A review by readingrobin
Death Is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A noir departure from Bradbury's usually horror and sci-fi tales, but still manages to hold that same level of mystery and elegance that comes from his style. I'm not a big fan of the genre, so I didn't enjoy this book on the same level as his other stories. There were many lullish moments and I didn't really find anything interesting about the paper thin characters, but there's still something to admire about the images he evokes in his writing here: a decrepit boardwalk that is past its prime, wagons taken in by the ocean, the corpse of a roller coaster resting on its beach, an old theater house devoted to stars of the past. Once you key into the fact that the main character is essentially Bradbury's self insert, it kind of brings up an interesting theme of relevance, of if this man writing stories about Martians will truly survive in this world that's crumbling around him. Given that this is one of his later books and comes off as a reflection on his earlier years as a writer, it seems like something worth noting.