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| Dandelion Wine | 
 enlarge | Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $3.14
You Save: $12.81 (80%)
New (30) Used (28) Collectible (3) from $3.14
Avg. Customer Rating:  262 reviews
Sales Rank: 35378
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0380977265
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380977260
ASIN: 0380977265
Publication Date: February 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
A classic of American literature November 6, 2008
Bradbury is mostly known as a fantasist who emerged in the golden era of science fiction. He largely explored the areas that would make Stephen King such a huge bestselling author (like supernatural horror in a small town).
'Dandelion Wine' is packaged as a novel about one summer in one boy's life, but it actually reads more like a collection of short stories. There is a diffuse array of characters and a lot of different episodes and incidents (true of many novels), sometimes with very little actually tying it all together as a unified novel.
Still, I think this work ranks up there with 'coming of age' novels like 'A Separate Peace' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. It is also interesting to compare how Bradbury handles his fictional small town with Harper Lee's in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Sherwood Anderson's collection 'Winesburg, Ohio' also comes to mind.
Many reviewers describe Bradbury's work as 'magical', and one could invoke a term like 'magical realism' with some justification. Also, this work is often described as dealing with childhood, but for all that it is obsessed with the themes of aging and dying. And the older characters take up much of the dramatic space.
Reading this book for the fifth time in my life, one criticism comes to mind: sometimes I wish Bradbury would settle on that one perfect metaphor to describe something, but instead he gives us a list, which sometimes overwhelms the previous sensations.
Perhaps the shame of Bradbury's success is that, coming earlier, he didn't get the sort of fame and recognition that Stephen King did. On the other hand, being associated with science fiction, fantasy and horror genres means he isn't considered a serious writer. Still, I think this should join the ranks of 'American classic literature' of the 20th century.
 Oh, to be a 12 year old boy! October 25, 2008
I first read this around 30 years ago after gulping down a dozen or so of the Bradbury sci fi books. I was tiring of him and ready to move on when I discovered this little gem. What a treat; I was transformed into seeing the world thru the eyes of a 12 year old boy, where new tennis shoes can make you fly, and the Civil War veteran is a living time travel machine, and the fortune-telling machine gypsy needs to be rescued from the evil arcade owner.
I reread this recently in preparation to read the recently released "Forever Summer." The magic is just as strong this time around.
A nostalgic look at the summer of 1928 July 27, 2008
This book came highly recommended, and I was expecting to fall in love with it. And although the language and images are poetic and beautiful, there isn't any single real storyline here. The book is composed of a series of interrelated short stories which chronicle the experiences of a young boy growing up in a small Illinois town during the summer of 1928. From these stories there emerges a picture of summer, gliding magically by. Some of these mini stories are quite good. They range from the light and humorous (for example, the Green Machine, and the use of black magic to upset election results at the Honeysuckle Ladies' Lodge) to the dark (the Lonely One is on the prowl, and so far this summer he has strangled three women in a ravine). Overall, this book is beautifully written, but I am deducting one star because it lacks a compelling plot and a "what-happens-next?" factor, which unforuntately makes this book easy to put down.
 Dandelion Wine/Farewell Summer Audio Book Disaster/Triumph July 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
My wife and I just had the joy of discovering Ray Bradbury's sequel to Dandelion Wine (1957), Farewell Summer (2006) in audio CD format.
Farewell Summer
It is a delightfully well read audio book. We looked forward to hearing a gracious reading of Dandelion Wine as well. Thankfully, we checked it out of the library. It is headed straight back to the shelves.
Dandelion Wine (2 CD Set)
As others have said, this 'dramatization' of Bradbury's earlier 'childhood memoir' is a disaster. The production values are non-existent; the readers cannot be heard and the hokey sound effects have you running for the volume knob to protect your hearing.
Dear Recorded Books, Dandelion Wine deserves a proper, unabridged reading. Please contact Ray Bradbury and make arrangements to accomplish this task. You know how to do it!
Summer School Book Talk June 28, 2008
I taught summer school this year, and I use this to "break the ice." We listened to the chapter about buying new shoes as a summer tradition and how "new shoes would make [him] run faster."
Dandelion Wine is more memoire, although it has some elements of fantasy in it. It's a feel-good book about being a kid, enjoying summer, and recognizing that life is passing but that what's in the here and now is as precious as the "Dandelion Wine" that the old people make and drink while you (as a kid) hang out under the porch listening to their stories. It's a coming of age book, while at the same time, being a snapshot of childhood.
This story, because it's set in the early 1900's, is timeless. It's a chance to think about endless summer. I paired it with the Beach Boys (which for my sophomores are equally old and classic!!!) and it was a hit.
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