#26 in Short stories
The Illustrated Man
- 251
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- Film 1969
- On screen
- NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
“The Illustrated Man” gathers eighteen science fiction stories that care less about machines than about the people living with them. Some readers find the gadgetry dated, while the sense of a plausible future holds. Some wish the framing figure of the title had more room, and some find that the stories grow repetitive in the later pages.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Illustrated Man is a 1951 collection of 18 science fiction short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. A recurring theme throughout the stories is the conflict of the cold mechanics of technology and the psychology of people. It was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1952.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- FilmThe Illustrated ManIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 411 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 74% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Short stories average of 7.8. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.2 | 39 | 10% |
| Google Books | 8.0 | 7 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 365 | 89% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Illustrated Man?
It has 251 pages — shorter than 87% of the ranked books in Short stories.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Short stories — with scores between 7.8 and 8.4, closest to this book.
