Reviews
Neil Gaiman reading his own books aloud to you is its own special magic. To demonstrate, follow this recipe: Start by being sick in bed with a cold. Best to be past the first day, maybe day 3 or 4, to make sure you are properly bored and irritable. Get a fresh pair of sheets on the bed. Just a fresh pillowcase will do in a pinch. Make a hot cup of tea with honey and lemon. This will be the first of dozens, and is integral to success. Put on this audiobook, loud enough that you can hear fine even with one ear flat on the pillow but not so loud that you are unable to doze. Settle in and let the stories surround you. By the end of the book the magic will have taken hold, and you will surely feel better than when you started.
** spoiler alert ** I always enjoy anything by Neil Gaiman, but noticed some repeat short stories that I read either in Smoke and Mirrors or Fragile Things.
Like many reviewers, I find Neil Gaiman's short stories to be hit or miss. I have a sort of love-hate thing with Neil's short stories. Some of them are the best stories I've ever read, and some I find to just be tedious. Gaiman is fine with this. As he admits in his introduction: you don't have to like them all. So instead of focusing on what I don't like. I'll tell you why I think this is my favorite collection of short stories by Gaiman. Sure, they are all recycled from other publications, but that doesn't bother me. You see M Is for Magic collects my favorite four Gaiman short stories in one book, so for me it's a win-win. Chivalry is hands down one of my top three favorite short stories of all time. It's brilliant. It's up there with Flannery O'Connor, Bradbury, and Shirley Jackson's short stories. I'm also quite fond of Troll Bridge, The Price, Sunbird, and How To Talk To Girls at Parties. Instructions, a wonderful short poem at the end of this collection, is also an amazing picture book for children that I admire. Now why isn't this five stars? Well, the other stories in the collection just weren't my cup of tea and I thought they were week entries in what could easily be a greatest hits collection. The title, while a nod to Ray Bradbury, is a bit misleading as well. You would think this is a story collection for young tikes. I don't think this a book for children per se. However, it is a good middle grade/young adult read. There are some mature themes within this book. If you haven't read Chivalry yet, do yourself a favor, read it!
* The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds 4/5 * Troll Bridge 2.5/5 * Don't Ask Jack 5/5 * How to Sell the Ponti Bridge 4/5 * October in the Chair 5/5 * Chivalry 3/5 * The Price 4/5 * How to Talk to Girls at Parties 2/5 * Sunbird 2/5 * The Witch's Headstone 5/5 * Instructions 5/5
This was a solid three-star short-story collection. My favorites were October in the Chair, Chivalry and Instructions.
