This is part recollection, part fiction. Bradbury weaves some Irish-themed (which you may have read in other collections) stories into a framework about the time he worked with John Huston to write the screenplay for "Moby DIck". Lots of time is spent in the country pub, and while Bradbury's prose often runs purple here as elsewhere, the pub really is the perfect setting. Your mileage may vary, but for a film nut and Bradbury fan, this is a double treat. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/86784.html...

It's the story of young sf writer Ray Bradbury, brought to Ireland by film director John Huston, to write a screenplay for Moby Dick. Huston comes across as a real monster, incessantly bullying his wife, Bradbury and other colleagues, with almost no redeeming features. I found Bradbury's portrayal of Ireland and the Irish irritating at first and then I realised that he was doing nothing more than writing in his usual style; it might as well have been Mars.

The short stories dropped into the narrative - including two with fantasy elements, which I list on my web page - are the best bits of a very uneven book. The only other "novel" I've read by Bradbury, To the Dust Returned, was equally uneven. Perhaps he is someone who needs the discipline of the short story form to write quality stuff. For €7.50 I can't complain too much. ( )