The Illustrated Man

The stories contained in The Illustrated Man are "Prologue: The Illustrated Man," "The Veldt," "Kaleidoscope," "The Other Foot," "The Highway," "The Man," "The Long Rain," "The Rocket Man," "The Last Night of the World," "The Exiles," "No Particular Night or Morning," "The Fox and the Forest," "The Visitor," "The Concrete Mixer," "Marionettes, Inc. Here are eighteen startling visions as keen as the tattooist's needle and as colorful as the inks that indelibly stain the body. Ray Bradbury brings wonders alive. The images, ideas, sounds, and scents that abound in this phantasmagoric sideshow are provocative and powerful: the mournful cries of celestial travelers cast out cruelly into a vast, empty space of stars and blackness; the sight of grey dust settling over a forgotten outpost on a road that leads nowhere; the pungent odor of Jupiter on a returning father's clothing. A peerless American storyteller, his oeuvre has been celebrated for decades-from the Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 to Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Here living cities take their vengeance, technology awakens the most primal natural instincts, Martian invasions are foiled by the good life and the glad hand, and dreams

In an ingenious framework to open and close the book, Bradbury presents himself as a nameless narrator who meets the Illustrated Man--a wanderer whose entire body is a living canvas of exotic tattoos. Or "Kaleidoscope," a heartbreaking portrait of stranded astronauts about to reenter our atmosphere--without the benefit of a spaceship. Only his second collection (the first was Dark Carnival, later reworked into The October Country), it is a marvelous, if mostly dark, quilt of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. That The Illustrated Man has remained in print since being published in 1951 is fair testimony to the universal appeal of Ray Bradbury's work. What's even more remarkable, and increasingly disturbing, is that the illustrations are themselves magically alive, and each proceeds to unfold its own st

Intriguing compilation Marissa This book was an easy read that left me contemplating at the end of each story. This is compilation of short stories involving the future and all tied together by being written in moving picture form across the flesh of the Illustrated Man. Each story is unique and teaches a lesson about the human spirit - some of these lessons are a brutal reflection of the negative and other stories show that hope can prevail. There were very few happy endings in the stories, but the sad stories still had a great lesson to teach about what lies inside a person. It really was quite intriguing.These stories were written in the late 194. Did Not Disappoint! First, the cover was much different than the picture listed. But it proved to be a great thing, the cover I received was really bright and it showed the tattoos on the back of a turned away man. Perfectly fitting for the book. As far as the content, let me tell you this : I read the first few pages and told my husband how great it was. He then took it, began reading and I did not get it back until he was finished with it. It is great. Full of interesting stories that leave you still thinking about them. Wonderfully written. Expected nothing less than perfection coming from Ray Bradbury. . "Bradbury at his brilliant, sad, thought-provoking, poetic best!" according to Beth J. Hughes. One of my favorite authors, Bradbury is like none other. I read this book of short stories in my teens, and find it now, in my middle age years, to be much richer and more poetic than I did then. A must read for any sci-fi fan. Though the references to the 1990's and obvious (though unintended, I'm sure) sexism may cause a cringe or two for some, I suggest reading with an open and discerning mind. These stories are more cautionary tales than prophecy.