Alabama Book Covers (14): Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles

Have you been wondering about a book cover that combines Alabama, author Ray Bradbury and Mars? Well, so have I and here it is below. 

This post is another in a series that highlights tenuous connections to our state. You can see two others here and here. There are and will be more; they're fun to do.

In his long and prolific career Bradbury wrote such classic novels as Farenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He also wrote numerous short stories that have filled many collections. Bradbury died in 2012, and one of his many honors occurred that year. NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, and the site was named Bradbury Landing.

Bradbury's first novel The Martian Chronicles appeared in 1950 and consisted of short stories published in the late 1940's that he wove together with new material. Earth has become so troubled that colonization of Mars has begun. Conflict develops between the human arrivals and the indigenous Martian population. Sound familiar?

Among other adaptations, the book has appeared on radio and the opera stage. In January 1980 a television adaptation with Rock Hudson and other stars appeared on NBC over three nights. Bradbury called it "just boring". I remember enjoying it, but haven't seen it in a long time.  

The Bantam paperback edition below is the first one issued by that publisher; others would follow until at least 1980. And there's "Alabama", sandwiched between Ohio and California.....

New York: Bantam, 1951 

Source: Wikipedia