Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury

Apr 2013 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928.

Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable always. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.

Come and savor Ray Bradbury's priceless distillation of all that is eternal about boyhood and summer.

Ratings and reviews

I delightful semi-autobiographical look back to small town 1928 America through the eyes of an imaginative 12 year old. New sneakers, a little brother, a best friend who is moving away, stories from and about local seniors, there is a lot to enjoy in this thin volume.

This book reaches out and caresses my senses as few books can. There are many books that stimulate my imagination but few are as poignant and uplifting at the same time as this one. Dandelion Wine is a journey through the revelation of the human spirit that teaches one that the dark side of life may contribute to sadness and anger and disappointment, but that, overall, life is a precious gift to rejoice in and be grateful for as long as possible.

I love Ray Bradbury for his thrillers and science fiction but this was the first book of his I read. It will always be one of my favorite books right alongside Farenheit 451.

About the author

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. An Emmy Award winner for his teleplay The Halloween Tree and an Academy Award nominee, he was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.