Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (P.S.)
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (P.S.)
A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night. . . .
In a Hugo Award-winning story, a great detective must solve a most unsettling royal murder in a strangely altered Victorian England. . . .
Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams—and nightmares. . . .
These marvelous creations and more showcase the unparalleled invention and storytelling brilliance—as well as the terrifyingly dark and entertaining sense of humor—of the incomparable Neil Gaiman. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most original writers of our time.
Customer Review: Neil’s Odds n’ Sods
Did you ever pick up one of those compilation albums by one of your favorite musicians, only to find it to be full of undeveloped ideas and vanity pieces that were rightfully withheld from the proper albums in the first place? This anthology from the usually awesome Neil Gaiman is the literary equivalent of a collection of B-sides and outtakes, and there’s a reason many of these ideas are not in his much more developed novels. Like any odds n’ sods collection, there are a few flashes of brilliance here, like the modern Sherlock Holmes tale “A Study in Emerald” and the gruesomely whimsical “Sunbird.” There are also a few enjoyable entries that highlight Gaiman’s well-known interest in fairy tales, like “Harlequin Valentine.” But most of the short stories here are toss-offs to themed anthologies or tribute editions; and regardless of the fact that several of these tales were award winners in the realms where they originally appeared, many seem undeveloped and arbitrary.
Gaiman is correct in stating that his tribute to Ray Bradbury, “October in the Chair,” would have been better written by Bradbury himself, and tributes to other works like “Goliath” (The Matrix) and “The Problem of Susan” (Narnia) are vanity pieces at best. Some stories such as “Diseasemaker’s Croup” are disappointinggly anemic snippets of thin and fanciful ideas, with probably more reward for the writer than the reader. This book’s examples of Gaiman’s poetry and targeted prose (such as the snippets written for the Strange Little Girls album by Tori Amos) are intriguing but directionless, and the majority of short stories are just plain unmemorable. Gaiman is one of my favorite writers and I recommend his novels whole-heartedly. But this collection is surely not appropriate for the casual fan, and even serious fans will probably find it disappointing and a bit self-indulgent. [~doomsdayer520~]
Customer Review: Average, disgusting.
Neil Gaiman is R.L. Stein with sex thrown in. A cat’s head gets stomped on in one of the stories. I can’t recommend this because of that. He is a sick freak, not in a fun way, and I feel bad I supported him by buying this book. The stories start out great (A study in emerald, October in the Chair, Fairy Reel) then get progressively worse, relying on cheap tricks, gore, and sex. I got to page 272, and then I just had enough of the crap, and copied stories. If you want to read about stomping on a cat’s head then neil gaiman is for you. If you like that kind of thing I would hope you both die as soon as possible. Unfortunately Neil Gaiman has kids and his books are popular enough that I fear its already too late. Don’t buy.
Tags: Literature book, Fiction book, Cheap Fiction book, Cheap Literature book, Literature and Fiction book
