Together, the three novels form a Green Town trilogy. While Farewell Summer is a direct continuation of the plot of Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, a novel with a completely different plot and characters, is often paired with the latter because of their stylistic and thematic similarities. Most of the book is focused upon the routines of small-town America, and the simple joys of yesterday.īradbury noted in 'Just This Side of Byzantium', a 1974 essay used as an introduction to the book, that Dandelion Wine is a recreation of a boy's childhood, based upon an intertwining of Bradbury's own experiences and imagination.įarewell Summer, the official sequel to Dandelion Wine, was published in October 2006. The main character of the story is Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy loosely patterned after Bradbury.

In the story, dandelion wine, as made by the protagonist's grandfather, serves as a metaphor for packing all of the joys of summer into a single bottle. The title refers to a wine made with dandelion petals and other ingredients, commonly citrus fruit. The novel developed from the short story 'Dandelion Wine', which appeared in the June 1953 issue of Gourmet magazine. Douglas has similar traits to those Bradbury has later in life identified in himself, strengthening this interpretation.Dandelion Wine is a 1957 novel by Ray Bradbury set in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois, based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. Overall, the book provides a nostalgic sense of childhood and an understanding of the beauty of the world and all its features in this way, it appears to be Bradbury himself reminiscing on his past. The narrative is enriched by the experiences of individuals such as Leo Auffman, who attempts (unsuccessfully) to construct a 'Happiness machine'. The principal character, Douglas Spalding, and his brother Tom, encounter a series of adventures which are described in a crafted and distinguished manner to provide a philosophical tone throughout the book. The book was published in 1957, perhaps over twenty years after the era which it is about, thus providing an inevitable theme of nostalgia throughout the book. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding-remembered forever by the incomparable Ray Bradbury.ĭandelion Wine is unique amongst the works of the popular author Ray Bradbury, in that it provides us with perhaps the clearest insight into the thoughts and feelings of the author. 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.

The summer of '28 was a vintage season for a growing boy.

Dandelion wine bradbury