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Death Is a Lonely Business

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About this listen

Ray Bradbury, the undisputed Dean of American storytelling, dips his accomplished pen into the cryptic inkwell of noir and creates a stylish and slightly fantastical tale of mayhem and murder set among the shadows and the murky canals of Venice, California, in the early 1950s.

Toiling away amid the looming palm trees and decaying bungalows, a struggling young writer (who bears a resemblance to the author) spins fantastic stories from his fertile imagination upon his clacking typewriter. Trying not to miss his girlfriend (away studying in Mexico), the nameless writer steadily crafts his literary effort - until strange things begin happening around him.

Starting with a series of peculiar phone calls, the writer then finds clumps of seaweed on his doorstep. But as the incidents escalate, his friends fall victim to a series of mysterious "accidents" - some of them fatal. Aided by Elmo Crumley, a savvy, street-smart detective, and a reclusive actress of yesteryear with an intense hunger for life, the wordsmith sets out to find the connection between the bizarre events, and in doing so, uncovers the truth about his own creative abilities.

©1999 Ray Bradbury (P)2018 Recorded Books Mystery Fiction
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A noir crime novel to die for. Following the traditional route of crime writing greats the story is a literary masterpiece imbued with Ray Bradbury's magic and mystery. A whodunit underpinned by the evocation of 1949 Venice California and the demolition of the huge amusement pier. People are dying in diffferent ways and only the narrator and Detective Crumley believe the deaths are murders. There is a cast of characters to choose from but some of them fall by the wayside along the way
The book would make a terrific film - in the right hands - e.g. Alan Parker "Angel Heart"

They Are Not Writing Them Like This Anymore

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Where to begin? This story of a young writer’s pursuit of a murderer among the faded, lonely characters of a post war economic decline-ravaged Venice, California is IT. Just the best!

Ray Bradbury perfectly captures the heart and voice of his characters and their sad but courageous lives. From beginning to end, absolute perfection and great narration too.

I first read this novel as a 26 year old newspaper subeditor, a little lost and very alone myself. In my rented room I stayed up all night to read it in one sitting. It was completely unputdownable. For years I’ve looked for a reprint and scoured second hand shops to find another copy.

The 30-plus years that have passed since then have not diminished its light. It is still a 10-star read for me. Enjoy and fall in love with Constance the movie goddess, Crumley the green-fingered frustrated novelist of a detective and our hero of heroes, the young writer with a girlfriend called Peggy, studying in Mexico City, who’s name is… another mystery. I think of him as a Ray, though.

Everything and more!

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