All of Bradbury's writing transports me to another place. ( )

Writing: amazing (I underlined at least one sentence per page just because I loved the writing in them so much!)
Stories: imaginative and haunting

My favorite was ¨Exiles.¨ ( )

I'd been meaning to read this for almost thirty years, ever since I saw it in a bookstore in the mall (B. Dalton, anyone?) when I was maybe seven or eight. I remember the cover (the one that actually had a picture of the Illustrated Man) fascinated me in a sort of dangerously forbidden way. ( )

“A collection of short stories that reflect the fears and problems of society through the craftsmanship of a progressive thought-provoking writer of the early 1950s.� -M.E. Byrd

I am a gambler when selecting novels, so when I saw a great-priced audiobook marked classic for a reasonable price, I jumped at the opportunity. The Illustrated Man is a collection of short stories. The peak of this collection is the story “The Other Foot,� which unfolds to tell the story of a Caucasian man who travels via rocket to an African-American Settlement on Mars and begs for help—their mercy. African-Americans previously left their oppressed society on Earth to start a new civilization on Mars. Years later, when the people left on Earth have destroyed the planet through greed and nuclear war, the colony on Mars has to decide if they will oppress their old oppressors or forgive them.

Everything after “The Other Foot� felt likes child's play due to Bradbury’s previous brilliant crafting and storytelling. I made it to “The Last Night of the World� and put the book down. While this collection didn’t sweep me away, Ray Bradbury has provided some unique, out-of-this-world short stories that will leave you questioning your reliance on technology and your responsibility in society’s way of thinking. ( )

This 1951 collection of short stories from the mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonderful introduction to science fiction reading that gives bite-size (at least five pages and at most seventeen pages in the Bantam Books Grand Master Edition that I was reading) stories that are perfect for those that want a bit of a dark foray into some classic literature.

When a man is hiking a walking tour of Wisconsin he comes across a man with a woolen shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck and all the way down to his wrists. When the woolen man takes off his shirt, the hiker sees mystical arcane tattoos that seem to show vivid scenes from the future. This collection follows what the man sees that night while he gazes at the tattoos all over the titular Illustrated Man's body.

Some personal highlights for me were the short stories "Kaleidoscope," which is a very interesting look at death and what the idea of impending death does to the human psyche; "The Highway," a short look at war and how it can affect all of us; and "The Last Night of the World," which is once again a sweet look at what happens when we all know the world is coming to an end that very night.

While this is not the darkest book in the world there are some looks into psychology, war, violence, and other topics that might be upsetting if you know these things upset you on a regular basis. There is also one use of a slur against Japanese people used in the last quarter of the book in the short story "Zero Hour."

All in all, this is an amazing collection of science-fiction short stories that leaves me wanting more of Ray Bradbury's writing that has certainly earned its spot on my bookshelf for many reads to come. ( )