• Zen in the Art of Writing

  • By: Ray Bradbury
  • Narrated by: Jim Frangione
  • Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (433 ratings)

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Zen in the Art of Writing  By  cover art

Zen in the Art of Writing

By: Ray Bradbury
Narrated by: Jim Frangione
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Publisher's summary

"Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a land mine. The land mine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces back together. Now, it's your turn. Jump!"

Zest. Gusto. Curiosity. These are the qualities every writer must have, as well as a spirit of adventure. In this exuberant book, the incomparable Ray Bradbury shares the wisdom, experience, and excitement of a lifetime of writing. Here are practical tips on the art of writing from a master of the craft - everything from finding original ideas to developing your own voice and style - as well as the inside story of Bradbury's own remarkable career as a prolific author of novels, stories, poems, films, and plays.

Zen in the Art of Writing is more than just a how-to manual for the would-be writer: it is a celebration of the act of writing itself that will delight, impassion, and inspire the writer in you. In it, Bradbury encourages us to follow the unique path of our instincts and enthusiasms to the place where our inner genius dwells, and he shows that success as a writer depends on how well you know one subject: your own life.

©1994 Ray Bradbury Enterprises (P)2018 Recorded Books

Featured Article: 45+ Quotes About Writing from Famous Writers


No matter how passionate you are about it, writing can be difficult. Whenever you’re struggling with writer’s block, rejection, competition, insecurity, or any of the countless obstacles that wordsmiths encounter daily, it can help to get encouragement from those who have successfully overcome the very same challenges. If you're looking for inspiration to start your next project, these quotes about writing from writers themselves are sure to be welcome reading!

What listeners say about Zen in the Art of Writing

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Evocative fuel for any Muse!

This book has been a deeply cherished favorite of mine since adolescence. I've hoped to find it on Audible for years. It's finally here.

Mr. Frangione's narration brings Bradbury's dynamically vital text to life. What a relief to find a voice so perfectly suited to such spiritually demanding material!

As I listened, I worked on Surrealistic drawings, refreshed and reminded of wisdom that had been instilled by Bradbury decades ago.

These are lessons for life, immediately applicable to any life lived in mindfulness and flow.

Reaching the end, I shed my first tears of joy in recent memory.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Non-essential

Thus book has some decent writing advice/inspiration, but the author spends too much time talking about himself rather than the craft of writing.
He tells stories about his boyhood, his adult encounters with literary agents and often spends time on things that are irrelevant to the modern writer, such as the cost of renting a type writer.
If you want to hear a Bradbury's memoir you have come to right place. If all you really want is writing advice, I advise that you skip this title.
#tagsgiving

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Wanted to love this book, but...

A lifelong fan of Bradbury, I was very disappointed in this ego-stroking, self-involved book supposedly on writing. Doesn't change my opinion of his wonderful fiction, but this was a failure for me.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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inspirational

If you've been feeling blocked, unmotivated or forgot how much FUN it can be to write, this will help. It's humorous and inspirational. He talks about how he got started writing and how he kept going. There's also a chapter where he answers reader's questions about his books, which was interesting.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Passionate Writing Inspiration

Very inspiring! Keep in mind that this is a collection of essays on writing. Bradbury gives so much inspiration and you feel his passion of the craft. It truly makes you want to grab a notebook and start jotting down your own titles for story inspiration to bloom from.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great, informative book!

I love Ray Bradbury and this book gave some helpful advice to an aspiring writer.

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Yeah, no

No thanks, not for me at all

I wanted to learn more about telling and writing stories, I don't need inspiration or motivation—I need what will help me improve and grow. And well this book was recommended to me, but it failed to meet my needs.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good advice - re-readable.

Glad I bought this one, I'll be listening to it again. Bradbury had immense innate talent, but he also had a perseverance and discipline that can be learned.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love Bradbury, hated the narrator

A narrator should reflect the voice of the characters, and in this case the author. There’s no way Ray Bradbury would be speaking/reading this way. Among other things Bradbury has humor and humility in his writing.
Another reviewer used the word “obnoxious” to describe the narrator and I have to agree.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Does not deliver

Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations. To start, the narration was absolutely obnoxious. Also, I wanted to walk away from this book with writing advice I could share with my creative writing class, but this book did not deliver. I did like one idea about list-making and how it might help a writer generate story ideas and story title names. However, that was it.

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1 person found this helpful