This past Saturday at the Monterey Public Library, Guy Montag, the protagonist in Bradbury’s futuristic novel, Fahrenheit 451, made a guest appearance in the Community Room and threw a little more kerosene on a burning fire that’s been flaming since 1953. Chris Graham, a Western Stage actor, read from a script, warming up the audience.

For the fifty adults and teens who were asked what book they would save the overwhelming consensus was The Bible, followed closely by the dictionary. Others in the book discussion, for example, chose writers such as Homer, Shakespeare, James Joyce, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, Frank Herbert, and Shel Silverstein.

Afterwards, when asked what they thought of the event, one teen said, "It opened my eyes to everyone else’s opinion." Another teen said, "The book was deeper than I thought." Someone else said, "A passion for reading survives in our society."

If you never knew Ray Bradbury, after reading 451, you might think he could be a pyromaniac.