Whether the author's vision turns toward the future or peers into the past, his worlds of characters and their situations always carry the air of possibility. The title story conveys the struggle between parish priests; Father Vittorini unafraid of man's invasion of space and Father Brian uneasy at this desecration of God's territory and wondering how earthly morals will fit on Mars. Other stories use more standard equipment--the ventriloquist's dummy speaking alone in "And So Died Riabouchinska"; a take over by corrupted youth as in "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar"; the world wished out of existence in "The Vacation";--but all with Bradbury's customizing touch, in which he makes use of the horror latent in the familiar. In "El Dia de Muerte" and "The Lifework of Juan Diaz", the author returns to the Mexican funerary customs that have provided some of his best tales of grotesque terror. And, in "The Illustrated Woman" he reaches a highpoint in bizarre humor. Bradbury, in perfect orbit.
