"FRAGILE THINGS" by Neil Gaiman

In the introduction to the story called "Sunbird", Neil writes about a R.A. Lafferty, describing Lafferty's stories as 'unclassifiable and odd and imitable'.

The same could - and should - be said about Neil Gaiman.

"Fragile Things" is Gaiman's second collection of short fiction. How do you describe these stories? Perhaps 'fantasy' would cover it all, but certainly not sufficiently. 'Speculative' is really the only label you can hang on each story and poem... and yet, each piece is so much more than just speculative. There's a heartbeat to Gaiman's work that for my money is unmatched in contemporary literature. There's an intimacy, especially with his short work, that seems to put the reader at ease even when the topic is unsettling. I believe I've written in the past about what I think of as Gaiman's 'conversational' prose - it sounds corny, but when you read stories like these, you honestly feel like he's right there next to you, making sure you hear every enunciation.

Some of the highlights of this collection for me, personally, were "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire" (which you don't have to be a writer to appreciate but it certainly helps), "Closing Time" (because I frequented taverns like that in my younger years and it was all very familiar), "The Problem of Susan" (because I've always wondered what became of her as well), "Instructions" (I wish very much that I had written that...), "How do you Think it Feels?" (this one... I don't know. I'm not sure I want to get too comfortable with why I liked it), "My Life" (reminds me of a Tom Waits song... something about dancing lessons.... maybe?), "Feeders and Eaters" (creeped me out), "The Day the Saucers Came" (all that's good and whimsical), "The Monarch of the Glen" (more Shadow, more Mr. Smith, more Mr. Alice - yay).

Just good, great stuff. The introductions to each piece give you some insight as to why, how, and where they were written. They let you ride shotgun with Neil's imagination, and that's a mighty fine place to be. As an aside, I put off reading each introduction until after I'd read the story they pertained to. I guess I'm a bit of a freakozoid about avoiding spoilers... to an extent.

A whiz-bang of a book. Absolutely wonderful.

Check out Neil Gaiman's website here.

Rated: 5 out of 5

"AMERICAN GODS" by Neil Gaiman

Let me start off by saying that I haven't tasted any fiction by Neil Gaiman other than his Sandman graphic novels, (if you're rolling your eyes due to my lack of experience, I don't blame you). I'm always late, it seems, to the "critically acclaimed" authors; for some reason I duck those authors that are supposed to be the "it" thing - (perhaps that's why I came to King and Keene so late too...). Anyhow, American Gods is a triumph. It's been a long, long time since a novel has spoken to me in such a unique and satisfying way. The only others I can think of that have gotten under my skin quite as much are King's "The Stand" and Barker's "Galilee". American Gods tells the tale of a man named Shadow who moves across the country - spending quite a bit of time in Wisconsin (Yay!) - in the employ of a man named Mr. Wednesday. The book moves at a thoughtful pace as Shadow tries to figure out just who he is and what he's doing in the world, and yet it never slows enough for you to lose interest. Gaiman's imagination just spills onto the page, and you never know what's going to be around the next corner. The novel is a behemoth at almost 600 pages, and yet I found myself not wanting it to end... and yet I was satisfied when the story - not Gaiman - decided to stop; I say that because this book really seemed to tell itself. It's one of those "epic" things that seems to be a story that's always been around - or a story that "should" have always been around, and Neil Gaiman was just the one that put it down on paper.

I can't say enough good things about American Gods. This is the best book I've read in years, and I wish I would have read it sooner.

Rated: 5 out of 5

(Originally reviewed in "The Daily Cave" on April 23rd, 2006)