Death Is a Lonely Business

by Ray Bradbury

Book Overview

Ray Bradbury, the undisputed Dean of American storytelling, dips his accomplished pen into the cryptic inkwell of noir and creates a stylish and slightly fantastical tale of mayhem and murder set among the shadows and the murky canals of Venice, California, in the early 1950s. Toiling away amid the looming palm trees and decaying bungalows, a struggling young writer (who bears a resemblance to the author) spins fantastic stories from his fertile imagination...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394547020
• ISBN13: 9780394547022
• Release Date: October 1985
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Can never go wrong with Ray Bradbury

This is more to review the quality of the book. Haven’t read the book yet but the book itself was in good condition. No rips or tears.

Take the time to read this book!

Ray Bradbury is noted for his science fiction books, which I have never read, but I was recommended this book (his rare effort to write in a genre that he loved - the mystery novel. This is a remarkable story of love and friendship and it also has a true psycopathic killer in it. The book is peopled with wonderful eccentric characters and its setting is a dying 1950's California seaside town. This is an evocative and eerie novel, and it will keep you turning the pages until you finish. If Ray Bradbury can write like this, perhaps I should read some of his better known stories. I have seldom read a book that held so many truly wonderful characters.

Excellent book to rediscover Bradbury with!

I bought two of his newest books, one of which is the aforementioned _Death is a Lonely Business_. I began reading it late last night and just finished it a little more than an hour ago. Technically, it's not a fantasy or science fiction, but it is such a great book, in my opinion, that I had to put a review of it somewhere._Death is a Lonely Business_ is Ray Bradbury's tribute to Hammet, Chandler, Cain and Ross McDonald. It is a very engrossing noir detective story, with the young Bradbury as the main character. More or less. The main character is a struggling, starving writer living in Venice, CA with a girlfriend studying in Mexico. Strange deaths begin occuring around him, seemingly triggered by a mysterious encounter with a man he calls at one point "Death's friend".With the aid of a detective and a reclusive, yet very much alive actress, he attempts to unravel the mystery before the people he most cares about come to harm.Bradbury's writing style, though for some perhaps a bit wordy and "purple", pulls the reader into the story, making him feel and see the world through the eyes of the main character. Once I began reading it, I found it very difficult to stop and go to school; I wanted to keep reading until the end.The story itself, through the deliberate use of death and loss, affirms life and demands that the reader seize the moment and pursue life, happiness, and even pain. For by avoiding pain, we die a slow, lonely death.In short, it is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone, even those dyed-in-the-wool single genre people. This has strong fantasy elements in it, and plenty of references to other books and stories by Bradbury.What a pleasant and welcome way to rediscover a favorite author.

Beautiful Meloncholy

In my mind, this is Bradburys best novel. It's a wonderful love letter to death, sadness, loneliness and decay dressed in a Raymond Chandler trenchcoat. It manages to subtly evoke a long dead world without slipping into the sort of unnecessarily complex writing style he used in 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'. The section where the author searches the first "victims" room is a perfect example. Without fail, every time I read about what was scratched on the wall, the hairs on the back of my neck start to rise.

A fun, creepy noir homage.

Venice, California, 1947. The boardwalk is slowly dying, the rollercoaster's on its last legs, and the oil wells pump sightlessly away just outside of town. On a trolley car racketing home one stormy night, a young man who dreams of writing science fiction gets a chilling message in his ear from an unseen man behind him... and soon, it seems that Death itself walks the streets of Venice, robbing the town of all the people who gave it its life and soul. Can a chubby would-be writer, a detective with a jungle in his backyard, and the world's greatest blind man beat Death at its own game? An immensely fun and beautifully written tribute to Raymond Chandler, based in good part on the author's own life. Fans of old Hollywood will want to check out the sequel, "A Graveyard For Lunatics."

Excellent semi-autobiographical pulp-noir detective story

Ray Bradbury's ability to craft amazing prose shines through in this unheralded masterpiece of fiction. The way he wraps his life and his views on writing and the world into an entertaining exploration into the darker side of life in the 50's is superb. One of my all time favorite books. A must read for any true Bradbury fan.