Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman: a Review

So I borrowed this from a friend almost a year ago and only got around to reading it just recently because...because...I have no excuse.  Actually, my behavior might not be as bad as it seems because I lent the same friend my sister's copy of Michael Jackson: This Is It a few months ago. Actually, maybe it is bad after all because I'm lending out my sister's possessions. Um.

The negative thing about short story collections is that while they'll contain a number of gem-like little tales there is usually a lot of what feels like filler to wade through too. The good thing about short story collections is that if you find yourself reading a dud it'll be over in a few pages and hopefully the next story you read will be better. Probably the best collection  I've ever read is Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living by Bailey White. It's charming and smart and eccentric and there's no filler and I encourage everybody to read it.

Fragile Things was really fun - colorful, bizarre and insanely creative.A lot of the tales are excellently spooky or delightfully witty or just plain weird. Some of them are noted in the introduction as being award winners, and you can definitely see why. Some do admittedly fall short of the very high standard set by the best of the collection. Most of these seemed like pretty good ideas that just weren't fleshed out sufficiently. The only other Neil Gaiman I've read is The Graveyard Book, of which I retain very little memory but I think my sister owns so you know where this is going, and I definitely plan to check out more of his novels and short fiction from here on out because his storytelling is wonderfully unique, deft and a just a blast to read.
Take it away, remaining MJ GIFs!