Reporter James Cardiff is drawn to a town that wasn't on the map. There was a story to be told. Summerton was paradise...or pretty close to it. Delicious food and wine. Sweet air to breathe. Lush green beautiful lawns. And, good company. But something didn't sit right with Cardiff. There were no children to be seen. No baseball bats, no basketball hoops, and an abandoned school. There were no doctors and a most unusual cemetery, as well. And then there was Nef. Both beautiful and alluring, Neff knew things about Cardiff she simply couldn't. Yes, in Summerton there was the smell of mystery, some hidden secret in the air. But, if Cardiff sniffed out the story and, worse, wrote it for all to read would the consequences be worth the telling of a good tale? Edited by Donn Albright, the Gauntlet edition of SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING will contain segments Bradbury wrote which he never finished, the beginnings of a script he never finished, plus the completed manuscript. Also, William F. Nolan adds an insightful introduction. The book is SIGNED by Ray Bradbury and is limited to 500 copies.
Book Description
SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING is a new novelLA by Ray Bradbury which he has been toying with for 50 years, and is possibly Bradbury's best piece of long fiction since Fahrenheit 451 and Something This Way Comes.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Set in paradisiacal Summerton, Ariz., a small town not on any map where endless sunflowers blossom in front yards and every meal is like the "feasting of summer gods," this Bradbury novella tackles some weighty themes, namely the struggle to fully appreciate the human experience, grow old gracefully and embrace mortality. Chicago newspaper writer James Cardiff, guided by a poetic dream, travels to the middle of the Arizona desert. There he finds a town where everyone is idyllically happy. But as Cardiff delves deeper, he realizes that Summerton has no children, no doctors, no funeral parlors-and a cemetery full of empty graves. After meeting and falling in love with a mysterious woman named Nefertiti, Cardiff is forced to choose between transience and the opportunity to dance forever "in June and June and more June." Evocative and lyrically bittersweet, this novella, which Bradbury began crafting in the 1950s, will undoubtedly be compared to Dandelion Wine, one of his most personal works. Early drafts, story fragments and an unfinished screenplay, as well as cover art by the author himself, make this limited edition a treasure for Bradbury fans.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
If I told you that you could obtain a copy of a brand new novella written by Ray Bradbury, would your jaw drop in disbelief? Believe me, when I received a review copy of SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING, I had to blink and rub my eyes several times. New original fiction from Ray Bradbury? YES! Turns out that Mr. Bradbury began working on this novella back in the 50s and has been tinkering and retooling for decades. And here it is, a gorgeously written and evocative tale that recalls his finest stories describing a sweet summertime America that few of us now remember, but for which all of us yearn. Such is the place called Summerton, where dandelion fluff sails on the warm June breezes and meadows of brilliant yellow sunflowers turn their bright faces toward the Arizona sun. Summerton is not on any map, but a reporter named James Cardiff is convinced he can find it because strange poetry about the place comes to him when he closes his eyes. Cardiff travels by train in search of a story about Summerton, and has to leap from the train as it slows, but doesn't stop, at an old station. Summerton lies hidden in the rural countryside, and it is a place of peace, perfection and beauty beyond dreams. The air is filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread, the streets are spotless, the townsfolk are smiling and friendly. Cardiff takes up residence in a huge Victorian boarding house called The Egyptian View Arms where he is greeted by the alluring proprietress, a young woman named Nefertiti. As Cardiff settles into the community, he starts to notice that things are slightly askew. There are no children at play in the well-tended yards. No doctors. No one seems to age. The reporter in Cardiff begins to suspect that the residents of Summerton are hiding something, and his instincts lead him to the town cemetery. Secrets lie hidden like ancient bones, secrets as silent as the nodding sunflower meadows, secrets that beautiful Nef can reveal to him. But the town of Summerton is due to be razed to make way for an interstate highway. Will Summerton's secrets be lost forever, or will Cardiff reveal what he finds to the world in the story he plans to write? SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING is Ray Bradbury working at the top of his powers in the dreamlike prose that made him famous. In true Gauntlet Press fashion, the lucky owner of this beautiful signed/limited volume receives many extras: a number of fragments of the story in progress, facsimile drawings and writings, early pages of the novella, and a wonderfully realized teleplay of the story. William F. Nolan of LOGAN'S RUN fame provides a particularly insightful and heartfelt introduction to this breathtaking new Bradbury work. SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING has been printed and will begin shipping soon, so click on the cover and purchase this signed, limited and exceptionally collectible piece of history before it is gone forever. -- J. L. Comeau, The Tomb of Dark Delights, 2007
Ray Bradbury has done something rare among writers: He worked on the same manuscript - on and off - for more than 50 years. It was worth the wait.
Ray Bradbury has done something rare among writers: He worked on the same manuscript - on and off - for more than 50 years. It was worth the wait.
SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING is an evocative, luminous story of reporter James Cardiff's discovery of a place called Summerton and one of its most beautiful residents, the elegant and lovely Nefertiti. Never mind that the town is not listed on any map, nor that the place didn't have any children. Cardiff suspects even stranger truths and senses that Neff can, if she chooses, reveal them to him. The story is riveting and the writing some of Bradbury's best. Accompanying the short novel are fragments of the book that he never finished and the start of script scrapped later, giving us a fascinating look at the process of creating fiction. William F. Nolan contributes a knowing and helpful introduction.
This is among Bradbury's best work. Gauntlet Press should be congratulated for bringing it out. And Brabdury should be thanked for writing it. -- Ed Gorman, Bookgasm, 2007
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4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhere a Band is Playing,
By Fred E. Killinger Jr. "FEK" (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Somewhere a Band Is Playing: Early Drafts and Final Novella (Hardcover)
Somewhere a Band is Playing
By Ray Bradbury Somewhere a band is playing Oh listen, oh listen, that tune! If you learn it you'll dance on forever In June... And yet June... And more...June... And Death will be dumb and not clever And Death will lie silent forever In June and June and more June. So begins this story, as James Cardiff shuts his eyes and sees these and other verses behind the lids that make him begin his journey to a place where graveyards sit empty and schools are silent; to Summerton, Arizona, a town where no one ever grows old. In Summerton, an eclectic group of outsiders have set themselves on a mission to save one of the greatest treasures of mankind. Here before you, reader, is a novella that was 50 years in the making. It began as an idea for Ray Bradbury in the 1950's, took many twists and turns, was made into a teleplay that was never produced, went through numerous revisions, name and location changes, and finally was put aside and never picked up again until the late 1990's. Ray Bradbury is a writing legend. That word, legend, sure is tossed around a lot, isn't it? Tony Hawke is a skateboard legend; Bode Miller is a skiiing legend, etc... A true legend is someone like Mr. Bradbury, who has been working at his craft for over 70 years, producing some of the finest work ever seen by any writer, ever. That is what makes a legend: a very long and prestigious body of work, accomplishment and perseverance. Five years does not a legend make, wouldn't you agree? Mr. Bradbury was a seminal influence on my reading choices when I was growing up. Who can ever forget "The Illustrated Man", "R is for Rocket", "S is for Space", "The Golden Apples of the Sun", "I Sing the Body Electric" and such novels as "Something Wicked This Way Comes"? Stories and tales that shocked, stunned, stymied, and stuttered us. Who was this man and where did his ideas come from? How did he write dialogue so true, so vivid and real? Here in your hand right now you hold "Somewhere a Band is Playing", where as in his youth Mr. Bradbury has written verse and prose that are so perfect, so right, that you are there; you can feel the warm sun on your face, you can smell the fresh cut grass, and you can feel the sweet summer breeze in the air. This is the thing that made Ray different from all other writers of his generation; his ability to not write you a story, but put you into that story in such a way that it gives you a feeling of giddiness to just read it and be a part of it. He didn't just write us a story to read. He mesmerized us, enchanted us and gave us back the youth we thought we'd left behind long ago. It is not just a story from Ray Bradbury, but a gift. Don't read this all in one sitting, but savor it one or two chapters at a time, making it last. Pick up this tale, read it and give it to others to read. Then, put it up on your shelves and on a cold winter's night, take it down and warm yourself all over again within its pages. Take this gift and be grateful we all have it. This novella from Gauntlet Press is not just a wonderful story, but also contains all of the fragments that built up over the years from Ray Bradbury, finally culminating in this final novella. If not for the persistence and patience of Editor Donn Albright, most of these documents would never have made it into the pages of any finished work. He tirelessly gathered up all the old manuscripts, bits and pieces of the story with different character names and places, and put them all together into this ultimate collection that readers can cherish. See how this story evolved and changed over a 50 year period into not only the magical story it is today, but also the piece of reading history it now is. Run, I say run, don't walk, to the nearest place where you can pick up this masterwork from a master writer and buy it now. William F. Nolan, another master of writing such novels as "Logan's Run" gives an insightful and moving introduction to this wonderful novella as well. I give this all the stars in the sky out of 5 stars, and highly and happily recommend it to any reader to buy and keep forever. Fred E. Killinger Jr. September 5, 2007
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