Rating: 
Summary: Bradbury never fails to enchant
Review: "One More For The Road" is the latest short story collection by Ray Bradbury, one of the two still living giants of classic science fiction literature (the other being Arthur C. Clarke). The volume collects tales mostly published over the last few years, though one from 1947 slips into the mix, as well as a couple from the 60s.Overall the work is not top-to-bottom essential, though few short story collections are. What is most striking about this volume is that Bradbury, now in his 80s, can still flex the creative muscle that made him such an honored writer. In "One For The Road," Bradbury mixes human drama and classic science fiction "what ifs" with ease. With a few scattered exceptions, the mix works splendidly. These stories, by and large, are more noticeably "human" than previous works (though Bradbury has always woven tales of ordinary people with tales of the extraordinary). The first hint of science fiction does not appear until the third story in the volume, for instance, one of just a handful. Bradbury can still connect. His ability to strike a chord with the reader is as potent as it was when he was 30, 40, 50 years old. Certainly Bradbury is not as consistently good as he once was, yet he retains his skill at touching on the human condition with elegance and simplicity. Emotionally impacting his readers is not a weapon lost to Bradbury's arsenal. So, does "One For The Road" fare well against Bradbury's best work? Bradbury's best is among the greatest works of fiction over the last 50 years, making the question almost unfair. No, this new collection is not the equal of his best. Precious few books are. But it is a wonderful group of stories presented by one of the great authors of our time, sure to please science fiction fans and non-genre readers alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Bradbury-lovers rejoice
Review: Amazingly, at the age of eighty-two, Ray Bradbury still writes with the passion and gusto of a young boy dreaming awake. He's somehow managed to weather a lifetime's worth of storms while keeping the flame of wonder glowing brightly in his chest. For years, I've been an admirer of Bradbury's lucid, image-pregnant prose, and this new collection--hopefully, in spite of its title, not his last--is the latest reason why.
Those who are returning to Bradbury Country will likely recognize some familiar concerns in this latest batch of stories. Magic and illusion abound, of course, and there are plenty of characters grown wistful for the past. Laurel and Hardy show up for the party, as do Hemingway, Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. There's plenty of time travel, a few dark rooms filled with flickering images, a handful of wild robotic inventions, pairs of heart-sick lovers, and another trip down to Mexico. But there are some new twists here as well. Bradbury, with his inimitable style and sensibility, takes on some of the gray areas that inhabit our present imperfect. The guilty male moral quagmires of phone sex and Internet porn provide fuel for one of the stories. There is also a pervading sadness and loneliness to these tales that feels uniquely modern. There are plenty of unhappy couples, unfulfilled dreams, and broken connections. This often-gray environment makes all the more poignant the bursts of golden joy and wonder. Bradbury has always held in one hand the ghostly and in the other the exuberant and when he rubs his hands together and gets down to business, the resultant explosion is felt to the metaphoric corners of Far Rockaway. Bradbury-lovers rejoice: this is fine vintage. So drink up, and drink deep.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Highpoints in this otherwise mediocre Book
Review: I am a big fan of Ray Bradbury. There is so much irony in his words. He is one of the last great authors of our time. This collection does not do Him Justice, however. The first story is okay. "Beasts", and "Leftovers" are lacking in most areas. The "Dragon danced at Midnight" is great , "Fore" is one of Ray's Best. If you are not familliar with Bradbury's work this is not a very good place to start. Start with "The Illustated Man". But for seasoned fans, this is not a horrible book, but not His best works. Still, not bad for His early eighties. Keep on writing, Ray!!
Rating:
Summary: Some Highpoints in this otherwise mediocre Book
Review: I am a big fan of Ray Bradbury. There is so much irony in his words. He is one of the last great authors of our time. This collection does not do Him Justice, however. The first story is okay. "Beasts", and "Leftovers" are lacking in most areas. The "Dragon danced at Midnight" is great , "Fore" is one of Ray's Best. If you are not familliar with Bradbury's work this is not a very good place to start. Start with "The Illustated Man". But for seasoned fans, this is not a horrible book, but not His best works. Still, not bad for His early eighties. Keep on writing, Ray!!
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still worth reading
Review: I have decided that short stories must be more difficult to write than novels. I absolutely adored Ray Bradbury's Fareheit 451, but his short story collection One More For the Road only had a few good stories. It is also possible that his writing ideas are inversly proportional to his age. Some of the stories were thought provoking, some were entertaining, some were skin crawling, and some were just boring. I would recommend the Illustrated Man as a substitution.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still worth reading
Review: I have decided that short stories must be more difficult to write than novels. I absolutely adored Ray Bradbury's Fareheit 451, but his short story collection One More For the Road only had a few good stories. It is also possible that his writing ideas are inversly proportional to his age. Some of the stories were thought provoking, some were entertaining, some were skin crawling, and some were just boring. I would recommend the Illustrated Man as a substitution.
Rating: 
Summary: The winter of an author's career
Review: I'm a huge Ray Bradbury fan. All of his sci-fi short stories, his "Ray Bradbury Theater" tv shows, stories made into movies, etc, are favorites of mine. Whenever I take a trip, I usually try and grab a couple of his short story collections to enjoy (even when I've already heard them). I picked this up fully expecting to be entertained as I had been for years (despite a few slow-moving collections released in recent years). Unfortunately, that was not the case. It's not that I was expecting "The Illustrated Man" (ok, maybe I was HOPING that would be the case), but there were literally only a COUPLE of stories in the whole book worth reading! "The Enemy in the Wheat" to me was the best story, and it's just a short story with a cute twist and not a sci-fi one (there is one in the collection, by the way). It's obvious that Ray Bradbury is dealing with his own mortality in this collection, with more than one story revolving around a character dealing with people from his distant past, or ghosts of the past, or decisions made about friendships in the past and such. It's as if the muse he had drawn upon so much in the early years of his career had left and sent it's grandfather to keep him company. Mr. Bradbury seems to be glaring over the twilight of his life and speaking of the regrets he has in certain areas. All in all, this is a strange collection of unrelated tales, and if it were released by any other author it would have been ignored altogether. But thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for continuing to write well past the age others are retired and playing golf. I hope your writing room is still full of those wonderful toys you kept there, and I hope that you let your younger self out to play a little more in the next collection.
Rating:
Summary: The winter of an author's career
Review: I'm a huge Ray Bradbury fan. All of his sci-fi short stories, his "Ray Bradbury Theater" tv shows, stories made into movies, etc, are favorites of mine. Whenever I take a trip, I usually try and grab a couple of his short story collections to enjoy (even when I've already heard them). I picked this up fully expecting to be entertained as I had been for years (despite a few slow-moving collections released in recent years). Unfortunately, that was not the case. It's not that I was expecting "The Illustrated Man" (ok, maybe I was HOPING that would be the case), but there were literally only a COUPLE of stories in the whole book worth reading! "The Enemy in the Wheat" to me was the best story, and it's just a short story with a cute twist and not a sci-fi one (there is one in the collection, by the way). It's obvious that Ray Bradbury is dealing with his own mortality in this collection, with more than one story revolving around a character dealing with people from his distant past, or ghosts of the past, or decisions made about friendships in the past and such. It's as if the muse he had drawn upon so much in the early years of his career had left and sent it's grandfather to keep him company. Mr. Bradbury seems to be glaring over the twilight of his life and speaking of the regrets he has in certain areas. All in all, this is a strange collection of unrelated tales, and if it were released by any other author it would have been ignored altogether. But thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for continuing to write well past the age others are retired and playing golf. I hope your writing room is still full of those wonderful toys you kept there, and I hope that you let your younger self out to play a little more in the next collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, Bradbury keep rolling...Rolling his own.
Review: Let me just start off by saying that I enjoy Ray Bradbury's works immensely.
"The Illustrated Man" has to be one of my all time favorites. The book was a collection of short stories contained within a story. The short stories where chilling, thought provoking, humorous, and sad. The stories had a beginning, middle and an end. Well Ray, this ain't no Illustrated Man.
When I picked this book up, I was excited about the new places that Ray would be taking me.
Time Travel? I'm there.
Ghosts? Well boo me baby!
What did I get? Alot of disappointment.
What is disappointing about "One More For The Road"?
Well, for starter, the stories have no real ending, or the ending that Mr. Bradbury had chosen has nothing to do with the situation at hand, or perhaps the endings have deeper meanings in relation to the story, where we the reader have to think about how they relate to the rest of the story. Regardless, its more work than I wanted to be satisfied with the story. Mind you not all the stories are like this. For example "My Son, Max" was well done as a lip reader uncovers some dirty laundry from a family of three at a restaurant. The stories ending didn't leave me scratching my head at the end, and was quite poignant.
"Leftovers" on the other hand, was a stretch and I had to re-read the ending and the last 3 pages to see if perhaps I had missed something in the story to tie the ending with what was going on in the tale.
I'm not sure if "One More For The Road" is the last book for Bradbury. I certainly hope not. Ray Bradbury is a deeply talented author. As for this compilation. Alot of misses and a few hits.
Rating:
Summary: THE ZEN MASTER OF ALL FANTASY WRITERS STRIKES!
Review: Ray Bradbury has enjoyed a long lifetime (83 years and counting) of telling great and unexpected stories. The tales in this latest collection are as fresh as a smooth sip of dandelion wine, zipping you away to the far reaches of your very human imagination, making you leap upward and remain strangely grounded at the same time. Taste this book. You'll become addicted to an author who has out-mastered them all. --Jim Reed, author, DAD'S TWEED COAT: SMALL WISDOMS HIDDEN COMFORTS UNEXPECTED JOYS. Learn more about Jim and Ray Bradbury: jimreedbooks.com
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