| Subcategories | | • | Barron, T.A. | | • | Bauer, Joan | | • | Bear, Greg | | • | Bellairs, John | | • | Billingsley, Fran | | • | Bird, Isobel | | • | Black, Jonah | | • | Block, Francesca Lia | | • | Bloor, Edward | | • | Blume, Judy | | • | Bradbury, Ray | | • | Brooks, Terry | | • | Bunting, Eve | | • | Burgess, Melvin |
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| | Illustrated Man, The |  | Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $2.95
Buy New: $2.88
You Save: $0.07 (2%)
New (2) Used (21) Collectible (2) from $0.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  208 reviews
Sales Rank: 2050035
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 186
ISBN: 0553132474
EAN: 9780553254839
ASIN: 0553254839
Publication Date: November 1, 1983
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new condition,
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
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. 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. 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. What's even more remarkable, and increasingly disturbing, is that the illustrations are themselves magically alive, and each proceeds to unfold its own story, such as "The Veldt," wherein rowdy children take a game of virtual reality way over the edge. Or "Kaleidoscope," a heartbreaking portrait of stranded astronauts about to reenter our atmosphere--without the benefit of a spaceship. Or "Zero Hour," in which invading aliens have discovered a most logical ally--our own children. Even though most were written in the 1940s and 1950s, these 18 classic stories will be just as chillingly effective 50 years from now. --Stanley Wiater
Product Description
A classic collection of stories -- all told on the skin of a man -- from the author of Fahrenheit 451. If El Greco had painted miniatures in his prime, no bigger than your hand, infinitely detailed, with his sulphurous colour and exquisite human anatomy, perhaps he might have used this man's body for his art! Yet the Illustrated Man has tried to burn the illustrations off. He's tried sandpaper, acid, and a knife. Because, as the sun sets, the pictures glow like charcoals, like scattered gems. They quiver and come to life. Tiny pink hands gesture, tiny mouths flicker as the figures enact their stories -- voices rise, small and muted, predicting the future. Here are sixteen tales: sixteen illustrations! the seventeenth is your own future told on the skin of the Illustrated Man.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 203 more reviews...
Clever and creative November 23, 2008
Very interesting book. Never gets dull, as it is really a series of very short stories almost all of them concerning the nature of God.
Bradbury comes out strongly against both religious people who are inflexible in their definition of God AND atheists. As an agnostic, I was actually a little irritated with parts of it, but you know, it would be hypocritical of me to expect Christians to take it, but not accept a little bit of criticism myself. So, just read it with a very open mind and a lot of curiosity about the world, and you'll love it.
 The Illustrated Man is a MUST READ November 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first read this when i was in the 7th grade and saw the movie as part of a lesson in middle school. I was so impressed by this book that I have read it over and over and over again since. Now im 28 and I finally ordered my own copy and I love it. Everyone should read Bradbury and The Illustrated Man is a must read.
Classic collection by the legendary Bradbury September 3, 2008
Ray Bradbury is always a delight. While I'm a huge fan of his (sparse few) novels, it's impossible to deny that where he really shines is in his copious short works. He is, in my opinion, one of the 20th Century's great short story writers.
The Illustrated Man plucks a character from Something Wicked This Way Comes and uses him as a set of bookends for this collection of 18 short stories. Like any such collection, there are high points and low points. The low points - the story about famous authors dying as their books are burned, for instance - are still fairly solid, though far from classics, while the high points - the rains on Venus, the father who is always away in his rocket, the astronauts floating to their deaths in space, the poor man and his fake rocket, the telepathic man among the sick exiles, the alien invasion via children - are high points indeed. Very, VERY high points.
Bradbury never fails to impress. This is an excellent collection full of rich ideas, wonderful languages and stories you'll never forget.
 Dark Magic July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A strange man's magical tattooes weave stories while he sleeps, stories that amaze, excite, and horrify. And when the moon is risen and the tales are told, the dark marks may tell the most horrifying story of all.
Bradbury isn't for everyone, and several of his stories aren't for the squeamish. This collection of short stories is mostly tame, and as uneven in quality as most short-story collections. "The Veldt" and "Zero Hour" are brilliantly-stirred blends of sci-fi and gothic horror, while "The Man" and "The Fire Balloons" are dull and meandering improvisations on religious themes. Among Bradbury's most intriguing stories are the psychological dramas of "Kaleidoscope" and "The Last Night of the World," balanced by the tedious moralizing of "The Other Foot" (a story which probably had much greater punch in the years before desegregation).
"The Illustrated Man" is a product of its time, and is streaked through with the dialogue, assumptions, fears, and expectations of the mid-20th century. Some of the themes Bradbury explores still resonate, but he never rises to the timeless transcendence of a Dickens, a Hugo, or an Austen. However, as one of the most popular and devilishly clever American novelists of the 20th century, his short stories here collected deserve a look. But don't look too closely...the picture may begin to move, and you may see yourself...
A good intro to the genre July 9, 2008
This was my introduction to Science Fiction although some of the stories are perhaps more horror/fantasy than science fiction. And yes, there is a lot of unevenness in the quality of the stories - some are really exceptional and haunting and some are over before ever getting started. Truth is, even those are good but they require much more participation on the part of the reader! My only real complaint is that this edition (like most!) does not include, "The Playground" which is a very powerful story on an aspect of childhood. Why this story does not appear in most editions is beyond me but it's a great read.
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