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This chapter examines Kirk’s friendships with Robert Nisbet, Leo Strauss, Flannery O’Connor, Eric Voegelin, and Ray Bradbury. It also tells the disastrous story of Kirk’s creation and editing of a nonideological journal of thought and scholarship, Modern Age, only to be thwarted by bigotry and editorial disagreements with the publisher.

This chapter examines Ray Bradbury's creation of a kind of science fiction (SF) beyond the genre ghetto of the 1940s. The discussions cover his fascination with film; his early; his mentors; his attempts to write detective fiction and horror; his attitude toward technology; his exploration of time travel through dinosaur stories; his commentary on SF through a series of essays and interviews; and his repeated claim of a continuity between his childhood reading and adult writing. The chapter argues that Bradbury's surge of creativity in the late 1940s and 1950s coincided with the last years of the Golden Age of SF. In tandem with the publication of the fiction itself, more and more writers examined the nature of the genre. Broadly speaking, these writers all agreed that SF had emerged from its ghetto and taken up a socially central role as the literature of speculation.

This chapter discusses Ray Bradbury's writings on space. Throughout his career, Bradbury expressed his sense of writing in the Space Age, a time which he felt was characterized by the visual sublime, and from his earliest writings space was an important concern. For Bradbury, space was the big subject, constantly drawing him to explore its potential in his fiction, essays, films, and other projects. He not only saw flight into space as the ultimate physical and speculative act. He figured it as a willed realization of an evolutionary destiny somehow independent of physical form. As early as 1953, he was speculating “why build rockets at all?”; space retained a speculative and spiritual fascination for Bradbury throughout his career.

This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's continued relationship with his mentors, offering advice to them while affecting the tone and diction of his apprentice years. In early 1952 William F. Nolan published The Ray Bradbury Review, a booklet documenting Bradbury's creative output as projected through the end of the year. The next year Nolan privately printed a supplemental Bradbury Index and also offered a detailed account of Bradbury's major works-in-progress as well as his media work. This chapter first considers Bradbury's mentorship of emerging and young writers such as Nolan, Charles Beaumont, and George Clayton Johnson during the early 1950s, interacting with them and giving them encouragement. It then discusses Bradbury's conscious efforts to repay the blessings he had received from his old friends and mentors a decade earlier, including Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett, Hank Kuttner, and C. L. Moore.

This chapter discusses Ray Bradbury's writings on Mars, with a particular focus on The Martian Chronicles (1950). It covers his discovery of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction at the age of ten; his early Mars stories; his composition of The Martian Chronicles; his efforts to move away from clichéd images of extraterrestrials; his emphasis on a seepage between the consciousnesses of his Earthlings and Martians; how the Martians in his stories emerge as projections or distorted mirror images of the human settlers; his emphasis of the importance of dwellings in The Martian Chronicles; and his later Mars publications. The final section of the chapter discusses how the Martian story “Usher II” engages most directly with the enforcement of literary censorship.

This chapter analyzes Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and its dystopian contexts. The novel widely is recognized as a classic among postwar American dystopias. It belongs in that body of science fiction published just after the Second World War, which gradually took over the function of social criticism previously performed by realist fiction. The novel shares an overall pattern common to two of the most famous dystopias of the period: Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth's The Space Merchants and Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano (1952). All three novels focus on a protagonist working within an organization with which he becomes increasingly dissatisfied. Under the impact of a catalytic character or event, these dissatisfactions gradually come to a head and result in final separation from that organization.

This chapter discusses Ray Bradbury's new short stories and the new opportunities that became available to him as a writer during the war years. In the spring of 1945 Bradbury wrote his first quality novella-length story. Although he had written long stories for both the detective and the science fiction pulps, only “Chrysalis” had staying power in the genre. His next project, “Eight Day World,” sold to Planet Stories in June 1945, and reached print a year later in the Fall 1946 issue, as “The Creatures That Time Forgot.” This chapter considers Bradbury's venture into radio and film, including an original play for the CBS show Dr. Christian and the writing assignment for the Hollywood movie Catman of Paris. It also looks at Bradbury's relationship with August Derleth, who became his de facto advisor through the middle 1940s, and his decision to take a trip to Mexico with Grant Beach.

This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's phenomenal year as a writer during the summer and fall of 1950. A chance meeting with Christopher Isherwood at a Los Angeles bookstore in early July 1950 provided the critical breakthrough that Bradbury needed to bring The Martian Chronicles more fully into mainstream literary appreciation. The timing of Bradbury's review copy gift could not have been better; Isherwood had just agreed to write extended book reviews for Tomorrow, a new literary magazine. Isherwood's review of the Chronicles appeared in the October 1950 issue of Tomorrow. This chapter first considers the impact of Isherwood's friendship on Bradbury's career before turning to Bradbury's new “Illustrated Man” concept for Doubleday and his creation of a 100-page typescript titled Long after Midnight. It also discusses Bradbury's deal with Bantam for an anthology of new fantasy and science fiction stories.

This chapter examines the collaboration between artist Joseph Mugnaini and Ray Bradbury for the latter's collection of short stories called The Golden Apples of the Sun. Mugnaini was a prolific book illustrator who emphasized fine arts over commercial art. He developed talent in a wide range of media, including oil and watercolor painting. This chapter considers how Mugnaini's art forged a connection between the two men that began in April 1952, when Bradbury saw a Mugnaini painting titled “The Caravan” in a Beverly Hills gallery. Bradbury regarded “The Caravan” as a grand metaphor for the long-deferred novel concept that had emerged from his story “The Black Ferris” under the working title of The Dark Carnival. In August 1952 Bradbury sent Doubleday typescripts or tear sheets for twenty-four stories which, after several revisions, became The Golden Apples of the Sun. This chapter discusses how Bradbury was able to link the Golden Applestories together visually through Mugnaini's cover art and interior illustrations.

This chapter examines the new and largely unexpected opportunities that were beginning to open for Ray Bradbury in Hollywood during the 1950s. During the summer and fall of 1952, Bradbury was able to establish his first writing credits in the motion picture industry. The proximity of the studios and the proliferation of affiliated and independent theaters in greater Los Angeles created many opportunities for him. Bradbury was already beginning to forge some lasting connections in Hollywood, thanks in large part to his friendship with cinematographer James Wong Howe and his wife, Sanora Babb. Howe introduced Bradbury to some of the legendary directors he had worked with, including Fritz Lang. This chapter considers some of Bradbury's notable Hollywood projects, including the screen treatments for Universal Studios's It Came From Outer Space, which he complemented with a variation of the story “A Matter of Taste,” and an offer to write a film titled Face of the Deep for Twentieth-Century Fox.

This chapter examines the changes, revisions, delays, compromises, and other issues, not to mention Ray Bradbury's own concerns, that Fahrenheit 451 had to go through before it could be finally released. As early as January 18, 1953, Bradbury already had a working title—Fahrenheit 270—for a book that would allude to the temperature at which book paper burns. He began to work with Joe Mugnaini on cover illustrations. For his part, Don Congdon was able to convince Doubleday not to interfere with Ballantine's Fahrenheit collection while also handling media negotiations for a Bradbury Showcase concept that was still at play with CBS Television. This chapter provides the background for Fahrenheit 451 and looks at some of the people who worked behind the scenes, including Mugnaini, Congdon, and Stanley Kauffmann.

This chapter examines some of the transitions in Ray Bradbury's life and career by focusing on the role played by Don Congdon, editorial at Simon & Schuster. It begins with a consideration of Bradbury's deteriorating relationship with Grant Beach, followed by a discussion of challenges on the professional front, including the poor sales of his pulp market stories. It then turns to developments that boded well for Bradbury for the long term, such as the increasing interest being shown by anthologists and New York publishing houses towards his work and the opportunities resulting from his four major market magazine sales in the summer of 1945. It also looks at Bradbury's relationship with Congdon and how he helped him secure major sales for some of his best new fiction such as “Homecoming,” which sold to Mademoiselle. Under Congdon's guidance, Bradbury also saw increased demand for reprints of his short stories such as “Skeleton,” “The Watchers,” and “Invisible Boy.”

This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's trip to New York in 1946 where he met with various magazine editors and book publishers with the help of Don Congdon. Throughout 1946, Bradbury had to navigate the increasingly complicated process of bringing Dark Carnival to publication. August Derleth had originally expected to list Bradbury's first book as an Arkham House release for the summer or fall of 1946, but Bradbury's continuing revisions pushed the actual publication date to May 1947. This chapter discusses Bradbury's time in New York and the magazine editors and book publishers he met there, including Innes MacCammond, John Shaffner of Good Housekeeping, Charles Addams and Sam Cobean, Frederic Danay, and Paul Payne of Fiction House. It also describes Bradbury's first face-to-face meeting with Jack Snow, a promotional writer at NBC radio.

This chapter focuses on several works from the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1950s in which bicycles prominently appear. After first examining cars and walking in some works by Ray Bradbury, the discussion turns to a novel by Robert A. Heinlein, a novelette by Poul Anderson, and a short story by Avram Davidson. This chapter argues that these three texts favor portrayals of ‘low-tech’ bicycles as pragmatic, reliable machines worthy of continued use and appreciation, and of bicycles as potent pieces of technology capable of inspiring awe.

This chapter examines Ray Bradbury's professional and personal milestones that followed the crisis of 1949 involving The Illustrated Man. The insights that emerged from Bradbury's April 1949 exchange of letters with Don Congdon renewed the writer's confidence in his submissions. Since then, he worked with Congdon ever more closely to have his Green Town stories, science fiction tales, and fantasies get through the offices of the mainstream magazine editors. By June 1949, Congdon had at least eighteen active story files. This chapter discusses memorable moments in Bradbury's life and career in 1949, including his interaction with UCLA's writing group; his lectures on writing; and his meeting with Theodore Sturgeon and Walter Bradbury. It also considers Bradbury's readings during the period and concludes by noting the transformation of his concept of a Martian story collection into a unified work more in line with Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio.

This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's anxiety about long fiction amid critical praise in 1951. By the time Bradbury's Miracle Year had run its course, he had successfully built a new story collection around the Illustrated Man framing device. And with the February 1951 release of his second Doubleday book, Bradbury was beginning to solidify his reputation as a major market book author. This chapter starts with a discussion of the critical acceptance for Bradbury's The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles, focusing on their favorable reviews, their publication in major American and British trade houses, and the mass-market paperback contracts Bradbury received for both of them. It then examines Bradbury's private worry about whether he would be able to build book-length success, similar to what he achieved with the Chronicles, out of an expansion of “The Fireman” novella. Finally, it looks at Don Congdon's advice for Bradbury to pursue the conventional realism of the Mexican stories and develop them into a 60,000-word novel.

This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's decision to write controversial fictions at a time when his career was blossoming even further. Bradbury's 1951 trip to New York almost immediately began to reap dividends. He reached a contract with Doubleday for The Illinois Chronicles, and his first major-market interview, conducted during the last days of his New York trip by columnist Harvey Breit, was featured in the August 5, 1951, issue of the New York Times Book Review. Bradbury was also now trying to publish short stories with politically charged themes such as freedom of speech, freedom from fear, and the Civil Rights movement. This chapter examines the sources of Bradbury's stories that touched on controversial topics, including his racial experiences, and how he developed a very particular historical view in fashioning stories of race and racism for science fiction. It also considers some of the challenges encountered by Bradbury as he tried to have such stories published, two examples of which were “Way in the Middle of the Air” and “The Other Foot.”

This chapter focuses on graphic and television adaptations of some of Ray Bradbury's science fiction stories in the 1950s. Bookstores continued to provide a favorite recreation for Bradbury. He and his wife Maggie were beginning to buy more books for their home library. His newer reading discoveries now included the works of Sean O'Casey, Luigi Pirandello, and Marcel Aymé. This expansion of Bradbury's reading favorites coincided with the opportunity to extend his rather limited interaction with the world of television and film. Perhaps the most significant event of 1951 for Bradbury was a dinner with John Huston. This chapter examines graphic adaptations of Bradbury stories, including comic strips that were possible “lifts,” as well as television adaptations such as the broadcast of “Zero Hour” on NBC's Lights Out and Sidney Lumet's direction of “The Rocket” for CBS Television Workshop. It also discusses the problem of rights over many Bradbury pulp stories sold during the early and mid-1940s that complicated negotiations for other deals.