SOURCE: A review of The Stories of Ray Bradbury, in The New York Times Book Review, October 26, 1980, pp. 14, 32-4.

In the following review, Disch attacks Bradbury's collected stories as unimaginative and poorly written, asserting that "Mr. Bradbury's failures outnumber his successes. "

Ray Bradbury is America's Official Science Fiction Writer, the one most likely to be trotted out on state occasions to give a salute to, as he puts it, "our wild future in space." In 1964 he was hired to "conceptualize" the part of the United States Pavilion at the World's Fair devoted to the Future. From there he went on "to help plan the dreams that went into Spaceship Earth"—the latest Disney fairground now under construction. Last year a film clip of the author was the Delegate for Science Fiction at the first TABA Awards ceremony.

To those familiar with the field, Ray Bradbury's figurehead status may...