Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury was published in 1976. This volume is the last of Bradbury’s great short story collections. It is one of my personal favorites.
There are 22 short stories. Each short story is 10 to 15 pages long. That makes the stories ideal to read one story in a sitting.
“One Timeless Spring” is a unique coming-of-age tale of a 12-year-old who is convinced his parents are poisoning him.
“The Utterly Perfect Murder” details a 48-year-old’s revenge on the boy who bullied him when they were 12 years-old.
“Have I Got a Chocolate Bar for You!” depicts the relationship between a Catholic priest and the rotund young man who periodically comes to confession to talk of his peculiar obsession.
“The Parrot Who Met Papa” is an utterly hilarious spoof of Hemingway (or maybe Chandler) and his literary groupies.
The title story is a very different one for Bradbury, about a lonely oceanside suicide … and then there are some of Bradbury’s usual stories about friendly robots and light horror. The book is a truly marvelous story mix. Read by Jimmie A. Kepler
