Ray Bradbury: Fact or Fiction - American Literature Research Paper (200 Level Course) Ray Bradbury is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, children’s author and editor. He is the leading writer of science fiction and fantasy that is concerned with the ideas of futurism, rather than with the wonders of advanced gadgetry. His fiction is based on the inhumanity, apathy, and technology of modern society (Riley, p. 68). Bradbury has left most of us with this question: