5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bradbury-lovers rejoice, August 31, 2002
Amazingly, at the age of eighty-two, Ray Bradbury still writes with the passion and gusto of a young boy dreaming awake. He's somehow managed to weather a lifetime's worth of storms while keeping the flame of wonder glowing brightly in his chest. For years, I've been an admirer of Bradbury's lucid, image-pregnant prose, and this new collection--hopefully, in spite of its title, not his last--is the latest reason why.
Those who are returning to Bradbury Country will likely recognize some familiar concerns in this latest batch of stories. Magic and illusion abound, of course, and there are plenty of characters grown wistful for the past. Laurel and Hardy show up for the party, as do Hemingway, Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. There's plenty of time travel, a few dark rooms filled with flickering images, a handful of wild robotic inventions, pairs of heart-sick lovers, and another trip down to Mexico.
But there are some new twists here as well. Bradbury, with his inimitable style and sensibility, takes on some of the gray areas that inhabit our present imperfect. The guilty male moral quagmires of phone sex and Internet porn provide fuel for one of the stories. There is also a pervading sadness and loneliness to these tales that feels uniquely modern. There are plenty of unhappy couples, unfulfilled dreams, and broken connections. This often-gray environment makes all the more poignant the bursts of golden joy and wonder.
Bradbury has always held in one hand the ghostly and in the other the exuberant and when he rubs his hands together and gets down to business, the resultant explosion is felt to the metaphoric corners of Far Rockaway.
Bradbury-lovers rejoice: this is fine vintage. So drink up, and drink deep.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent anthology, March 30, 2002
Ray Bradbury is one of the great writers of the last century and apparently based on this work this century too. ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD consists of twenty-five short stories and an afterward from Mr. Bradbury. The tales run the gamut of human emotion but metaphorically from an eerie looking glass. Most of Mr. Bradbury's contributions are brand new with only seven having seen previous light (or is that dark?). As expected from this grandmaster, each tale is taut, intelligent, and insightful as Mr. Bradbury still surgically renders opens the human condition for readers to explore.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE ZEN MASTER OF ALL FANTASY WRITERS STRIKES!, January 13, 2003
Ray Bradbury has enjoyed a long lifetime (83 years and counting) of telling great and unexpected stories. The tales in this latest collection are as fresh as a smooth sip of dandelion wine, zipping you away to the far reaches of your very human imagination, making you leap upward and remain strangely grounded at the same time. Taste this book. You'll become addicted to an author who has out-mastered them all.
--Jim Reed, author, DAD'S TWEED COAT: SMALL WISDOMS HIDDEN COMFORTS UNEXPECTED JOYS. Learn more about Jim and Ray Bradbury: jimreedbooks.com
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
