A Pleasure to Burn
A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories is a collection of short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published August 17, 2010. A companion to novel Fahrenheit 451, it was later released under the Harper Perennial imprint of HarperCollins publishing was in 2011.[1]
Portions of A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories were previously published in the collection Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths to Fahrenheit 451 and the chapbook The Dragon Who Ate His Tail.
The origins and evolution of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are explored this collection of 16 selected shorter works that prefigure Bradbury's 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.
Contents
"The Reincarnate"
A man rises from his grave to try and reclaim his former life, only to find that he is no longer welcome in the world.
"Pillar of Fire"
In the year 2349, the last cemetery on Earth is being removed. The bodies are to be burnt, as all others have been. Upon hearing the commotion of what is happening, the final corpse decides to rise in the night and hide from this ultimate fate. He learns that horror writers such as Poe and Lovecraft have had their books burned and removed from the planet, and that nobody in this future society knows what fear is. At this point, he decides that as the last anachronism of the former world, he will be the one to teach the new world of fear. This story is also found in Bradbury's short story collection S is for Space.
"The Library"
Government officials raid a library to burn the last known copies of classic literature. This short could have been a scene cut from Fahrenheit 451.
"Bright Phoenix"
When the town's chief censor comes to use the library as a testing ground for burning selected books, a librarian angers him with his strange behavior. Originally written in 1947, the premise was later expanded upon and turned into The Fireman, the novella which was later expanded upon and turned into Fahrenheit 451.[2]
"The Mad Wizards of Mars"
After burning all but a single copy of history's greatest horror writings, Earth attempts its first crewed expedition to Mars. The familiar, current occupants of the red planet aren't happy to see them coming. Originally published in Maclean's.
"Carnival of Madness"
A former library owner in a future in which the macabre has been banished uses the stories of Poe to plot his revenge on those who were responsible for the banishment of horror stories, films, Hallowe'en, etc. Revised as "Usher II" in The Martian Chronicles.
"Bonfire"
Two people have a phone conversation while waiting for the end of the world. One of them seems more concerned with the loss of all of the great art than with their lives.
"The Cricket on the Hearth"
When a couple discovers that the government is spying on them, it has a strange effect on their relationship. Originally included in the short story collection One More for the Road.
"The Pedestrian"
A man goes out for his routine evening stroll and ends up being stopped just for walking. Also included in the short story collection The Golden Apples of the Sun.
"The Garbage Collector"
A garbage collector learns that his job is no longer going to consist strictly of picking up garbage, but also something much more grisly. Also included in the short story collection The Golden Apples of the Sun.
"The Smile"
A little boy stands in line, awaiting his turn in a bizarre form of public entertainment involving the Mona Lisa.
"Long After Midnight"
Early version of the story that eventually became Fahrenheit 451.
"The Fireman"
Another early version of the original story that was later developed into Fahrenheit 451.
Bonus Stories:
"The Dragon Who Ate His Tail"
A couple contemplates taking a time travel vacation. Also included in the chapbook The Dragon Who Ate His Tail.
"Sometime Before Dawn"
A seemingly strange couple is observed by a neighbor. Also included in the chapbook The Dragon Who Ate His Tail.
"To the Future"
A couple takes advantage of a time travel vacation to try and hide from the miserable time in which they live. They are pursued by those who doesn't want them to escape. Also included in the chapbook The Dragon Who Ate His Tail.[3][4]
References
- ^ "Browse Inside A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories by Ray Bradbury". Harpercollins.com. 2011-06-05. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
- ^ "The Big Read: One Book/One Community - About the Book". Ebr.lib.la.us. 2008-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
- ^ A Pleasure to Burn (2010). A Pleasure to Burn (9781596062900): Ray Bradbury: Books. ISBN 978-1596062900.
- ^ Bradbury, Ray. "A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories by Ray Bradbury — Subterranean Press". Subterraneanpress.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
External links
- A Pleasure to Burn title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- A Pleasure to Burn publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- v
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- The Martian Chronicles (1950)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
- Dandelion Wine (1957)
- Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962)
- The Halloween Tree (1972)
- Death Is a Lonely Business (1985)
- A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990)
- Green Shadows, White Whale (1992)
- From the Dust Returned (2001)
- Let's All Kill Constance (2002)
- Farewell Summer (2006)
- "Hollerbochen's Dilemma" (1938)
- "The Scythe" (1943)
- "I, Rocket" (1944)
- "The Lake" (1944)
- "Frost and Fire" (1946)
- "The Million Year Picnic" (1946)
- "The Small Assassin" (1946)
- "I See You Never" (1947)
- "Fever Dream" (1948)
- "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl" (1948)
- "The Long Years" (1948)
- "Mars Is Heaven!" (1948)
- "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" (1949)
- "The Exiles" (1949)
- "Marionettes, Inc." (1949)
- "The Long Rain" (1950)
- "The Rocket" (1950)
- "There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950)
- "The Veldt" (1950)
- "Ylla" (1950)
- "Embroidery" (1951)
- "The Fog Horn" (1951)
- "Here There Be Tygers" (1951)
- "The Pedestrian" (1951)
- "The April Witch" (1952)
- "A Sound of Thunder" (1952)
- "The Wilderness" (1952)
- "The Flying Machine" (1953)
- "The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind" (1953)
- "The Meadow" (1953)
- "The Murderer" (1953)
- "Sun and Shadow" (1953)
- "All Summer in a Day" (1954)
- "The Dragon" (1955)
- "The Aqueduct" (1979)
- "Banshee" (1984)
- "The Toynbee Convector" (1984)
- "Is That You, Herb?" (2003)
- Dark Carnival (1947)
- The Illustrated Man (1951)
- The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953)
- The October Country (1955)
- A Medicine for Melancholy (1959)
- The Day It Rained Forever (1959)
- The Small Assassin (1962)
- R Is for Rocket (1962)
- The Machineries of Joy (1964)
- The Vintage Bradbury (1965)
- S Is for Space (1966)
- Twice 22 (1966)
- I Sing the Body Electric! (1969)
- Ray Bradbury (1975)
- Long After Midnight (1976)
- The Fog Horn & Other Stories (1979)
- The Last Circus and the Electrocution (1980)
- The Stories of Ray Bradbury (1980)
- The Fog Horn and Other Stories (1980)
- Dinosaur Tales (1983)
- A Memory of Murder (1984)
- The Toynbee Convector (1988)
- Classic Stories 1 (1990)
- Classic Stories 2 (1990)
- The Parrot Who Met Papa (1991)
- Selected from Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed (1991)
- Quicker Than the Eye (1996)
- Driving Blind (1997)
- Ray Bradbury Collected Short Stories (2001)
- One More for the Road (2002)
- Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (2003)
- The Cat's Pajamas: Stories (2004)
- A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories (2005)
- The Dragon Who Ate His Tail (2007)
- Summer Morning, Summer Night (2007)
- A Pleasure to Burn (2010)
- The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury (2011, 2014)
- The Meadow (1947)
- The Flying Machine: A One-Act Play for Three Men (1953)
- The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays (1972)
- Pillar of Fire and Other Plays (1975)
- The Martian Chronicles (1986)
- The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1986)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1986)
- Dandelion Wine (1988)
- The Veldt (1988)
- It Came from Outer Space (1953)
- Moby Dick (1956 screenplay)
- "I Sing the Body Electric" (1962)
- The Autumn People (1965)
- Tomorrow Midnight (1966)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
- The Picasso Summer (1969)
- The Illustrated Man (1969)
- The Martian Chronicles (1980 miniseries)
- The Electric Grandmother (1982)
- Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
- Bradbury 13 (radio series, 1983–84)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1984)
- "The Burning Man" (1985)
- The Veldt (1987)
- The Ray Bradbury Theater (TV series, 1985–86, 1988-1992)
- The Halloween Tree (1993)
- Dandelion Wine (1997)
- The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
- A Sound of Thunder (2005)
- Ray Bradbury's Chrysalis (2008)
- The Whispers (2015)
- Fahrenheit 451 (2018)
- Futuria Fantasia (1939–1940)
- The Mummies of Guanajuato (1978)
- Zen in the Art of Writing (1990)
- It Came from Outer Space (2003 book)
- Bettina F. Bradbury (daughter)
- Spaceship Earth
- Bradbury Landing
- Ray Bradbury Award
- Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
- Dandelion crater