For those in the Chicagoland area, there are a very limited number of copies of the BRADBURY CHRONICLES signed by Ray and me available at THE BOOKCELLAR. This is an absoltely charming bookshop located at 4736-38 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. The phone number is 773.293.BOOK

The is is the only outlet outside of SoCal that is carrying editions signed by Ray Bradbury.

I'm off to Dallas for a signing and, to at long last, meet Mr. Dark!

Not to hijack the thread on Sam's excellent book, but since it's been brought up, a few more thoughts on the murders of the 8-and 9-year-old girls in a ravine in Zion, Illinois, as relates to "Dandelion Wine":

--Ever notice that how with the "Lonely One" out of the way, Douglas and Tom think nothing of running all over town at late hours, and their mother, who so objected to Douglas cutting through the ravine earlier, finds it perfectly fine for him to sleep out on the lawn? For certainly the Lonely One must be the only bad guy around in Illinois in summer, 1928!

--The ravine as "a place no one should go." Well, some things don't change. When I visited the ravine, I found exactly what Ray Bradbury described, no more, no less. He didn't exaggerate or dramatize for effect. The ravine would go on in its own way with or without his writing. Bradbury just happened to have the uncanny ability and the superb talent to perfectly describe the ravine and all its counterpart locations. Yet, people still go there. Ray wrote a poem, which appeared in "When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed," on finding the ravine empty on a nice day and ascribing its quietness to fat, lazy kids lounging around watching TV instead of getting outside. And yet I saw kids on bikes when I visited. (BRAVE or foolish kids, if you ask me!) And Krystal's and Laura's last activity was riding bikes in a ravine.

--Ever notice how the Leopold and Loeb case, which took place in Illinois only a few years before "Dandelion Wine," involving a boy only a few years older than Doug, was a national shocker? Now it's a national shocker if a kid or two isn't torture-murdered every week! What's wrong with our society? I'm not advocating we become what Ray warned against in "Pillar of Fire," but we seem to have managed to become the exact opposite!

--Funerals were just held for Krystal Tobias and Laura Hobbs. Krystal is described as having "loved to pick dandelions with friends." http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=55075&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Remind us of anyone we know?

I just feel the world has lost two very precious flowers and measures ought to be taken to prevent any more such terrible tragedies!

Here's a photo (clickon photo attachment) of The Ravine, a couple blocks from Ray's old home in Green Town. This was taken less than a month ago from this posting date.

P1010087_0074.jpg (146 Kb, 16 downloads)

May 28th, SATURDAY in Glendale, California

If anyone gets this message in time, and are around Glendale California, Ray and Sam are signing at the MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION BOOKSTORE, starting somewhere around noon!!
238 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA

phone: 818 545 0206

I just returned from the book signing in Glendale and saw Sam and Ray. Sam was very gracious and I was glad that I made the long drive up there from Laguna Hills. I have read the bio and it was a very well written book. I learned a few things that even I, who have followed this man for over 45 years, did not know. I highly recommend it to all Bradbury fans, and especially to those who are new fans, as you will learn what Ray has been through to achieve the well deserved success he that he is recognized as having achieved.

Any indication by sales figures that there may soon be a second edition? Also, what is to become of all the additional material I hear Weller had on hand, having been limited by the publisher to 400 pages?

"Drunk on life" describes this good review of The Bradbury Chronicles:

http://www.detnews.com/2005/books/0506/08/ent-209081.htm

What an excellent review! Thank you for sharing it with the rest of us!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ms. Light,

NOTICE: ''The Printers Row Book Fair''
...in Chicago, for those who are near and about. Hundreds of vendors. And Sam Weller himself speaking at the event, at noon, on Sunday, June 12th... at the University Center/ River Room.

Don't Forget:::

For Schedule of Events/Locations:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/extras/printersrow/program.htm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nard Kordell,

Nard--If you're going, I'll see you there!!

I'm not sure if this was posted previously, but a bit of vinegar to go with all of the honey.
http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/b/bradbury-chronicles.shtml

The Author:
http://www.rebeccaonion.com/
and credentials
http://www.rebeccaonion.com/bio.html

Curious hatchet job.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

Actually, I expected more negative reviews (especially by young know-it-all upstarts); as the current trend in biographies is to expose as much of the Dark Side (as it were) of the subject as possible...

I think Rebecca Onion just doesn't get it. Sam's idea to open each chapter with a quotation from someone who has been impacted by Ray was a great idea. By reading these quotes, I began to see just how many different people had been positively influenced by Ray, and in how many different walks of life. That was one of my favorite parts of the book, and to me, makes more sense than using quotations from his books. We were reading this biography to learn more about the man and his role in literature and in history, but Ms Onion just doesn't grasp that concept. Also, she hasn't done her research. She said some of the people Sam chose to quote seemed "random," and she used Frank Black of the Pixies as an example. As discussed recently in another post, Frank Black loves Ray so much he has made both a song and an entire CD called "The Cult of Ray." Nothing random there! On a more positive note, I had the privilege of meeting Sam Weller yesterday at the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago. He was allowed to speak for only a short time, but he packed lots of interesting information about his experiences with Ray into that short time. I also got to meet Nard, who took our photo, and may be posting it later. (Yikes!) It was great meeting these guys I've been "chatting" with for awhile, and I loved every minute of Sam's talk. He is just as wonderful at public speaking as he is at writing. I could have listened to his stories about Ray for hours! Thanks for a great time, Sam!!

Though I am only about half way through Sam's book, due to this darned day job (neck deep in essays, grades, and student plea bargainings), I have already found what the mood of the book is - for me!

The background I have from reading Mr. Bradbury's works over the years, as well as from teaching and researching and listening to all the first-hand anecdotals this site has so amazingly produced from day one to the present, I have a reasonable knowledge of the subject.

As I am reading Sam Weller's biography, I imagine myself being led into the actual interviews that had to take place in writing the chapters or in offering a specific, and previously unshared, insight into RB's life and work. The fact that Sam sat across from RB to get these facts makes the book that much more relevant to my own RB experience. This was not merely a research of papers, review of lit. criticisms, or a retrieval of texts from dusty archives and second-hand hearsay.

I find myself anticipating descriptions and additional details on countless topics for which I previously had only a superficial view. And these often gained from reading all the usual stories retold about RB over the years.

This is THE personal account rendered from months of eye to eye and heart to heart contact, not some 2 hour summary by a freelance critic. Agreed, anyone with a good understanding of RB could easily find areas that he or she wanted more of: ie, more extensive pictorals, exchanges with so many famous characters throughout his career (again, I'm only 1/2 way through). Our desire for more is due to our jealousy that we could not sit alongside and hear the discourses between Mr. B and Mr. W!

But to discount the entire book, as Ms. Onion does in the article? Rather than highlighting this effort that was long overdue and in need of being done by someone special, like SW, the article seems to stray. For most who appreciate the author's life and works - both in waking and dreaming states, the bio is appropriately focused on the man.

Her desire to be let in on the secret of why Sam didn't divulge more about Mr. B's "leftist ways" and subsequent swing to the right, his difficulties at home and in marriage, SW "isn't to be trusted" and under RB's spell (RE: poem entry), and the questionable quality of the pre-chapter quotes....

The difference between the composition done by the author of the RB Bio and the writer of the RB Bio criticism...? One of them arrived at the keyboard without an agenda in mind!

(Great to hear L, NK, and SW all in the same room! This site has truly come to life!)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

I've a different take on Rebecca Onion (if that be her real last name...since her writing stings the eyes a bit, and bring tears of pain) ...in that I would welcome the event where she would interview Ray himself at length. I'd like to read what she has to say, in her own way. So she doesn't happen to like the way Sam Weller put things together in many instances. Okay! I'm open to hear Ms. Onion.... because she seems to have this thing behind all her comments that does not just end at the edge of her complaints. I'm confident she knows pretty much what she wants to say and do beyond all that.

Important is she also appears to be fascinated with Ray and his stories. But is Rebecca Onion's passion here ...enough to show us her rhetoric is truly a genuine one?