The Illustrated Ray Bradbury: A Structuralist Reading of Bradbury's the Illustrated Man

Ray Bradbury was one of the first science fiction writers to achieve both popular success and critical acclaim. His books have not only sold millions of copies, but have been accepted as serious literature in an age when science fiction is still burdened by the stigma of being "pulp literature." This book, a revised and expanded Second Edition of the 1990 chapbook, examines the Ray Bradbury phenomenon through a structuralist reading of five stories from his major collection, The Illustrated Man, together with the narrative framework (the prologue and epilogue), which ties the stories together to form a complete work. The analysis will show some of Bradbury's major literary themes, and highlight the narrative techniques used in his short stories. A first-rate examination of one of science fiction's seminal authors.