Ray has certainly written more than a couple of novels, but I think I know what MP is saying.  Much of Bradbury's famous stuff, often referred to as novels, really aren't.  THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and THE ILLUSTRATED MAN both have a stucture of sorts holding them together, but they're not novels.  Even DANDELION WINE, which I guess you'd have to call a novel, is really more a collection of connected incidents.  Ray's forte has always been the short story.

Speaking of those Bradbury-esque moments in ICFOS, as an actor myself, I try to imagine Joe Sawyer's reaction to his dialogue.  After years of playing dumb brute tough guys, and dumb brute comic foils, he must have had some strong reaction when he read through his part.  I can imagine him either saying, "What is this &%$%&!  It's like a !*&^#+* poem or sumthin!"
or, "Wow, look at this--they finally give me something decent to say." 

I would love to have heard Sawyer's thoughts on that.

And what makes it so important that we stay on subject here when every freakin' thread on the board descends into chaos eventually?