-together. Came through with flying colors, and guess what? Guys, I counted wrong. Just checked and discovered Buster Keaton a week earlier than I thought--on October 9--John Lennon's birthday!--meaning my good mood has lasted a week longer than I said.

I've been brought up all my life having it beaten into my head that I don't count and it doesn't matter what kind of mood I am in. My family's priority was that I be quiet--not happy. But it makes a heckuva difference to me! That's why I so carefully chart it, and keep track of it--for awhile there, because I wasn't producing the Great American Novel, I almost convinced myself I kinda deserved to be unhappy and am now heavily in process of trying to convince myself of the opposite.

The other thing I've been straining to convince myself of is that it's really all right not to start at age 20 and work till age 90 cranking out a shelf full of books--if you actually have something significant to say and produce a few books of high quality. Had a bit of cold water poured on that today. I may be doomed. Found this in a signature on a writing forum today. I don't doubt it's genuine.:

"Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed." Ray Bradbury

Well, there is only one Gone with the Wind. There is only one To Kill a Mockingbird[/i]. Also, Barbee Oliver Carleton, author of Mystery of the Witches' Bridge, at least my favorite kids' book, which ranks high among alltime favorites, wrote only a few other books and didn't publish that one till she was fifty! (Forty-four years ago! Which makes her 94 and still going strong!)

I do agree that practice makes perfect. I have also remarked about the similarities between Herman Melville and Buster Keaton--how both worked their way into prominence with a series of lighthearted works highly popular with the public. Then both produced what is now regarded as their masterpiece. In both cases this was accompanied by harsh criticism, huge professional, personal, and financial setbacks, and devastating demotions. Only long after the time these works were produced, were they recognized.

I also agree you need to produce as much as possible for you. If Buster Keaton had done only The General, and you happened not to like it--well, there you are. I like it and expect it will grow on me with repeated viewings, I just happened to like a lot of his other films better on first viewing. And, of course, it's important to recognize how much the experience of all the earlier work contributes to the later work. Also, sometimes branching out in efforts not well-received by your original core of fans brings you other fans who do appreciate both your earlier and later work. If I haven't remarked here on this happening to Robert Fuller and Bob Dylan, well I am now.

Frankly, Ray tends to make these sweeping statements and then proceed to contradict the hell out of himself. He once said something like, "You have to write right away, otherwise your idea turns to sludge," and that when he learned Katherine Anne Porter spent ten years on Ship of Fools he knew it was doomed to sink. Yet he also describes how an idea has to germinate for awhile with him, and how "The Next in Line" was one of the few things he wrote immediately following the experience, and he will laugh about how it "only" took him 55 years to write From the Dust Returned or Farewell Summer, and those turned out all right, didn't they?

Onward!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

I have no doubt that Ray says what worked for him, but your mileage may vary. (But Ray has never driven, so probably wouldn't appreciate such a motoring metaphor.)

Having studied some of his manuscripts, my guess is that Ray's need to write borders on the obsessive. Other people write when they have time, or inspiration, or a specific need.

And yes, he contradicts himself. But you know what Walt Whitman wrote, don't you?

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
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