Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

A quick one or two sentence review:

A glorified short story where the author pulled so many random things together, it was hard to take it seriously or care.

My review: (view spoiler)[ I attended three panels with Gaiman at ComicCon last year. At one he read a few pages of this book. His voice is so amazing. I have listened to him read other books of his, and they are always so much better when read by him. His voice is soothing and soft and just gives you a warm safe feeling.

This book is about his childhood told in the style of his writing, so not factual, but you can tell what is really him, what may have actually happened and how much he believed in magic as a child. I am so, so happy he did because he would not be the writer he is if he had not.

In the future I will make every effort to see him in person because he is simply mesmerizing (hide spoiler)]

(I know this is super late, but I'm browsing through threads because, well, bored)

Kinda agree with you, Matthew - it felt that way sometimes.

I haven't read a lot of magical realism, and this book did not compel me to check out more of that genre (which I assume this book falls under). This is also my first Neil Gaiman novel, and even though I didn't like this story that much, I'm not disinterested in his other novels. American Gods sounds interesting, as does a number of his many other works.

Story itself felt very random and disorderly, and that's just not my cup of tea. I'm glad it was short, lol. I think I sped through it just to get it over with. At least it was somewhat interesting. I know the story is supposed to be about childhood, the power of imagination, and re-visioning childhood tribulations with fantastical elements, but I was damned confused the whole time.

So all in all, it was okay with me. Just okay. Will check out other Gaiman works in the future.

Michelle - welcome to the past! I am excited to see some life in the old threads.

I have read more Gaiman since this book and I think his writing is just not for me. I am hesitant to try anymore.