The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction

Prolific, award-winning fiction, comics, film, and TV writer Gaiman (Neverwhere; American Gods; Stardust) stormed onto the literary scene in 1990 with the novel Good Omens, cowritten with Terry Pratchett of "Discworld" series fame. Gaiman's eclectic work has been a force majeure ever since. Over the years, he has authored dozens of essays, reviews, introductions, and remembrances—"Some of them are serious and some of them are frivolous and some of them are earnest and some of them I wrote to try and make people listen," writes Gaiman in a brief introduction—collected here. Despite the self-deprecating title, there's nothing at a distance or unearned about his observations. Gaiman's prose reveals the relaxed intimacy of a cherished dinner partner and never loses sight of the big picture. Included are thoughts on the importance of reading and literacy; notes on the roots of sf and fantasy; musings on music and making good art; heady, existential yawps on painting and identity; and a fitting tribute to Pratchett in the collection's capstone piece.