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Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (P.S.)
by Neil Gaiman
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780061252020 |
Only 1 left in stock at $10.50!
Powells.com Staff Pick
Fantasy author Gaiman is at his best in this short story collection, which
contains an embarrassing riches of storytelling that is at times dark,
funny, terrifying, beautiful, and always brilliant.
Recommended by Bolton, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
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.
Review:
"Hot off the critical success of Anansi Boys, Gaiman offers this largely disappointing medley that feels like a collection of idea seeds that have yet to mature. Among the ground covered: an old woman eats her cat alive, slowly; two teenage boys fumble through a house party attended by preternaturally attractive aliens; a raven convinces a writer attempting realism to give way to fantastical inclinations. A few poems, heartfelt or playfully musical, pockmark the collection. At his best, Gaiman has a deft touch for surprise and inventiveness, and there are inspired moments, including one story that brings the months of the year to life and imagines them having a board meeting. (September is an 'elegant creature of mock solicitude,' while April is sensitive but cruel; they don't get along), but most of these stories rely too heavily on the stock-in-trade of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. Gaiman only once or twice gives himself the space necessary to lock the reader's attention. 150,000 announced first printing." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"You've maybe heard some academic theory about how fairy tales weren't composed by any single author, that they somehow knitted themselves out of folk-consciousness. Baloney. To be sure, the tales might have been improved here and there over the years. But if you want to know the kind of person who would have made up the prototype classic fairy tale or even those urban folk tales doing the rounds,..." Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)
Review:
"Gaiman again proves himself a perverse romantic....He wears his pop cred in boldface, and street-smart hipness saturates these eerie epiphanies. But the collection also boasts lush prose, a lack of irony and a winning faith in the enchantment of stories." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review:
"[These stories] exude the romanticism, often erotic, that makes [Gaiman's] first two novels, Neverwhere and Stardust, for all their darkness and grit, so powerfully attractive....One delight after another..." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review:
"Gaiman follows no overarching theme, but that is what makes these stories charming, at times creepy, and good fun....[H]ighly recommended." Library Journal
Review:
"The tales of Fragile Things are nibbles and bits of Gaiman's immensely satisfying inner landscape. They are fiercely playful and very grim, wisps of whimsy and wonder buoyed by the happy heart of a tragic poet." USA Today
Review:
"[Gaiman] can't resist using many of the pieces as stages themselves, having deftly drawn characters tell strange, or sweet, or eerie, or heartfelt stories to others....[P]erhaps, Gaiman relishes the sacred act of telling stories even more than he does writing them. (Grade: B+)" Entertainment Weekly
Review:
"Gaiman has fun playing with pop culture, fairy tales and fables, and even when the stories dissolve too easily, a sense of mischief separates him from some of his cliché-addicted peers in the genre." San Diego Union-Tribune
Review:
"The form and content of the collection varies wildly from tale to tale...but nearly all of them show off Gaiman's consistent and considerable craft, along with his contagious enthusiasm for storytelling itself." Newsday
Review:
"The wide variety of selections shows Gaiman's influences and his amazing range as one of the world's most popular fantasy writers....I hope Gaiman has room on his shelf for a few more trophies. Readers will be hard-pressed to find a better collection this year." Rocky Mountain News
Review:
"There's not one piece of prose or poetry in Fragile Things that won't repay re-reading....[W]ords, when they're as well-chosen and deftly arranged as those in this book, can...[stay] with their audience long after the breath and ink that gave them birth have vanished." Seattle Times
Synopsis:
The author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Anansi Boys releases his second collection of short fiction. This book 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.
About the Author
Neil Gaiman is the critically acclaimed, award-winning creator of the Sandman series of graphic novels and author of the novels Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, Stardust, and Neverwhere, the short-fiction collection Smoke and Mirrors, and the bestselling children's books The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls (both illustrated by Dave McKean). Originally from England, Gaiman now lives in the United States.
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Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780061252020
- Subtitle:
- Short Fictions and Wonders
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Harper Perennial
- Subject:
- Short Stories (single author)
- Subject:
- General Fiction
- Edition Description:
- Paperback
- Series:
- P.S.
- Publication Date:
- October 2007
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Grade Level:
- General/trade
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 360
- Dimensions:
- 8.02x5.44x1.02 in. .67 lbs.
