Until now, Neil Gaiman has been best known as a fiction
writer, giving us delights like Neverwhere and American Gods and is the
creative force behind the equally amazing and disturbing Sandman series of
graphic novels.
I first came across him in the collaboration with
Terry Pratchett that is Good Omens. When I first read it I hated it as it
wasn’t Pratchett enough for me. The second time I came across him was when the
book group was reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane. This melancholy story
is an adult fairy tale as a man relives the moments of his childhood with the
strange happenings that went on. It blew me away.
Since then I have read lots of his books; lots and
lots. I like the twists he adds to classic fairy tales, his children’s books
enthral and scare at the same time. Best of all he has an imagination that
literally knows no bounds. His latest book, The View from the Cheap Seats is
his first foray into non-fiction. It was to be launched in London with an
evening with him and the author Audrey Niffenegger.
And I had a ticket.
The evening started with him bringing his son, Ash,
out onto the stage to see everyone. Then Amanda Palmer, his wife, sung one song
with her father, before he re-appeared on the stage for the main event. Niffenegger
begun by asking how the book came into being. He described how he sent every
single piece of writing off to a friend, Kat Howard, who chose the best and
suggested the order it should go in; naturally he disagreed on the order, but
it gave an initial shape to the book. He reads his own audiobooks and it was a poignant
moment when he was telling us just how hard it was to read the introduction
that he wrote for a Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett. The audience and
those following on Twitter were allowed to ask questions and he told us that
even if he has a plan for the characters, he doesn’t always know where they
will go. His razor sharp wit and subtle humour meant that the discussion was often
accompanied by a fair amount of laughter. He read twice from the book; his
distinct, clear voice talking about what he believes and what he thinks.
He says in the first line of the book that he never
went into journalism because he wanted the freedom to tell the truth without
ever having to worry about the facts. But inevitably as a writer he ended up
writing non-fiction as he was commissioned to write essays and obituaries,
introductions and speeches. This book has drawn the finest of those together in
one place, and it was great to hear him talk about it in person.
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