/24-7PressRelease/ - SANTA FE, NM, June 25, 2008 -- Not long after Ray Bradbury's book "The Martian Chronicles" was published in 1950 he ran into literary critic Christopher Isherwood in a bookstore. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Bradbury took the book from the shelf and handed it to the critic.
Science fiction books were rarely taken seriously or reviewed at that time. Isherwood seemed less than eager to read it. He took the book home anyway and ended up loving Bradbury's plot and metaphorical writing.
He wrote a rave review which helped make "The Martian Chronicles" a best-seller. He also boosted the whole science fiction genre with his attention to the book.
Bradbury had a way of leaving out all the dry, technical terms that bore readers. In its place was rich storytelling.
If space is the final frontier then Bradbury was clearly at the forefront of the early flight lore. "The Martian Chronicles" is about everyday characters you might meet at the dry cleaners with one exception. These people are fleeing a troubled earth and trying to colonize Mars
"We are shown normality, the permanent things in human nature, by the light of another world" Bradbury said.
The Mars Bradbury captured on paper was pure fantasy. His spaceships didn't look like real ones and there is no breathable atmosphere on Mars. Science was just a vehicle for Bradbury's storytelling.
He wasn't trying to communicate scientific truthfulness. He was trying to entertain readers.
On April 3, PBA Galleries, San Francisco, offered a selection of Bradbury's books for sale in its Fine Literature Beats, Bukowski & the Counter Culture, Sci-Fi, & Detective Fiction auction.
"The Martian Chronicles"; first edition; pictorial jacket; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1950; sold for $3,900.
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