Now and Forever

Narrator Paul Hecht sounds like my mind's eye vision of Ray Bradbury in "Somewhere a Band is Playing." He places the time, early twentieth century, perfectly with a tone and intonation that fit the period. The setting is the American Southwest as seen through the eyes of a Chicago journalist. The story is largely a single-person narrative, and Hecht does a creditable job. In the second piece, "Leviathan '99," Hecht has more scope for his considerable vocal talents. Between the gravelly voiced blind captain and the fuzzy, green telepathic spider, roommate of the main character, Hecht manages a broad spectrum of differing and sometimes whacky vocal gymnastics. His passion and excellent pacing also improve the work of this master storyteller. M.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 30, 2007
This slim volume eloquently displays two sides of the venerated Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles
) with two highly contrasting tales of the fantastic. “Somewhere a Band Is Playing,” the quieter piece, explores journalist James Cardiff's unexpected attraction to the rural town of Summerton, Ariz. Summerton's secrets unfold with Bradbury's hallmark pacing, gentle and inexorable, and the plot arcs just as gently into the fantastical before circling back to Cardiff himself. Framed by engagingly wistful lyric verse, this classically appealing Bradbury fantasy is at distinct odds with the prickly and disturbing “Leviathan '99.” In this space-faring homage to Melville, the dread comet Leviathan takes the whale's place, and Queequeg becomes the enigmatic telepath Quell. The result, while not at all comfortable, cogently packs Moby Dick
's psychological complexity into a quarter of the space, despite the padding of lengthy quasi-Shakespearean dialogue. Bradbury's brief summaries of each novella's decades-long path to completion invoke the extraordinary length of one of the most distinguished careers in speculative fiction.

These two novellas provide a good introduction to basic low-key science fiction. The first, set in an uncertain time in the ordinary world, tells of a traveler who steps off a train in a nondescript town and faces fundamental questions about his mortality. The second, set in outer space, is a recasting of MOBY-DICK, with a twist of Shakespeare. Paul Hecht is a steady and engaged narrator. He accentuates the ordinary in the stories and the characters, an approach that provides good contrast to the twists in the plot. His overall tone is introspective but with a sense of anticipation of what the characters have come to believe is their inevitable destination. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

September 1, 2007
Anything new from master fantasist Bradburys enchanted pen is cause for celebration. Here are two recently completed novellas that simmered in his imagination for decades. In Somewhere a Band Is Playing, budding journalist Cardiff is mysteriously lured to an isolated town in Arizona populated by only adults. While falling in love with the towns pristine beauty and a local belle, Cardiff stumbles across a life-changing secret. Not only are the towns citizens virtually immortal but Cardiff is an ideal candidate to join them. Drawing on Bradburys screenplay for John Hustons 1956 film Moby Dick, Leviathan 99 transplants the themes and story line of Melvilles classic to outer space. Ishmael here is astronaut Ishmael Hunnicut Jones, Queequeg a towering alien named Quell, and Ahab a maniacal, blind starship captain. Instead of a white whale, the captains nemesis is a planet-devouring comet known as Leviathan. Bradburys celebrated literary magic will satisfy newcomers and dedicated fans alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)