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

by Bradbury, Ray; Norman Mailer; Shirley Jackson; Rod Serling

$8,800 · Offered by Biblio

First edition · Signed

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 l

• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: unknown

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