Beginning with his childhood in Waukegan, Illinois, and Los Angeles, this biography follows Bradbury's development from avid reader to maturing author, making a living writing for the genre pulps and mainstream magazines. Eller illuminates the sources of Bradbury's growing interest in the human mind, the human condition, and the ambiguities of life and death—themes that became increasingly apparent in his early fiction. Bradbury's correspondence documents his frustrating encounters with the major trade publishing houses and his earliest unpublished reflections on the nature of authorship. Eller traces the sources of Bradbury's very conscious decisions, following the sudden success of The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man, to voice controversial political statements in his fiction. Eller also elucidates the complex creative motivations that yielded Fahrenheit 451.
Becoming Ray Bradbury reveals Bradbury's emotional world as it matured through his explorations of cinema and art, his interactions with agents and editors, his reading discoveries, and the invaluable reading suggestions of older writers. These largely unexplored elements of his life pave the way to a deeper understanding of his more public achievements, providing a biography of the mind, the story of Bradbury's self-education and the emerging sense of authorship at the heart of his boundless creativity.
| Cover Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I 1. From the Nursery to the Library 2. L.A. High and the Science Fiction League 3. Hannes Bok and the Lorelei 4. NYCon 1939 5. Futuria Fantasia 6. From the Fanzines to the Prozines 7. Early Disappointments: The Science Fiction Pulps Part II 8. Living in Two Worlds 9. Reading about Writing 10. Early Mentors: Hamilton, Williamson, and Brackett 11. "Chrysalis": Bradbury and Henry Kuttner 12. A New World of Reading 13. An Emerging Sense of Critical Judgment 14. On the Shoulders of Giants 15. The Road to Autumn's House Illustrations follow pages 96 and 210 Part III 16. Exploring the Human Mind 17. Exploring the Human Condition 18. With the Blessings of His Mentors 19. New Stories and New Opportunities 20. Life and Death in Mexico 21. Transitions: Bradbury and Don Congdon 22. The Power of Love 23. From Arkham to New York 24. Obsessed with Perfection 25. Dark Carnival Part IV 26. Lifetime Partnerships 27. The Illinois Novel 28. Bradbury and Modernity 29. Modernist Alternatives 30. Finding His Own Way 31. The Anthology Game 32. Paradise Postponed 33. Broadening Horizons 34. The Miracle Year: Winter and Spring Illustrations follow pages 96 and 210 35. The Miracle Year: Summer and Fall Part V 36. Critical Praise, Private Worries 37. New York, 1951 38. Controversial Fictions 39. New Worlds: Graphic and Television Adaptations 40. The Wheel of Fortune 41. Joe Mugnaini and The Golden Apples of the Sun 42. Bantam and Ballantine 43. Hollywood at Last 44. Political Controversy 45. Fahrenheit 451 46. The Last Night of the World Notes Index | "Particularly strong in detailing...
