The Illustrated Man

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.

Review

‘Ray Bradbury has a powerful and mysterious imagination which would undoubtedly earn the respect of Edgar Allan Poe’ Guardian

‘It is impossible not to admire the vigour of his prose, similes and metaphors constantly cascading from his imagination’ Spectator

‘The sheer velocity of his words is an apocalyptic torrent which sweeps the reader on’ Independent

‘As a science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury has long been streets ahead of anyone else’ Daily Telegraph

‘Readers unfamiliar with what Bradbury at his best can do should look to The Illustrated Man.’ Washington Post

‘No other writer uses language with greater originality and zest. he seems to be a American Dylan Thomas – with dsicipline’ Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

Ray Bradbury has published some 500 short stories, novels, plays and poems since his first story appeared in Weird Tales when he was twenty years old. Among his many famous works are The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles.