eil Gaiman.Here's how it began.
Some years ago, I heard about him, probably through the Compuserve Books and Writers Community (of which, if I'm not mistaken, he used to be a member), and found some of his free short stories on his website (they're still there). They were interesting but not earth-shattering, so I let it go.
A couple of years ago, I borrowed Anansi Boys off a friend, but when I read the back, I realised American Gods came first (sort of), and I didn't own that. So Anansi Boys sat on that 180 books to read by 2015 list (down the side of the blog) for ages.
Until two weeks ago, when I went to pick up my mother at the airport, forgot to check the flight before I left the house, and discovered, once there, that the flight was delayed and that I'd have an hour to spend in the bookstore. Was looking (drooling) at all the books I wanted (I tallied up - if I'd bought them all, I'd have spent 150$ on about ten books), when I suddenly saw that they'd put American Gods on sale for 15$.
And that's when the current obsession started. I've already barrelled through American Gods and half of Anansi Boys. Unplanned, but timely, Jenny happens to be featuring Gaiman as mentor of the month, and has some thought-provoking posts on Why to Read Widely and Chapters In Which Something Happens.
On top of all that, Gaiman's got me listening to The Magnetic Fields again. Here're some linked sounds and images and words one after the other:
"The book of love is long and boring / No one can lift the damn thing up."
"daniel handler, who's the accordion player from the magnetic fields, was magically on hand to play us 'the book of love'" - Amanda Palmer, on marrying Neil Gaiman.
Amanda Palmer singing Radiohead's No Surprises:
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer together in the bath:
In a recent blog post, Gaiman says, "I should go and write some more."
I think that's sound advice.
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10 comments:
Oh, that interview is great! I'd never heard of Amanda Palmer, but I love her (anybody excited about being naked is cool by me) and I am already a Neil Gaiman fan--you need to read The Graveyard Book.
I need to read more of him.
I met Neil and shook his hand at WFC. He is just as cool as he looks.
You've got to read Neverwhere. That's my favorite of his novels.
Interesting interview. So I guess the fact that Amanda said she likes to be naked is why she is naked in the bath and Neil is wearing a suit? :) I like her singing voice in particular.
I can't think of anything Neil Gaiman wrote that I didn't enjoy to some level . . . The Graveyard Book is my favorite of his novels. :)
Yay Neil Gaiman! He's got fun reads all around. I finished Anansi Boys and now I'm reading Fragile Things, which is awesome. So far my favorite is The Graveyard Book...but Stardust is pretty rockin' too. The movie did it justice, but you should add it to your READ pile anway. =)
(And I'm totally adding this post to my mentor linkage, kay? Kay.)
I know, Hart! This discovery has hit my TBR pile hard. I've got a new Gaiman wishlist a mile long...
You do, Sara!
Can I shake your hand, Matthew?
I like her voice too, Neurotic!
I'm so far behind, Eagle! I've got to read The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, Coraline...
Thanks for the link, Jenny! Fragile Things, that's another one going on the list. I'm dying to read the story about Susan Pevensie.
I recently heard an interview with him on NPR. He read an excerpt from a novel. It's brilliant stuff.
Which did you like better, American Gods or Anasazi Boys?
It is, isn't it, Missed? I'm reading Fragile Things at the moment and as soon as I read Instructions, I want to listen to him read it.
I can't decide, Theresa. I liked the ideas in American Gods, and really liked Shadow. But Anansi Boys reminded me of Westlake, only much better, and I loved the whimsy - and especially the way everything came together, where Fat Charlie had to face his fear and embarrassment of singing in public in order to save Daisy's life.
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