Description

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In Ray Bradbury Unbound, Jonathan R. Eller continues the story begun in his acclaimed Becoming Ray Bradbury, following the beloved author's evolution from a short story master to a multi-media creative force and outspoken visionary.

At the height of his powers as a poetic prose stylist, Bradbury shifted his creative attention to film and television, where new successes gave him an enduring platform as a compelling cultural commentator. His passionate advocacy validated the U.S. space program's mission, extending his pivotal role as a chronicler of human values in an age of technological wonders.

Informed by many years of interviews with Bradbury as well as an unprecedented access to personal papers and private collections, Ray Bradbury Unbound provides the definitive portrait of how a legendary American author helped shape his times.

About the Author

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Jonathan R. Eller is a Chancellor's Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, the senior textual editor of the Institute for American Thought, and director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at IUPUI. Ray Bradbury Unbound and its predecessor Becoming Ray Bradbury were each finalists for the Locus Award in the Nonfiction category.

Praise For…

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Finalist for the Locus Award, Nonfiction category, 2015.

"A detailed and sensitive account of Bradbury’s perception of his own relationship to his times and to the literary landscape in which he wrote." --Orbit

"Eller captures the joy of creations that new forms allowed Bradbury, such as the intensely visual interpretation of Moby Dick that he wrote for director John Huston. . . . Fans who know Bradbury only for his fiction are likely to enjoy this diverse look at his work and creative process."--Publishers Weekly

"Intimate, conscientious, and triumphant, a truly profound examination of Bradbury's accomplishments and legacy. Highly recommended for all sf lovers and those with an appreciation for non-fiction and literature."--Library Journal

"Engaging. . . . Eller's second volume of Bradbury's biography is ultimately a melancholy and cautionary tale."--Washington Post

"A fine biography of a fascinating man."--The Times Literary Supplement

"Eller shows how Bradbury's work in the cinema (and his greatest success there) endowed him with a public gravitas that empowered him as a noteworthy speaker on issues pertinent to the Space Age. How the author of the once fantastic seeming Martian Chronicles could by the early 1970s speak realistically about a very likely journey to Mars in the not entirely distant future speaks, of course, for the acceleration of progress in recent times but also of this important writer's vision."--American Literary Scholarship

"An intimate look at the working life of one of the most important twentieth-century writers. . . . The depth of insight supplied by Eller's archival research imbues this text with a fresh inquisitive style that informs and inspires. . . . A valuable addition to the library of any Bradbury fan." --Science Fiction Studies

"Few contemporary authors have been written about as extensively as Ray Bradbury, but no one has surpassed Jonathan Eller. In his previous study, Becoming Ray Bradbury, he captured the odd nature of Bradbury's imagination perfectly in the context of his life and age--keeping a myriad of influences and ambitions in perspective. With the publication of Ray Bradbury Unbound, Eller not only confirms his position as the great comprehensive Bradbury scholar. He has also written what may be the best single account of a major science fiction author's rise to fame and achievement." --Dana Gioia, author of Pity the Beautiful and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

"A thorough documentation of Bradbury’s career. . . . This warm, informative biography depicts him as a thoughtful and disciplined writer who helped make science fiction a respected literary genre."--Kirkus "

Ray Bradbury Unbound does not just chronicle a life and a list of publications. It also carefully teases out pertinent artistic, social, and intellectual connections, analyzing them in ways that sometimes Bradbury himself could not."--Extrapolation