The illustrated man

*Starred Review* The 18 magical stories in Bradbury's second collection are linked by a now-celebrated framing device: the young narrator, on a walking tour, encounters a vagabond whose body is covered with fantastic tattoos that, when darkness falls, become animated and tell the tales that make up the collection. Playful, satirical, sometimes savage but just as often wistful, the stories are vintage Bradbury, taking readers to Venus, Mars, an often apocalyptic future, and the farthest reaches of the human imagination. Though classified as science fiction when they were originally published in 1951, the stories a melange of sf, fantasy, poetry, and metaphysics might better be called speculative fiction. Though a few with their subtexts of 1950s atomic bomb-induced paranoia and prefeminist misogyny are dated, the best are timeless. The bloodthirsty children of The Veldt, the Martians' encounter with earth Hucksters in The Concrete Mixer, the sentient metropolis in The City, the too-real robots of Marionettes, Inc. all continue to chill and enchant, by turns. One of the stories, Rocket Man, inspired the Elton John song, and the collection was made into a 1959 movie starring Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2008 Booklist

Gr 7 Up-Paul Hecht's calm, assured voice narrates this classic science fiction anthology by Ray Bradbury that brings to life the social and political fears prevalent in post World War II America, when they were first published. The unnamed narrator in the introduction watches the Illustrated Man's tattoos come to life presenting the 19 short stories. Resonant with authority, Hecht's voice presents rocket men in difficult circumstances, and yet he is able to be detached from their impending deaths. This is contrasted with the gentle tones of devotion of religious clerics. His speech presents a full variety of techniques. He changes pitch for the women characters, and modulates volume and speed to depict the full spectrum of emotions. Efficient production so that most stories are completed on a single side of a tape will enable teachers to locate easily a desired story for class presentation. Only a few of the shortest stories are two on a side. The wicked, colorful tattoos make a very eye-catching cover. A must for sci-fi fans!-Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.