A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories

Grandmasterof American Letters Ray Bradbury presents the 16 vintage stories and novellasthat informed and prefigured the creation of his dystopian classic, Fahrenheit451. Collecting rare and unknown tales as well as notable early triumphs,A Pleasure to Burn offers an unparalleled window into Bradbury’s creativeprocess, and a unique glimpse at the evolution of one of the greatest works of20th century American literature. Absolutely essential for fans ofBradbury books like Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes,The Illustrated Man, and The Martian Chronicles—and for readersof William Golding, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and other titans ofspeculative fiction—A Pleasure to Burn illuminates the unusual hiddencorners of Bradbury’s expansive imagination, revealing a creative force asvivid and powerful as the hottest burning flame.

Booklist

“All 16 pieces in the collection explore the hazards befalling mankind when society contrives to restrain the imagination. An indispensable companion to Bradbury’s most celebrated novel.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An essential addition to the bookshelf of every Bradbury fan, the collection is also accessible to curious readers with a taste for the dark, the strange and the macabre.”

From the Back Cover

Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 is an enduring masterwork of twentieth-century American literature—a chilling vision of a dystopian future built on the foundations of ignorance, censorship, and brutal repression. The origins and evolution of Bradbury’s darkly magnificent tale are explored in A Pleasure to Burn, a collection of sixteen selected shorter works that prefigure the grand master’s landmark novel. Classic, thematically interrelated stories alongside many crucial lesser-known ones—including, at the collection’s heart, the novellas “Long After Midnight” and “The Fireman”—A Pleasure to Burn is an indispensable companion to the most powerful work of America’s preeminent storyteller, a wondrous confirmation of the inimitable Bradbury’s brilliance, magic . . . and fire.

About the Author

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. An Emmy Award winner for his teleplay The Halloween Tree and an Academy Award nominee, he was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.

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