The View From the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his fiction. Now, for the first time in print, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together more than sixty works of his outstanding nonfiction on topics and people close to his heart.

As Neil explains, “This book is not ‘the complete nonfiction of Neil Gaiman.’ It is, instead, a motley bunch of speeches and articles, introductions and essays. 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.”

my thoughts:

I think I have found a new author to crush on - Neil Gaiman.  I just finished reading The View From the Cheap Seats and it was AMAZING!!  The book is a collection of his essays, introductions, and interviews - all nonfiction.  The pieces included cover everything from his passion for writing to his LOVE of bookstores/libraries.  It was my first foray into Gaiman's world and I absolutely LOVED what I read.  This is a man who is passionate about being a writer and shares with us about his craft, how he creates fiction, and his opinion on other writers' books.  I just love finding out what authors love to read and who their favorite writers are.  We also get to learn about the books that shaped him - think science fiction ( a genre that I've grown to enjoy over the years ).  And, he writes about books as a means of escape, something that I think all of us bookworms can relate to.

Gaiman was a journalist who realized that he had stories inside of him that he needed/wanted to get out.  So, he wrote and wrote and wrote.  He was writing the stories that he wanted to be reading.  And the rest is history, as we all know that he has created some of the BEST comics/graphic novels, short stories, children's fiction, novels, nonfiction, etc.  He is a writing machine that just won't quit - he has too much to say and too much creativity inside of him.  I'm excited to read more of his work. I have Trigger Warning, Neverwhere and The Ocean at the End of the Lane sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read.  I can't wait to dive into his magical world!

I would happily recommend The View From the Cheap Seats to fans of Gaiman - you will most definitely enjoy this tome of nonfiction work.  

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: The View From the Cheap Seats

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!