Look, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I understand the concept of small-press limited editions. I think they’re a scam, but that’s just my opinion and not worth much, despite the fact that I’m usually right.
But I’ve got to tell you that, even if you’re among the most loyal Ray Bradbury fans on Earth, Gauntlet Press’ publication of BULLET TRICK isn’t worth the $75 you’d have to pay for the cheap edition, let alone the $300 the double-plus-good one bound in yeti skin would set you back.
The book clocks in at a little more than 400 pages, which looks like it should take some of the pain out of that price tag, but the contents are five teleplays produced mostly in the 1950s through 1963, and a pair of short stories. In other words, you’re not getting much Bradbury for the buck, and none of it is primo stuff. This material has never been published before, and one of the reasons for that is it isn’t very good, and certainly not memorable.
The stories are original versions of two of the teleplays and have little to do with the TV adaptations. For instance, the first teleplay is called “The Bullet Trick” and was broadcast on JANE WYMAN THEATER in 1956. The original story was written in 1950 and is included. Both are about a failing marriage and the threat of infidelity. Stick with MAD MEN.
The title refers to the magician’s trick of firing a bullet at an assistant, who appears to catch the bullet in his/her teeth. Penn & Teller deconstructed this one years ago. Obviously, this is not late Bradbury, when his worst instincts have taken over and his stories drip with nostalgia and less than stellar poetic writing, but everything in this collection previews these weaknesses to come.
Here’s an example from the teleplay “Christmas,” adapted from “The Gift,” published in 1952. The television version was for the show STEVE CANYON in 1958. This isn’t dialogue, but a description of a group of German children Steve is flying to civilian homes for Christmas:
“INT. Plane – WE SEE WHAT HE SEES
The long interior of the plane with the children crowded along the sides of the plane. All of them look up as they hear the door open. THE CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY over their faces. We see everything there that man has ever seen in the faces of his children, the ghosts of other years, the excitement of today, the promise of tomorrow, each face a different kind of fire or flame, a different bank of coals to breathe on in the winter nights, to hold your hand out to.”
A little of that goes a long way.
At his best, Bradbury was sharp, incisive and poetic in the best sense of the word. At his worst, he turned out the kind of stuff you can pay $75 for in this book. Sometimes an author’s unpublished work should remain just that. —Doug Bentin
Buy it at Gauntlet Press or Amazon.
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE DRAGON WHO ATE HIS TAIL by Ray Bradbury
• MASKS by Ray Bradbury
• MATCH TO FLAME: THE FICTIONAL PATHS TO FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
• NOW AND FOREVER by Ray Bradbury
• SOMEWHERE A BAND IS PLAYING by Ray Bradbury
• WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS: STORIES by Ray Bradbury
Related posts:
- Trick ‘r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery & Mischief
- BOOKS 2 FILM >> Silver Bullet
- Masks
- BULLET, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> Creepy Crawlies
- We’ll Always Have Paris: Stories
