Book Review: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

The Illustrated Man is a 1951 book by Ray Bradbury which contains 18 science fiction short stories. The stories are loosely tied together by a tattooed guy called “The Illustrated Man.” Apparently each of his tattoos is animated and tells a different story from the book. If you have ever seen the movie Something Wicked This Way Comes then you’ll recognize “The Illustrated Man” as one of the carnies! Anyway, almost all of these stories were previously published elsewhere before The Illustrated Man, but were brought together for this now-famous book.

The Illustrated Man is quite well known and has won several accolades, including:

• placing 10th in the 1952 Astounding / Analog All-Time Poll.
• being nominated for the 1952 International Fantasy award.
• taking 22nd place in the 1956 Astounding / Analog All-Time Poll.
• being ranked 33rd in the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll.

So, here is a listing of the stories included in The Illustrated Man: (I’ve linked to the ones that I have reviewed, but Wikipedia gives a short summary about each of them too.)

1. Prologue: The Illustrated Man
2. The Veldt
3. Kaleidoscope
4. The Other Foot
5. The Highway
6. The Man
7. The Long Rain
8. The Rocket Man
9. The Fire Balloons
10. The Last Night of the World
11. The Exiles
12. No Particular Night or Morning
13. The Fox and the Forest
14. The Visitor
15. The Concrete Mixer
16. Marionettes, Inc.
17. The City
18. Zero Hour
19. The Rocket
20. Epilogue

If this sounds like something you might like then be sure to check out The Illustrated Man at Amazon.com, or look for a used copy on eBay.

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