Sci-fi and fantasy publisher Tor Books has published on YouTube a series of excerpts from a recent video with acclaimed American sci-fi author Ray Bradbury.
Bradbury, now 89 years old, is best known from his 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, which depicts a future world in which firemen spend much of their time hunting down and burning books. It has been interpreted variously as a critique of certain aspects of American society of that period. The book has been made into at least one film and has been adapted into other medium.
However the author has continued to write for the past fifty years, publishing a new novel, Farewell Summer, in 2006 and others in 2002, 2001 and so on.
In the Tor interview snippets (below), Bradbury discusses various portions of his work and personal history. For example, he describes meeting a carnival performer named “Mr Electrico” who, among with his colleagues, was the spur for Bradbury to begin writing in the first place.
In another snippet, Bradbury talks about overcoming his fear of flying; he first flew on Delta Airlines only after drinking three double martinis first.
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It’s truly a pity that Brian Herbert has “philosophical reservations” about the Internet and reportedly doesn’t even use email, because he could learn something from watching Bradbury here: supposedly he hasn’t flown since the 1960s or so.
Of course, if he got over his fear, that would be one less gimmick to take attention away from his execrable writing. :)