The Golden Apples of the Sun

The Golden Apples of the Sun is a collection of 32 of the most famous short stories by Ray Bradbury. It is named after W.B. Yeats’ poem The Song of Wandering Aengus, the last stanza of which reads: “Tho I am old with wandering/Thru hollow lands & hilly lands,/I will find out where she has gone/& kiss her lips & take her hands;/& walk among long dappled grass,/
& pluck till time & times are done/The silver apples of the moon,/The golden apples of the sun.”

The book was originally published in 1953 with 22 stories. An semi-omnibus edition of the ’53 collection & R is for Rocket was published in ’90 by Bantam Books as Classic Stories 1, which omitted four stories from Golden Apples of the Sun & one from R is for Rocket. The 3rd printing of Classic Stories 1 (’95) restored the title story from Golden Apples of the Sun. In ’97, the contents of the 3rd printing of Classic Stories 1 were retitled Golden Apples of the Sun & published by Avon. The book is currently published under the title A Sound of Thunder & Other Stories (’05).
Contents of 1953 edition:
’52 The Fog Horn
’51 The Pedestrian
’51 The April Witch
’52 The Wilderness
’48 The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl
’45 Invisible Boy
’53 The Flying Machine
’53 The Murderer
’53 The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind
’47 I See You Never
’51 Embroidery
’45 The Big Black & White Game
’52 A Sound of Thunder
’53 The Great Wide World Over There
’48 Powerhouse
’52 En La Noche
’53 Sun & Shadow
’47 The Meadow
’53 The Garbage Collector
’49 The Great Fire
’53 Hail & Farewell
’53 The Golden Apples of the Sun