The Last Circus and the Electrocution

by Ray Bradbury

Boldly signed by Ray Bradbury on the first end paper in black marker

Genres: Short Stories

29 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1980

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A virtuoso performance. His language is so simple and pure, yet powerful, disturbing and evocative. RB captures the wonder and fear of youth in "The Last Circus." In "The Electrocution" he takes the reader on a horrific ride exploring seduction, revenge, and mortality. His afterward is not to be missed; his understanding of his own literary talent, his psyche, and predilections is explained lucidly and without a hint of snobbery.

[Jo Besser · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I wasn't off enjoying my weekend I would have finished this in a day.

At this point, I think out of the "classic" writers, Bradbury is my favorite. I loved both the Last Circus and the Electrocution. The mystery in the Electrocution was what got me, I wasn't expecting what happened in the story.

I could feel Bradbury's excitement as he wrote the Last Circus. I could also sense the character's heartbreak at the end. These are the reasons I will keep reading Bradbury.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet stories - the introduction takes up half the book tho.