Smoke and Mirrors

First, I am hugely biased because I love practically everything Neil Gaiman writes. There are some absolutely wonderful stories in here; for example, having read his version of Snow White I want him to redo all the old fairy stories (PLEASE!!).However I really wanted to read his comments/commentary in conjunction with each story - to understand a little more how he writes and how these came to be written. In a paperback, this would be easy - just use two bookmarks and move them both forward each time. Yes, I know I can bookmark in Kindle but it's clumsy to keep tagging back to the commentary section and having to delete old bookmarks otherwise I got confused about which one to aim for. I love my Kindle to pieces but this is one book I'd have preferred to read on paper.

A curious collection of stories inasmuch as the style is so variable and unilateral only their 'gothickness'.He references so many writers, I became rather dizzy, from Anatole France to Peter Redgrove he leaps to Moorcock and back again to his signature gumshoe style.Some are completely brilliant or contain flashes of brilliance. Many are extremely dark and bordering on the nauseating. I was particularly grossed out by the werewolf in 'Bay Wolf' vomiting up his midnight vulpine snack of child parts and dog's paw, and the vile little Snow White sucking her father dry of blood from every part ( and I mean every) of his body. he does seem to have fixation with oral sex, masturbation and the perverse.However, grotesquerie is par for the course on Gaiman as in other contemporary authors. There is a also strong pornographic element to some of the stories, so be warned if you are a gentle or prim soul.I felt the influence of Angela Crater, whom Gaiman never acknowledges and yet who must be a primary influence with her dark and macabre retellings of classic fairy stories. Gaiman is more amiable than Carter and so he somehow gets away with it, Carter's florid style is cooled down in Gaiman to a more believable eloquence, he speaks in common parlance , whereas Carter spoke the uncommon.Also Carter had a drum she banged, which was that of a particular brand of feminism, intellectual and incisive and sure as a rapier.I find Gaiman almost the reverse, possibly slightly misogynistic, his female characters tend to be Lamia or vampires- sexualised in the extreme. This made me a bit uncomfortable.One part I really loved was the versiform stories, which are chilling and original.I really like Neil Gaiman, but I do wish he would stop saying things 'like my old mate Tori Amos said',. We cannot relate to him if he is forever having a power lunch with some celebrity.Also it breaks the spell and does indeed turn it to smoke!Also, I cannot help feeling that Gaiman does not really believe in magic, only literary magic- I on the other hand, do believe in the many dimensions and facets of existence.Maybe this accounts for the occasional niggling doubt, the feeling that Gaiman only talks the talk and he actually has no real affinity with the arcane or esoteric.Maybe he is an unbeliever, after all.Never mind all that, It's great reading all the same.

I love especially the story about the stray cat who fought the devil for the family who took it in, and the one about the foxes with two folklore stories involved, very poetically told, with a wonderful twist at the end.

Pre-Christmas 2007 I bought this book hoping for a magical (if not slightly disturbing) read. I did not quite enjoy it and the book laid abandoned until about a week ago. Now, I am done with it. And regardless of the fact that I love Neil Geiman for the  The Ocean at the End of the Lane  I cannot stop myself feeling annoyed (?) disappointed (?) disheartened (?) with a man who lets himself write 33 pages of an "Introduction". Yes, you read it right. (Actually, to be fair, it does include a pretty decent story about the wedding present gone all Dorian Grey-ish on the happy couple.)"Smoke and Mirrors" has 38 stories (and poems/rondels – whatever that is) and it would be madness to describe them all here. Some are better, some are worse, some are complete drivel, in my opinion. But the better ones ("Chivalry", "Troll Bridge", "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories", "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale", "Babycakes", "Snow, Glass, Apples") make the book worth your time (and make you appreciate that Geiman has quite a sense of humour!).But ultimately, from nearly 40 stories to be impressed by just a handful... Do your math. Three stars.

Bought as a present. Delighted recipient. 👍

In Smoke and Mirrors we’re treated to a collection of short stories Gaiman compiled at the behest of editors, literary agents, friends, and of course, the leadings of his own personal muse, inspired as it clearly is by various events from his life.Having now read it, I can appreciate why he’s such a fountainhead of creativity.The introduction near the beginning explaining how each story came about helps you appreciate the diversity and scope of his ingenuity. I mean, who else do you know of who could devise a witty and enchanting tale about the Holy Grail, triggered by an academic paper of feminist language theory and its comparison/contrast to chivalry? Seriously!It’s like me phoning you up out of the blue and saying, “Write me a scary story about a light bulb.” Then the next day, “I want one about a sock that never smells of cheese.” Or “Give me something sexy on the subject of global warming.”Somehow, Gaiman does this. He takes a smorgasbord of eclectic and incongruous subjects, and blends them together into a collection that reeks of mad scientist genius, while remaining quintessentially English enough that you can forgive his eccentricity. The whole book is a rollercoaster ride of the strangely ethereal; the repulsively perverse; the sadly melancholy; and the spine-tinglingly personal – “it’s behind you” noir déjà vu.Bizarre. Scary. Humorous. Chilling. Smoke and Mirrors gives us a startling insight into the mind of a storytelling maestro. The perfect recipe for a spot of light reading.

I read this book some years ago. And now again. It has not lost its magic. Gaiman is a huge storyteller. This is one of five books that I would carry to an isolated mountain.

I started this book a few months ago while on an airplane. I was reading it on my kindle and got to about p20 and gave up. It seemed that other than the wedding gift story that opened the book, it was filled with vignettes about how this or that story came about. I came back to the book a few days ago and discovered that the introduction chapter was 33 pages! Each of the stories described in the intro are in the book. I would have preferred that the story of how each story came to be be placed directly ahead of the actual story. I read the stories that way, using the "go to page.." feature to return to the introduction before reading each of the stories. The stories are pretty good, well told. Adult themed, some vampire stuff which isn't my thing, but good tales nevertheless. The wedding gift was my favorite. If you like Neil Gaiman's writing, you'll like Smoke and Mirrors.

Llegó en buen tiempo y en perfecto estado, gran adición a la colección de Gaiman y más a esta línea con portadas de Robert McGinnis.

Nice short stories

Para ler em viagens e sem pressa.Gaiman é um gênio e cada texto dele te leva para um mundo diferente.Vale cada centavo