He was, in fact, the only god living in the whole of Green Town, Illinois, during the twentieth century that Douglas Spaulding knew of.

The novel developed from the short story 'Dandelion Wine' which appeared in the June 1953 issue of Gourmet magazine. Knew the names of all the wild flowers and when the moon would rise or set and when the tides came in or out. Dandelion Wine is a 1957 semi-autobiographical novel by Ray Bradbury, taking place in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois a pseudonym for Bradburys childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. Knew the words to all the cowboy songs and would teach you if you asked. He could pathfind more trails than any Choctaw or Cherokee since time began.Ĭould leap from the sky like a chimpanzee from a vine.Ĭould live underwater two minutes and slide fifty yards downstream.Ĭould hit baseballs into apple trees, knocking down harvests. The facts about John Huff, aged twelve, are simple and soon stated. The only god living in Green Town, Illinois, that Douglas Spaulding knew of. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding-remembered forever by the incomparable Ray Bradbury. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and gold-fuzzed bees. Of half-burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma’s belly-busting dinner. A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns, and new sneakers. |y .The summer of ’28 was a vintage season for a growing boy. |a 'First published by Avon Books in 1999, reprinted by William Morrow in 2001'-T.p. |a New York : |b William Morrow, |c , c1975. |a Dandelion wine : |b a novel / |c Ray Bradbury. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.Ĭome and savor Ray Bradbury's priceless distillation of all that is eternal about boyhood and summer. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable always. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928. Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels.

Dandelion wine novel