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

4.0

I stayed up into the wee hours to finish Death Is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury, which is first in the first in a set of three semi-autobiographical mysteries. I didn’t realize this at first and was pleasantly surprised to meet several characters from A Graveyard for Lunatics, the second book in the set. Both novels are more fragmented and surreal than the usual Bradbury—but then, I suppose memory often is fragmented and surreal, and Bradbury was drawing heavily on memories of his own life for these. I haven’t found a copy of the third novel in the set, Let’s All Kill Constance, but I’m hoping to read that one soon. Bradbury’s life was a beautiful one. I don’t know if the circumstances were that unusual and magical, or if he just made them so, but I suspect the latter. He has the knack for making the commonplace new, fresh, and enchanting…and somehow he also excels at making the new and enchanting feel familiar and nostalgic.