A Graveyard for Lunatics
Encyclopedia
A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another tale of two cities is a mystery
novel by Ray Bradbury
, published in 1990. It is the second in a series of three mystery novels that Bradbury wrote featuring a fictionalized version of the author himself as the unnamed narrator
.
The novel is set in 1954, when the narrator is working as a writer at a Hollywood motion picture studio, Maximus Films, and reflects Bradbury's experiences working on the movies It Came from Outer Space
, King of Kings, and Something Wicked This Way Comes
. The studio shares a back wall with an adjoining cemetery (as Paramount Studios really does with Hollywood Forever Cemetery
), and most of the story takes place in those two locations.
Two of the novel's characters, stop motion
animator Roy Holdstrom and autocratic director
Fritz Wong, were based on Bradbury's friends Ray Harryhausen
and Fritz Lang
. Another character, the shy, blond-haired autograph collector Clarence, may be an alternate autobiographical
portrait of Bradbury, who as a teenager waited outside Hollywood studios for glimpses of movie stars.
It was preceded by the novel Death Is a Lonely Business
, set in 1949, and followed by Let's All Kill Constance
, set in 1960.
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
novel by Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, published in 1990. It is the second in a series of three mystery novels that Bradbury wrote featuring a fictionalized version of the author himself as the unnamed narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
.
The novel is set in 1954, when the narrator is working as a writer at a Hollywood motion picture studio, Maximus Films, and reflects Bradbury's experiences working on the movies It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. It was Universal's first film to be filmed in 3-D.- Plot :...
, King of Kings, and Something Wicked This Way Comes
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983 film)
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1983 film based on the Ray Bradbury novel of the same name, starring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. Directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay written by Bradbury himself, the movie suffered from offscreen conflicts of vision...
. The studio shares a back wall with an adjoining cemetery (as Paramount Studios really does with Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
), and most of the story takes place in those two locations.
Two of the novel's characters, stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animator Roy Holdstrom and autocratic director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Fritz Wong, were based on Bradbury's friends Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
and Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
. Another character, the shy, blond-haired autograph collector Clarence, may be an alternate autobiographical
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
portrait of Bradbury, who as a teenager waited outside Hollywood studios for glimpses of movie stars.
It was preceded by the novel Death Is a Lonely Business
Death Is a Lonely Business
Death Is a Lonely Business is a mystery novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1985.The story, set in 1949, is about a series of murders that happen in Venice, California, then a declining seaside community in Los Angeles where Bradbury lived from 1942 to 1950...
, set in 1949, and followed by Let's All Kill Constance
Let's All Kill Constance
Let's All Kill Constance is a 2002 mystery novel by Ray Bradbury. Narrated by an unnamed Los Angeles writer and set in 1960, it chronicles an unexpected visit from aging Hollywood actress Constance Rattigan who gives him two death lists of once-famous people — with Constance's name on one of them,...
, set in 1960.