How cool is that?! I love Elton John and was so excited to learn that little tidbit. And sure enough, Bradbury’s story was the inspiration for the song. Instead, I’m going to talk about the stories that I really enjoyed or that really creeped me out…įirst and foremost, the short story that inspired Elton John to write “Rocket Man” is in this collection! It’s titled “ The Rocket Man” (imagine that), and right away it reminded me of Elton John’s song, so I HAD to do that research. If you’re interested, you can easily look up their synopses on Wikipedia or elsewhere, I’m sure. I thought about giving a brief description of each story here, but there are 18 stories in total, and that would make for a very long post. The short stories collected in the book are supposed to be the stories the tattoos are telling. The book starts with the narrator meeting the Illustrated Man, being told his story, and then watching his tattoos for the rest of the night. The Illustrated Man has been working for carnival freak shows, but keeps getting fired or run off because of his (apparently more freakish than they want) tattoos. There is a blank spot on one of his shoulder blades, if I remember correctly, that fills itself in if someone is in the Illustrated Man’s presence for too long, and it tells the future of that person. Tattoos that are animated, each telling a different story. Tattoos that he received from a woman he claims is a time-traveler. The Illustrated Man himself is a vagrant covered in tattoos.

The illustrated man the man