Oprah Interviews Bradbury

Recently on the Oprah Winfrey show the host, Oprah Winfrey, interviewed Ray Bradbury, author of the Oprah’s Bookclub Book of the Month, Dandelion Wine, a story about a young boy’s adventures in the summer of 1928 in a small Midwestern town. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Winfrey: So I understand that you grew up in a small town? And you would have been about Douglas’s age in 1928, correct?

Bradbury: Yes, I was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920. So I would have been eight years old in 1928, a few years younger than Douglas. But he is very much modeled after me­—especially­­ the way he thinks. I believe that every child thinks the way Douglas does. Children are naturally adventurous and curious about the world. And that’s how I felt in 1928 in Waukegan.

Winfrey: We’re here talking to Ray Bradbury, author of Dandelion Wine, my pick for Oprah’s Bookclub Book of the Month. Now Ray, I can call you that right?, now Ray, is this a book for children? Because in it there are some very scary things, such as fear of the ravine, there is some death in it. Is this a children’s book?

Bradbury: This is a question that I get asked a lot by many people such as teachers, parents, other writers, even children themselves. There are two arguments that can be made about the matter. One is that in Dandelion Wine I idolize those summers you spend as a child while you are still very innocent and eager to explore the world. I think that many adults feel that you have to be older to understand this book because then you can feel nostalgia that is directed to those wonderful summer days where you romp around and just feel right. But what those adults don’t realize is that children are living those days. Just because the world isn’t like a small pre-depression Midwestern town doesn’t mean the summers of childhood are any less meaningful or magical. And this is the second argument: children can enjoy this book. Of course there are some characters, such as Mrs. Bentley—

Winfrey: And she is the character who is near the end of her life, and the small children don’t believe that she was ever young? And they steal the things she tries to prove to them that she once was young with?

Bradbury: —correct. Mrs. Bentley can only really be understood at the surface level by adults who have grown up, and know what it is like to look back and realize how much you have changed, and how you never will be the person you were fifty years ago. But even children can read about Mrs. Bentley and understand the loneliness she has. Even children can understand the profoundness of her existence.

Winfrey: We’ll be back right away with more from Ray Bradbury, so stay tuned.

(The audience cheers.)

Winfrey: And now we’re back. Today I invited Ray Bradbury here, to talk with me about his book Dandelion Wine. If you haven’t read it yet, pick it up at your local bookstore; just ask for Oprah’s Bookclub Book of the Month. OK Ray during the commercial break I found a quote from Dandelion Wine that I want to talk to you about. It’s on page thirteen. Here it is: “Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered.” What exactly is dandelion wine and what does it mean to you?

Bradbury: Dandelion wine is the essence of summer. When I think back to those halcyon days of summer as a young child before the Great Depression, I think back to being a carefree young boy, brimming with excitement for the freedom to do anything and go anywhere. Dandelion wine, to me, represents all of these things to me. Dandelions, of course, are considered weeds to most adults, but to a child a field of dandelions is a magical yellow blanket of nature, which is pure, and therefore not considered an eyesore by children, not by a long shot.

Winfrey: So what I understand is that dandelion wine doesn’t actually exist? It just exists as a metaphor for the type of summer that might inspire its production?

Bradbury: That’s incorrect; dandelion wine is drunken by some, not very many people anymore. However you are correct when you say that in this book it is more of a metaphor, and in my mind it’s a metaphor for the way a child would think about their summers and a child’s point of view.

Winfrey: It was a pleasure having you on, but I’m afraid we are out of time. Ray Bradbury everybody, and his classic Dandelion Wine. Thank you!

Bradbury: I had a wonderful time coming on your show Oprah.

Winfrey: And if everyone looks underneath their seat they will see a special Oprah’s Bookclub Book of the Month edition of Dandelion Wine.

(The audience begins shrieking.)

Woman: (climbing onstage) Oh my God, I love you Oprah! I love you! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

Oprah: Security! (woman is escorted out of the room)