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The Bradbury Report: A Novel Audiobook
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(2.99) - 165 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The year is 2071. It is a world very recognizable to our own, only now the United States has implemented a wide-scale, government-run cloning program that is tied directly to health insurance. Each US citizen has a “Copy” living separately in a cleared zone in the Midwest. If an “Original” is sick or injured and requires surgery, whatever he or she needs is taken from their clone. In the two decades since the program’s inception, no person outside the government has ever seen their Copy or been inside the Clearances, and no clone has ever successfully escaped—until now.
The Bradbury Report is a fascinating meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of as a race and society. It is a powerful work of speculative fiction, beautifully written, about love, identity, free will, aging, and intelligence that will linger with you long after reading.
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"Very interesting premise. I'd love to know more, yet understand what the author intended however I wish other aspects of the plot were developed. Life inside the "Clearances" a whole new novel? "
— Jason (5 out of 5 stars)
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“Polansky is really telling the story of lonely people, of what it means to be human, of the moral choices in advances of technology. And he does it with gorgeous, unhurried writing that makes us ache for all the characters.”
— St. Paul Pioneer Press -
“Polansky’s debut features well-developed characters and strong writing.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“The author’s portrait of medical cloning and its effects on a near-future society is compelling, especially as enhanced by the deepest voice in audio, that of Stefan Rudnicki.”
— AudioFile -
“[In] this ambitious, sometimes chilling, sometimes heartbreaking novel…Polansky does an extraordinary job of imagining the condition of being a human copy, while challenging readers to consider the ethicality and inhumanity of such human engineering.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“An inventive, cerebral thriller about a man faced with the ultimate moral quandary…Polansky does a fine job of wrestling with the moral dilemmas posited by writers like Philip K. Dick and others, and his characterization of Alan is sublimely witty and soulfully sympathetic.”
— Kirkus Reviews
The Bradbury Report Listener Reviews
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" If I had a clone I'd use him to finish this book for me. The circular dialogue is enough to hypnotize you to sleep. this was supposed to be a think piece, and there's an interesting 15 minutes about the "what if's" of cloning, but clearly not enough to carry the plot. The characters and locale, details, etc. are so bland that it seems like the intent of the author was only to highlight the social implications of cloning - would make an interesting article but felt stretched as a novel. "
— Matt, 2/19/2014 -
" There's no shelf for "books too boring to finish before they're due back at the library", but that's where this would fit. Slow to start, and just not compelling enough to keep going. "
— Elizabeth, 1/17/2014 -
" Trying to be futuristic and dystopian, this book only succeeds in being dry, dull, and uninteresting. Meh. "
— Chris, 1/4/2014 -
" It was a good premise, but I was disappointed with the result. The main character was much too self-piting to be absorbing. Another one where I was surprized I actually finished the book. "
— Jennifer, 12/23/2013 -
" It took a little while to get really immersed in it. The writing style took a little getting used to, but once I got into the meat of the story, I was entranced. It's just a heartbreakingly beautiful story. "
— Candace, 11/17/2013 -
" Tedious. Yawn. "
— Anders, 9/22/2013 -
" Makes you really think about the whole idea of cloning and what it would really mean. "
— Acacia, 8/13/2013 -
" This novel is written as the "factual" account of the human cloning practice in America in 2071. It took a while for me to get into it, but when I finished it, I was glad I read it. It brings up a lot of thought-generating questions for the human race to consider as we go forward. "
— Terry, 7/10/2013 -
" Very interesting premise. I'd love to know more, yet understand what the author intended however I wish other aspects of the plot were developed. Life inside the "Clearances" a whole new novel? "
— Jason, 3/28/2013 -
" This was slow, for me, to start. But the further I got in, the more I was drawn into this off-kilter world. Now I'm more inclined then ever to read more of such books, a la Brave New World, which I loved. "
— Colleen, 1/2/2013 -
" Just OK, I wanted it be to better "
— Beth, 11/5/2012 -
" If you give a clone some piazza that's all he will eat for a week. Other than that I spent most of the time bored and wasn't even rewarded with a happy ending. "
— April, 7/6/2012 -
" I was really interested and intrigued by the middle of the book, but the end was just disappointing..... I expected something better I guess. "
— Hanny, 3/25/2012 -
" Wasn't a big fan of the ending. The book in my opinion lacked some of the action I was hoping for. It was an interesting concept, but I wasn't very impressed with the final execution. much potential, not so much delivery. Worth a read just for the formatting but other than that, eh. "
— Caitlyn, 1/7/2012 -
" An older, lonely man meets his clone. His clone discovers his reason for existence. And an old female friend helps them both. "
— Andrea, 10/5/2011 -
" a stirring meditation on a future where cloning challenges our undertsqndingnof life & love "
— Bob, 6/16/2011 -
" Raises some interesting ethical issues about cloning "
— Maya, 5/3/2011 -
" While the premise sounded interesting, it also sounded as if I had seen a few movies about this already and because the writing was so boring and uninteresting, I couldn't see continuing with it. "
— Kristina, 4/15/2011 -
" There's no shelf for "books too boring to finish before they're due back at the library", but that's where this would fit. Slow to start, and just not compelling enough to keep going. "
— Elizabeth, 12/19/2010 -
" Just listened to this audiobook, it was a handful of decades into the future and it centered around how humans were cloned and then used for parts for their 'original', if needed. Very interesting! "
— Elizabeth, 9/2/2010 -
" Makes you really think about the whole idea of cloning and what it would really mean. "
— Acacia, 8/23/2010 -
" It was a good premise, but I was disappointed with the result. The main character was much too self-piting to be absorbing. Another one where I was surprized I actually finished the book. "
— Jennifer, 8/6/2010 -
" This was kind of hard to get into because of the writing style. Once I got passed that it was pretty good. "
— Bhoswald, 8/4/2010
About Steven Polansky
Steven Polansky grew up in New York City. His short fiction has appeared in, among other places, the New Yorker, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories, Glimmer Train, New England Review, and Minnesota Monthly. His first book, the story collection Dating Miss Universe, won the Sandstone Prize for Fiction and the Minnesota Book Award. He lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, with his wife and daughter.
About Stefan Rudnicki
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.