About this title: The author of the #1 "New York Times" bestselling "Anansi Boys" releases his second collection of short fiction. "Fragile Things" includes a novella featuring the hero of Gaiman's masterpiece "American Gods" and charts the terrain between life and death, perception and reality, darkness and light.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Perennial, New York
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780061252020ISBN:0061252026
Description: Very Good. Short Fictions and Wonders. Small dents to the top corner of book, spine is uncreased, interiors are tight and clean. An excellent reading copy. Gaiman's second collection of short stories, following "Smoke and Mirrors". A truly superb collection that highlights Gaiman's depth and range as a wrtier. Some favorites "How to talk to girls at parties" and "The trouble with Susan". Highly recommended! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN-13:9780060515225ISBN:0060515228
Description: Very good. in Very good. jacket. Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders. Hardcover with dust jacket. Pages are clean and free from markings and/or highlighting, with tight binding. Dust jacket in very good condition. 113424. read more
Binding: In Box
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited, Scarborough, ON, Canada
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780061142376ISBN:0061142379
Description: Very Good. NOT EX-LIBRARY. Square 16mo. 9 compact disks in box. 10 & 1/2 hours. Read by author, Neil Gaiman. CDs, Very Good. Box with modest wear. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: HarperAudio
Date Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN-13:9780061142376ISBN:0061142379
Description: New. A great audio cd book in new condition factory sealed. FREE TRACKING in US and email to you when shipped. Inquires welcomed and we want your complete satisfaction! read more
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. NEW, no marks of any kind. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 360 p. Contains: Illustrations. P.S. (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Book Club (BCE/BOMC
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow, N. Y.
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780060515225ISBN:0060515228
Description: Cover Art. Very Good in Very Good jacket. Hard Back. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. The hard cover and the jacket has very light shelf wear...Light yellowing pages..........We are very careful when we list our books, but sometimes something minor may get by.... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780755334148ISBN:0755334140
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 448 pages. A dazzling book of short stories from one of modern fiction's greatest and most imaginative writers (Paperback) read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780060515225ISBN:0060515228
Description: New in New jacket. 0060515228 The distinctive storytelling genius of Neil Gaiman has been acclaimed by writers as diverse as Norman Mailer and Stephen King. Fragile Things, Gaiman's second collection of short fiction, contains approximately twenty previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and an American Gods novella--plus one new piece written especially for this volume. Guaranteed to dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination, and move you to the depths of your soul, ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow & Co
Date Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN-13:9780060515225ISBN:0060515228
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780060515225. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780060515225ISBN:0060515228
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"I listened to the audio recording of this book, read by Neil Gaiman himself, as I drove between Phoenix and St. George this weekend. It's a collection of short stories and poems of varying length, quality, content, and MPAA rating. Some of the stories were perfectly suitable for children; others had their fair share of "Queen of Sheba" moments. Some of the stories were very humorous; one was so creepy and violent that it gave the willies and I couldn't make it through. Some of them were terribly clever. Many of the stories, because this is Neil Gaiman, have a ghostly, eerie quality to them, which really put me in the mood for October. I don't think this is really meant to be a Halloween collection, but it felt like one. My favorite was the short story Gaiman later expanded upon in The Graveyard Book, which I am now determined to read.
So, the verdict is, I liked it. I think short stories are perfect for listening to on car trips, and Gaiman's are sufficiently weird to keep my attention over hundreds of miles of desert. Gaiman has a good reading voice, too, and I like to hear the author reading his own material. (His approximation of a woman's voice, however, is nasally and irritating, but seeming as how Gaiman is a man, I can't really blame him). My ratings and recommendations for individual stories in the collection vary quite a bit, and I'm not sure I could recommend the whole thing in good conscience. But, like I said, some of them were really quite clever and I felt delightfully Halloweeny as I listened."
"This was my first Neil Gaiman book, and I was taken aback by how good it was. Haven't come across a new author recently who blew me away like he did - Gaiman has a unique voice, and way of seeing the world. I loved his poems - Fairy Reel, The Day the Saucers Came, Instructions (on what to do if you're in a fairy tale). They were all quirky, with horror slipped in-between, almost so smoothly that you nearly miss it, reading it then suddenly thinking, what did I just read?, and going back to reread those lines that make you shudder, even if its just a little.
Of the short stories, the novella at the end of the anthology is my favourite - I like a story that doesn't give everything away, that makes you work hard to understand. The main character is so appealing, a giant of a man who is taciturn and not out to bother anyone, being taken advantage of by less scrupulous people, but who turns the tables in the end.
I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, esp. Stardust and the Graveyard Book."
"I think that's what a short story compilation should be. I don't normally like reading a book of short stories because then I feel guilt about not getting attached to any of the characters and I have trouble getting into the individual stories. I liked the Introduction at the beginning, it made me feel slightly detached from the get go, and I just read the stories as stories, not trying to identify with a character, or become psychologically wrapped up, I just escaped into each story and that was enough.
I think Gaiman's writing style also lends itself well to short stories. I read some reviews about how people thought he could be trite and smug at times, but I didn't see it. It seemed to me as though he was transcribing a story that someone was telling. Sometimes you read prose in your head and it sounds cool, but you read it out loud and it changes somehow. But with Fragile Things I felt like you could read the story in your head, but you wouldn't lose anything if you used your mouth. The book was like short story story-telling."
"Neil Gaiman never ceases to fascinate me. His ability to combine the quotidian and the surreal makes him a fantastic author, and this book of short stories and poems exemplifies his prowess. I had read a few of the stories already in "M is for Magic", his collection for younger readers, but there were some in Fragile Things that were downright frightening. It's a great book to pick up and put down or read all at once (which is what I ended up doing last night). It's a good sampler platter; it makes one want to read his other works, especially "American Gods". Although several stories were disturbing, the one that I found darkest was a take-off on C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, in which the tale of Susan, the sibling who survived the train accident that killed her family, is elaborated upon. Allusions to the partnership of Aslan and the White Witch were unsettling, to say the least. Gaiman's reliance on classic folklore and mythology, and traditional fairy tales rips away what is comfortable, presenting in a warped new light, like looking at a virus under a microscope. Words are beautiful, but powerful. He leaves you thinking."
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