Ray Bradbury, Norman Mailer, Shirley Jackson, and Rod Serling Autograph Questionnaires.

BRADBURY, Ray; Norman Mailer; Shirley Jackson; Rod Serling.

$8,800.00

Item Number: 123507

Rare collection of four mimeographed questionnaires sent by James A. Sherlock, a graduate student of City College of New York, to Ray Bradbury, Norman Mailer, Shirley Jackson, and Rod Serling, completed and signed by each. Eight pages, dated November, 1960, partially printed the questionnaire begins with a typed letter signed by James A. Sherlock politely requesting each author’s responses to several questions for “an original research project aimed at uncovering certain educational factors in the lives of successful writers” with the goal of “find[ing] out if the average successful writer considers his high school education in English a help or a hindrance in preparing him for his profession.” Questions include: “In your high school days, did you prefer to read fiction or non-fiction?”, “Did you favor one or two authors at this time in particular in your high school reading?”, “At approximately what age did you first seriously consider becoming a writer?”, and “In your opinion, how much did your high school English course contribute to your success as a writer?” Each author has completed and signed the questionnaire, Bradbury and Jackson have provided an additional typed paragraph at the conclusion. Bradbury has noted that his favorite authors during high school were “Edgar Allan Poe. Nathaniel Hawthorne”, that he preferred reading “Science-fiction novels, short stories”, that as a high school writer he consciously imitated the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and has left a lengthy typed paragraph at the conclusion of the questionnaire which reads in part, “Work habits should be impressed upon students, in high school. Only by writing and throwing away hundreds of stories can one learn to write… I did not go to college and do not feel it is necessary to do so to write… But high-school training if applied with zest and gusto, should throw the student out into the world ready to start writing… a story a week! No less than that! R.B.” Rather than complete the survey, Mailer has left a signed note, “Dear Mr. Sherlock – I am sorry but I think it’s better that the creative process of writers continue to be a mystery. Norman Mailer.” Shirley Jackson has noted that during high school she preferred reading “Novels, preferably fantasy or even fairy tales”, that she engaged in writing outside of school “Constantly. My mother has my first poem still. Singed ‘Shirley, aged six'” and has left a typed paragraph at the conclusion of the questionnaire which reads in part, “I left college at the end of my second year because I was bored and because I was kicked out, and decided that I would now enter seriously upon my career as a writer, a career I had determined upon — as I said — at the age of six.” Serling has noted that his “interest in people & problems” contributed more than his schooling to his success as a writer and that he first seriously considered becoming a writer at the age of 18. In near fine condition. Signed by all four authors. A rare and desirable collection offering unique insight into the education and influences of four of the formative American writers of the 20th century.

One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, Ray Bradbury was mainly known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951). In a career spanning over six decades, Norman Kingsley Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least one in each of the seven decades after World War II—more than any other post-war American writer. His 1968 nonfiction novel Armies of the Night won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction as well as the National Book Award. Known primarily for her works of horror and mystery, Shirley Jackson composed six novels, two memoirs, and more than 200 short stories throughout the duration of her career including her 1953 memoir, Life Among the Savages, and 1959 supernatural horror novel The Haunting of Hill House, which is widely considered to be one of the best ghost stories ever written. American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator Rod Serling was best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series, The Twilight Zone.