Fragile Things

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Neil Gaiman

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night, taking one of the spectators along with it.

In a novella set two years after the events of American Gods, Shadow pays a visit to an ancient Scottish mansion, and finds himself trapped in a game of murder and monsters.

In a Hugo Award-winning short story set in a strangely altered Victorian England, the great detective Sherlock Holmes must solve a most unsettling royal murder.

Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams and nightmares.

In a Locus Award-winning tale, the members of an excusive epicurean club lament that they've eaten everything that can be eaten, with the exception of a legendary, rare, and exceedingly dangerous Egyptian bird.

Such marvelous creations and more, including a short story set in the world of The Matrix and others set in the worlds of gothic fiction and children's fiction, can be found in this extraordinary collection, which showcases Gaiman's storytelling brilliance as well as his entertaining (and dark) sense of humor. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most unique writers of our time.

©2006 Neil Gaiman (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

• Locus Award, Best Collection, 2007
  
• Audie Award Finalist, Short Stories, Collections, 2007

Dark and Dirty

It turns out that Neil Gaiman is not afraid of putting uncomfortable topics on the center stage. This book was unexpectedly darker, erotic at times and taboo. I found that it was not excessive or gratuitous, but rather made each story work.

Classic Neil Gaiman

In short, this is another great installment from Neil Gaiman. Some of the stories blew me over (A Study In Emerald) and others were forgettable. But the entire time, I was lost in the world of Neil Gaiman's imagination (which has no competition). This story collection is worth picking up just for the American Gods story featuring Shadow.

A collection of short stories and poems

I love Gaiman's work, and some of the stories and poems in this themeless collection are great, some no so much. It's kind of like he had all of these short stories and an obligation to his publisher and just kind of threw them together. There's really no central core to thing... but that said, there's some really good stuff in there. With regards to the performance, it's read by him, and he's ALWAYS great at reading his own stuff... but there's no pause between stories. One ends the next begins and there's no clear end (like a que... I listened to one audiobook that putt a sheep bahhhh sound at the end of every chapter just to be clear about it) or sufficient pause without which .... if your not paying attention, like listening while doing something else... well it can get very confusing.

Is there any genre Neil Gaiman isn't capable in?

What made the experience of listening to Fragile Things the most enjoyable?

Brilliant work! I have listened several times and hear something new each time. Not just scraps of dialog I missed, or a scene in a story, though there are those things that are new. I develop an ever more complex understanding of the story, as if getting the frame set up in the first listen. Then with each subsequent hearing, adding color and texture to the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There are too many characters to choose...

What about Neil Gaiman’s performance did you like?

I enjoy listening to him describe what he as a writer experienced during the creation of a particular story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No and Yes. I had to listen to the whole audio a couple times--the introduction, where the author explains where a story came from was longer than I wanted to listen to, so I skipped the 2nd half of it and went to the first story. All well and good...but...I don't know I was disenchanted and listened to some other audio for a few days. I came back to where I'd left off in Fragile Things and was captivated and wanted to know where he'd gotten the idea for this story and didn't it bother his wife the way he wrote that story...I went back to the beginning of the introduction and started all over.

classic Neil Gaiman

The breadth of Gaiman's imagination and writing talent are staggering. A couple of bothersome things were the extremely long introduction that I was forced to listen to in the audio edition. I wasn't very interested in the background of the stories, especially such lengthy explanations. The collection of stories was so varied - I ended up wishing I could give the book to my young grandson, but while some of the stories would have been perfect for him, many were totally inappropriate. These are vary small criticisms indeed compared to the generosity of the author's spirit and his love of writing. Please keep giving us more and more, Mr. Gaiman. I'm a total fan!

always love this one

I love listening to gaiman's work while I drive. especially the long windy curves of a foggy mountain road.

Reading of a story or stories.

I enjoyed the The readings very much. The pacing the feeling of atmosphere and it almost casualness and familiarity in the voice of the reader.

Ponderous

Slow and ponderous with the occasional good story thrown in to keep you listening. I only lasted 3 hours before pulling the plug, so maybe it improved later.

good

Not as good as American Gods, but very nice in neil Gaiman style.

Better to read this one

As much as I like Gaiman, I think this book is better read than listened to. I was downright confused during some of the stories, and I think this was a result of not having the form in front of my eyes. Nevertheless, there are some fine takes herein. I would just recommend reading them.