In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future,
firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's
vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest
goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are
bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they
win by remembering the words to more popular songs... Don't give them slippery
stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies
melancholy."

Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife
spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder
so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply
contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled
by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world
around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears
mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books
in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call
to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag
winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books
in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom
of literature.

Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems,
including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of
many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers
of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense
of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide.

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