Fahrenheit 451 is released as an ebook

CLASSIC BOOK BURNING NOVEL Fahrenheit 451 has been published as an ebook.

The title's entry to the virtual canon has not always been assured, since its author, Ray Bradbury has been very vocal about how little time he has for the electronic format. Now though, publisher Simon & Schuster has announced that it has secured the rights to publish all English language print and digital editions of Fahrenheit 451 in North America.

Other Bradbury titles up for download include such bookshelf staples as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man, according to those involved.

"It's a rare and wonderful opportunity to continue our relationship with this beloved and canonical author and to bring his works to new a generation of readers and in new formats," said Simon & Schuster publisher Jonathan Karp. "We are honored to be the champion of these classic works."

We called Simon & Schuster in the UK and it did not know whether Fahrenheit 451 will be available in ebook format in this country. Mind you we were not entirely sure that they had ever heard of the book, either.

Of course ebooks get released every day, but this particular appearance is noteworthy because Ray Bradbury has positioned himself as an opponent of the ebook format. In an interview in the New York Times in 2000 he suggested that the only technology he needs is a typewriter.

He said, "I don't have a computer. A computer's a typewriter. I already have a typewriter." Later, in another interview with the same newspaper he said that the internet was a "distraction" and railed against it.

"Yahoo called me eight weeks ago," he said. "They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? 'To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.' It's distracting... It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere." µ