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tarugani's review against another edition
4.0
I seriously doubt that this should actually have been made into a book. You know that webcomic with Neil Gaiman's shopping list? It was pretty much exactly like that.
*That said*, I read it. I enjoyed it. And there were some gems of information and recommendation and just general fun--and Neil Gaiman's gems are worth quite a bit.
*That said*, I read it. I enjoyed it. And there were some gems of information and recommendation and just general fun--and Neil Gaiman's gems are worth quite a bit.
claritybear's review against another edition
4.0
I would never have considered myself the type of person who would read a book of introductions about other works I've never read, a blog from 10 years ago and a few random, not very good poems. But I just did. Cover to cover (with a bit of skimming on the intros, I'll be honest). I really enjoyed some of the essays early on and his thoughts on C.S. Lewis and the Screwtape Letters were something I might never have come across otherwise. It was the second half of the collection that really got me though, all of the blog entries from when American Gods was going through the editing and publishing stages up through his book tours.
This is a great read for anyone whose never read a single Gaiman book or comic but was interested in the reality of a book becoming a BOOK to the public. He really hashes out the details of editing and copy-editing and interviews and what happens to get those blurbs on the back of book jackets. And for anyone who is a Gaiman addict or just simply a fan, well it's a ridiculous pleasure to read his entries, even the shortest of them. His voice is so simply his voice no matter what he's writing and his humor and observations about everything from author's photos to sushi in New York are entertaining and insightful.
It is also an interesting read as it shows Gaiman's transition into the internet world of blogs (he still calls it a "web blog" throughout) and e-books (he thinks their only future will be in being able to read while your bedmate sleeps). Blogger, the site he uses, crashes often or loses his long entries. Occasionally he catches his foot in cord and unplugs the phone line and there goes the internet. As the U.S. book tour gets going he's switching over to his new neilgaiman.com site and again it is interesting (in cultural way at least) to hear about the transition simply in light of the shifts of the past 10 years.
This is a great read for anyone whose never read a single Gaiman book or comic but was interested in the reality of a book becoming a BOOK to the public. He really hashes out the details of editing and copy-editing and interviews and what happens to get those blurbs on the back of book jackets. And for anyone who is a Gaiman addict or just simply a fan, well it's a ridiculous pleasure to read his entries, even the shortest of them. His voice is so simply his voice no matter what he's writing and his humor and observations about everything from author's photos to sushi in New York are entertaining and insightful.
It is also an interesting read as it shows Gaiman's transition into the internet world of blogs (he still calls it a "web blog" throughout) and e-books (he thinks their only future will be in being able to read while your bedmate sleeps). Blogger, the site he uses, crashes often or loses his long entries. Occasionally he catches his foot in cord and unplugs the phone line and there goes the internet. As the U.S. book tour gets going he's switching over to his new neilgaiman.com site and again it is interesting (in cultural way at least) to hear about the transition simply in light of the shifts of the past 10 years.
violetturtledove's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
By the nature of this book it's a mixed bag, it's Neil Gaiman so of course it's entertaining but probably one for big fans only.
There are three main categories of content, the largest is the web journal from the American Gods release and signing tour. It's a good insight into the publication and promotion process, and there's quite a few funny anecdotes but it's a bit hard to read much of it in one go.. with the ebook version i have, i feel it might have been more accessible in smaller chapters (maybe by month?) Rather than two of 164 pages each.
There are also a number of introductions which are interesting and well written, but also bad for my wishlist because I want to read everything Mr Gaiman recommends!
The smallest part of the book is poetry/fiction/prose - all very short but very good. If you're not interested in the journal or introductions, it might be worth looking these up separately (I know one or two have been published elsewhere, and some are in cd inlays)
There are three main categories of content, the largest is the web journal from the American Gods release and signing tour. It's a good insight into the publication and promotion process, and there's quite a few funny anecdotes but it's a bit hard to read much of it in one go.. with the ebook version i have, i feel it might have been more accessible in smaller chapters (maybe by month?) Rather than two of 164 pages each.
There are also a number of introductions which are interesting and well written, but also bad for my wishlist because I want to read everything Mr Gaiman recommends!
The smallest part of the book is poetry/fiction/prose - all very short but very good. If you're not interested in the journal or introductions, it might be worth looking these up separately (I know one or two have been published elsewhere, and some are in cd inlays)
molokov's review against another edition
4.0
This collection includes mostly introductions and essays, a copy of Neil's American Gods book tour blog (covering most of 2001) and a few very short stories. Some were new to me, some are in A View from the Cheap Seats, and all are good Gaiman. The Blog entries were a nice window to the past but did take a very long time to get through, I think I should have skipped some. But still, nice to get through another Neil Gaiman collection
ambermarshall's review against another edition
3.0
I remember a review of this on here saying that if you absolutely must read every word Neil Gaiman has written, go ahead and read this. That's pretty accurate. There are some gems of wisdom and highlight-worthy lines, but unless you really want to read a lot of forewords and his American God's blog (interesting, but not enough for me to finish it) give it a pass.
nmcannon's review
5.0
This book is a journey. It's a walk backstage to see who Neil Gaiman is and what he does, from writing to touring to marketing. After reading, I feel like I know Gaiman as a person more, which is nice, though it came as a surprise since I thought this would haver more fiction in it. The book actually contains only a few poems and prose, and the bulk of it is intros Gaiman wrote for various publications and the American God's weblog. The weblog was my favorite since it's from a time that the publishing industry was more in between digital and paper, and I would recommend it to any would-be authors wanting to know what the publishing/marketing process is like. All and all, a solid read.
una_10bananas's review
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dolangueando's review
5.0
Algumas citações marcadas como spoiler.
Women, after all, buy more of the books than men do. They like to read. And there is no X-chromosome-linked inability to read comics, either. - pág.22
This volume, published and compiled by Friends of Lulu, is here to help all of you sell more comics. You are selling people dreams and stories and pictures, and there’s never been anything gender-specific about them. You have, after all, nothing to lose but fifty percent of the human race. - pág.23
There’s a mixture of love and hatred here that’s heady, weird, and unique: subtle as a gang-rape, gentle as a crowbar shattering a skull, sweet as a dead boy in a bell tower feeding on pigeons. - pág.31
Well, yeah. I suppose I’d think it was odd if an adult male’s best friend and closest, most constant companion was a twelve-year-old boy. Now you come to mention it. - pág.32
people do tell stories in pubs, and all of them, I was assured, were quite true, for they happened to a friend of a friend of the person who told me the tale. - pág.59
Lovecraft is a resonating wave. He’s rock and roll. - pág.72
It is too often a sad and unwise thing to go back and read a favourite book. - pág.78
It wasn’t those writers or artists who accurately recorded life: the special ones were the ones who drew it or wrote it so personally that, in some sense, it seemed as if they were creating life, or creating the world and bringing it back to you. And once you’d seen it through their eyes you could never un-see it, not ever again. - pág.93
“Neil, dear. I think there’s something you ought to know. Listen: to be eccentric, you must first know your circle.” And I—for once—heard, and listened, and understood. You can fuck around with the rules as much as you want to—after you know what the rules are. You can be Picasso after you know how to paint. Do it your way; but know how to do it their way first. - pág.100
Let me say true things in a voice that’s true, and, with the truth in mind, let me write lies. - pág.114
Before I start I grab a pile of dictionaries, English and American, and a bunch of books on usage—Fowler’s, and the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage, and Bill Bryson’s lovely Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words—and the Chicago Manual of Style, and wade in. - pág.145
(Minor side note. If memory serves, “blurb” as a word was created by American humorist Gelett Burgess (who also wrote the “Purple Cow” poem). It means, basically, the puff stuff on the back of a book that tells you you ought to read it. - pág.176
Obviously a strike, like a hanging, concentrates the mind wonderfully. - pág.183
The subject I paid most attention to in school was SF. That they didn’t teach it made no difference. It was what I was studying. - pág.185
Amacker drives a little like a Brazilian taxi driver who took me and my editor from the Rio book fair to the airport last month. The traffic speed was maybe 40. He never drove at less than 70, nipping into tiny spaces, lurching manically from lane to lane. As soon as I was sure I wasn’t going to die, it was kind of fun. Amacker would like that taxi driver. I think they went to the same driving school. - pág.258
And good evangelism—which means, of course, spreading the good news—should never be fully-baked, anyway, otherwise it gets stale quickly. It should be like those loaves of half-baked bread that you finish off in your oven at home. Half-baked evangelism is the best kind. - pág.314
But I’d rather admit that Cait wrote Stardust while I was busy fighting crime off-planet. When you’re battling Denebian slime-worms, who has time to write? Thank heavens for the Legion of Substitute Neils. Gene Wolfe wrote Neverwhere for me, while the late Ian Fleming wrote American Gods via planchette. - pág.338
I did take it as a cautionary tale, and a reminder: as long as you know who God wants you to hate and to hurt then anything you do to them is justified. - pág.340
“You know, if I don’t go, if I just sit here for the next week, I’ll feel like those twerps have won. And to the extent that people stop travelling and stop doing things, to the extent that we withdraw from the world, then that’s the extent that whoever did these appalling things wins and the rest of us lose.” - pág.341
I ought to post something tonight, but jetlag has caught up with me, like an elephant sitting down on a grapefruit. With me being the grapefruit, I suppose, because I don’t feel very elephantine. - pág.348
that twilight place where fiction and memory collapse gently into each other, and demonstrates that while things need not have happened to be true, by the same token just because something really happened, it is still not to be relied upon. - pág.350
Women, after all, buy more of the books than men do. They like to read. And there is no X-chromosome-linked inability to read comics, either. - pág.22
This volume, published and compiled by Friends of Lulu, is here to help all of you sell more comics. You are selling people dreams and stories and pictures, and there’s never been anything gender-specific about them. You have, after all, nothing to lose but fifty percent of the human race. - pág.23
There’s a mixture of love and hatred here that’s heady, weird, and unique: subtle as a gang-rape, gentle as a crowbar shattering a skull, sweet as a dead boy in a bell tower feeding on pigeons. - pág.31
Well, yeah. I suppose I’d think it was odd if an adult male’s best friend and closest, most constant companion was a twelve-year-old boy. Now you come to mention it. - pág.32
people do tell stories in pubs, and all of them, I was assured, were quite true, for they happened to a friend of a friend of the person who told me the tale. - pág.59
Lovecraft is a resonating wave. He’s rock and roll. - pág.72
It is too often a sad and unwise thing to go back and read a favourite book. - pág.78
It wasn’t those writers or artists who accurately recorded life: the special ones were the ones who drew it or wrote it so personally that, in some sense, it seemed as if they were creating life, or creating the world and bringing it back to you. And once you’d seen it through their eyes you could never un-see it, not ever again. - pág.93
“Neil, dear. I think there’s something you ought to know. Listen: to be eccentric, you must first know your circle.” And I—for once—heard, and listened, and understood. You can fuck around with the rules as much as you want to—after you know what the rules are. You can be Picasso after you know how to paint. Do it your way; but know how to do it their way first. - pág.100
Let me say true things in a voice that’s true, and, with the truth in mind, let me write lies. - pág.114
Before I start I grab a pile of dictionaries, English and American, and a bunch of books on usage—Fowler’s, and the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage, and Bill Bryson’s lovely Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words—and the Chicago Manual of Style, and wade in. - pág.145
(Minor side note. If memory serves, “blurb” as a word was created by American humorist Gelett Burgess (who also wrote the “Purple Cow” poem). It means, basically, the puff stuff on the back of a book that tells you you ought to read it. - pág.176
Obviously a strike, like a hanging, concentrates the mind wonderfully. - pág.183
The subject I paid most attention to in school was SF. That they didn’t teach it made no difference. It was what I was studying. - pág.185
Amacker drives a little like a Brazilian taxi driver who took me and my editor from the Rio book fair to the airport last month. The traffic speed was maybe 40. He never drove at less than 70, nipping into tiny spaces, lurching manically from lane to lane. As soon as I was sure I wasn’t going to die, it was kind of fun. Amacker would like that taxi driver. I think they went to the same driving school. - pág.258
And good evangelism—which means, of course, spreading the good news—should never be fully-baked, anyway, otherwise it gets stale quickly. It should be like those loaves of half-baked bread that you finish off in your oven at home. Half-baked evangelism is the best kind. - pág.314
But I’d rather admit that Cait wrote Stardust while I was busy fighting crime off-planet. When you’re battling Denebian slime-worms, who has time to write? Thank heavens for the Legion of Substitute Neils. Gene Wolfe wrote Neverwhere for me, while the late Ian Fleming wrote American Gods via planchette. - pág.338
I did take it as a cautionary tale, and a reminder: as long as you know who God wants you to hate and to hurt then anything you do to them is justified. - pág.340
“You know, if I don’t go, if I just sit here for the next week, I’ll feel like those twerps have won. And to the extent that people stop travelling and stop doing things, to the extent that we withdraw from the world, then that’s the extent that whoever did these appalling things wins and the rest of us lose.” - pág.341
I ought to post something tonight, but jetlag has caught up with me, like an elephant sitting down on a grapefruit. With me being the grapefruit, I suppose, because I don’t feel very elephantine. - pág.348
that twilight place where fiction and memory collapse gently into each other, and demonstrates that while things need not have happened to be true, by the same token just because something really happened, it is still not to be relied upon. - pág.350
laguiri's review
2.0
Es difícil puntuar este libro. Está concebido 100% solo para fans, al reunir una serie de escritos creados para ocasiones concretas (un diario de viaje, dedicatorias, introducciones alibros de otros autores). Entretenido si quieres tener TODO Gaiman, innecesario para cualquier otro lector.