Status
Missing
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
London : Headline, 2016.
Description
"An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on a myriad of topics--from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories--observed in #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman's probing, amusing, and distinctive style. An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author's experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood. Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seats explores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman--offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member texascheeseman
The View from the Cheap Seats
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishing
Published In: New York City, NY
Date: 2016
Pgs: 522
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Neil Gaiman non-fiction essays on authors, music, storytelling,
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Literature
Fiction
Essays
Correspondence
Letters
Speeches
Why this book:
Neil Gaiman.
522 pages on writing, authors, where stories come from, the inner workings, thoughts, dreams, research...
_________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Neil Gaiman, his ideas, his ideals, his character.
The Feel:
Sitting down with a very intelligent friend who has strong opinions and having a wide ranging discussion about life, the universe, and everything in it.
Love all the behind the scenes of the writing of American Gods speeches and essays, a favorite.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
From Credo: “I believe that you can set your own ideas against ideas you dislike. That you should be free to argue, explain, clarify, debate, offend, insult, rage, mock, sing, dramatize, and deny. I do not believe that burning, murdering, exploding people, smashing their heads with rocks (to let the bad ideas out), drowning them or even defeating them will work to contain ideas you do not like. Ideas spring up where you do not expect them, like weeds, and are as difficult to control.”
I love that quote from Credo because it brings to mind every “no you move” essay and speech that I’ve ever heard in my life.
From Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading, and Daydreaming: The Reading Agency Lecture, 2013: “...I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons---a huge growth industry in America. The prison industry needs to plan for its future growth---how many cells are they going to need? ...using a very simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of ten- and eleven-year olds couldn’t read. …”
That is disheartening.
Telling Lies for a Living...and Why We Do it: the Newbery Medal Speech, 2009: Love the speech. The Graveyard Book is one of my favorites.
Four Bookshops: “...all of those bookshops come back, the shelves, and the people. And most of all, the books, their covers bright, then, pages filled with infinite possibilities. I wonder who I would have been, without those shelves, without those people, without books.”
The Pornography of Genre, or the Genre of Pornography: “Now the advantage of genre to a creator is it gives you something to play to and to play against. It gives you a net and the shape of the game. Sometimes it gives you balls.”
That puts me in mind that genre is the set of accepted cliches that provide the framework.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Walking home from private school, Gaiman heard a joke with that dirty word in it. He repeated it to his friends at school. One of them promptly went home and told it to their mother, who withdrew the boy from that school and raised hell. Gaiman was excoriated over it and his mother was called to the school. She was told that the only reason he wasn’t removed was because the other boy was already gone and they didn’t want to lose 2 school fees. Over a joke that the young Neil Gaiman already didn’t remember. And he had to tell his mother when she asked that he had used the word fuck. He stated that he learned two important lessons: be extremely selective with your audiences; words have power. I would submit that he learned four lessons with the other two being: some people have giant sticks up their bums; money talks and bullshit walks.
“...do not come to authors for answers. You come to us for questions.”
Enjoyed his take on Lovecraft, Jack Kirby, and Astro City.
Wisdom:
How Dare You: On America and Writing About It: Slowly I realized both that the America I’d been writing was wholly fictional, and that the real America, the one underneath the what-you-see-is-what-you-get surface, was much stranger than the fictions.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Children are very good at looking away.
Loved the story of his 11-year old daughter liking R.L. Stine and his taking it as an oppotunity to introduce her to Stephen King’s Carrie. ...and her still glaring at him whenever Stephen King comes up in conversation.
On Stephen King for the Sunday Times: They pay me absurd amounts of money for something that i would do for free” - Stephen King.
Pacing:
Non-fiction about writing, culture, storytelling...pace is not your friend here.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Themes and stories repeat between many speeches, addresses, and essays.
Hmm Moments:
The Pornography of Genre, or the Genre of Pornography: Love the reference to Sturgeon’s Law with 90% of everything being crap. And the final 10% falling along the spectrum between good and awesome. I feel that it is more a Bell Curve between unreadable crap and the best ever.
Love the way that he references a paper that compared musicals, pornography, and Westerns as a way to explain genre. Imagein those 3 without songs, sex, and gunfights, respectively. Remove them and you have soap operas and the same fan may not crossover.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Often the adult book is not for you, not yet, or will only be for you when you’re ready. But sometimes you will read it anyway, and you will take from it whatever you can. Then, perhaps, you will come back to it when you’re older, and you will find the book has changed because you have changed as well, and the book is wiser, or more foolish, because you are wiser or more foolish than you were as a child.
That exact circumstance is how I discovered Norman Spinrad’s The Iron Dream, which my understanding of has evolved a number of times over the years. One of my favorites. I have re-read it three or four times. And another re-read should be in my near future.
WTF Moments:
Ghost in the Machine: Some Hallowe’en Thoughts: When he tells the story of the blogger, without any identifying characteristics on the site, blogs about wanting to commit suicide, flat, bleak, hopeless, not a cry for help, just didn’t want to live any longer. He tried to find out where the blogger was and what he could do to send help. She described getting the pills a few at a time so they wouldn’t be missed from medicine cabinets. And finally, she posted “Tonight.” Helpless, he swallowed the feeling of not knowing who to tell and how to help. And then, she started to post again, at this point, I thought he was going to tell us that she was doing some kind of sociology project. However, she posted that she was cold and lonely where she was. He thinks she knows he’s still reading. Brr, that’s good.
These Are Not Our Faces: “There was a story I was told as a child, about a little girl who peeked in through a writer’s window one night, and saw him writing. He had taken his false face off to write and had hung it behind the door, for he wrote with his real face on. And she saw him, and he saw her. And, from that day to this, nobody has ever seen the little girl again.” This is the reason that writers look just like other people today, though sometimes their lips move as they write. “This is why people who encounter [fantasy] writers...are rarely satisfied by the wholly inferior person that they meet.”
I don’t believe that I’ve ever managed to write with my true face. Maybe this is why I haven’t been truly satisfied with anything that I’ve written...yet.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The later sections of the book has blurbs written for other books and intros which aren’t as good as some of the essays and speeches in the earlier parts of the book.
_________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
An interesting read.
Author Assessment:
To me, Gaiman writes like Morgan Freeman speaks. In the same way that I would listen to Freeman read the phonebook, I would read Neil Gaiman if he wrote a trilogy about the life of a mayfly.
Editorial Assessment:
Could have realistically been trimmed by a good 200 pages and wouldn’t have suffered from the absence.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
glad I read it
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library
South Campus
Irving, TX
Dewey Decimal System:
824.914
G141v
Would recommend to:
genre fans
_________________________________________________
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishing
Published In: New York City, NY
Date: 2016
Pgs: 522
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Neil Gaiman non-fiction essays on authors, music, storytelling,
Show More
comics, bookshops, travel, fairy tales, America, inspiration, libraries, ghosts, the Academy Awards, etc_________________________________________________
Genre:
Literature
Fiction
Essays
Correspondence
Letters
Speeches
Why this book:
Neil Gaiman.
522 pages on writing, authors, where stories come from, the inner workings, thoughts, dreams, research...
_________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Neil Gaiman, his ideas, his ideals, his character.
The Feel:
Sitting down with a very intelligent friend who has strong opinions and having a wide ranging discussion about life, the universe, and everything in it.
Love all the behind the scenes of the writing of American Gods speeches and essays, a favorite.
Favorite Scene / Quote:
From Credo: “I believe that you can set your own ideas against ideas you dislike. That you should be free to argue, explain, clarify, debate, offend, insult, rage, mock, sing, dramatize, and deny. I do not believe that burning, murdering, exploding people, smashing their heads with rocks (to let the bad ideas out), drowning them or even defeating them will work to contain ideas you do not like. Ideas spring up where you do not expect them, like weeds, and are as difficult to control.”
I love that quote from Credo because it brings to mind every “no you move” essay and speech that I’ve ever heard in my life.
From Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading, and Daydreaming: The Reading Agency Lecture, 2013: “...I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons---a huge growth industry in America. The prison industry needs to plan for its future growth---how many cells are they going to need? ...using a very simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of ten- and eleven-year olds couldn’t read. …”
That is disheartening.
Telling Lies for a Living...and Why We Do it: the Newbery Medal Speech, 2009: Love the speech. The Graveyard Book is one of my favorites.
Four Bookshops: “...all of those bookshops come back, the shelves, and the people. And most of all, the books, their covers bright, then, pages filled with infinite possibilities. I wonder who I would have been, without those shelves, without those people, without books.”
The Pornography of Genre, or the Genre of Pornography: “Now the advantage of genre to a creator is it gives you something to play to and to play against. It gives you a net and the shape of the game. Sometimes it gives you balls.”
That puts me in mind that genre is the set of accepted cliches that provide the framework.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Walking home from private school, Gaiman heard a joke with that dirty word in it. He repeated it to his friends at school. One of them promptly went home and told it to their mother, who withdrew the boy from that school and raised hell. Gaiman was excoriated over it and his mother was called to the school. She was told that the only reason he wasn’t removed was because the other boy was already gone and they didn’t want to lose 2 school fees. Over a joke that the young Neil Gaiman already didn’t remember. And he had to tell his mother when she asked that he had used the word fuck. He stated that he learned two important lessons: be extremely selective with your audiences; words have power. I would submit that he learned four lessons with the other two being: some people have giant sticks up their bums; money talks and bullshit walks.
“...do not come to authors for answers. You come to us for questions.”
Enjoyed his take on Lovecraft, Jack Kirby, and Astro City.
Wisdom:
How Dare You: On America and Writing About It: Slowly I realized both that the America I’d been writing was wholly fictional, and that the real America, the one underneath the what-you-see-is-what-you-get surface, was much stranger than the fictions.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Children are very good at looking away.
Loved the story of his 11-year old daughter liking R.L. Stine and his taking it as an oppotunity to introduce her to Stephen King’s Carrie. ...and her still glaring at him whenever Stephen King comes up in conversation.
On Stephen King for the Sunday Times: They pay me absurd amounts of money for something that i would do for free” - Stephen King.
Pacing:
Non-fiction about writing, culture, storytelling...pace is not your friend here.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Themes and stories repeat between many speeches, addresses, and essays.
Hmm Moments:
The Pornography of Genre, or the Genre of Pornography: Love the reference to Sturgeon’s Law with 90% of everything being crap. And the final 10% falling along the spectrum between good and awesome. I feel that it is more a Bell Curve between unreadable crap and the best ever.
Love the way that he references a paper that compared musicals, pornography, and Westerns as a way to explain genre. Imagein those 3 without songs, sex, and gunfights, respectively. Remove them and you have soap operas and the same fan may not crossover.
What The [Very Bad Swearword] is a Children’s Book, Anyway? The Zena Sutherland Lecture: Often the adult book is not for you, not yet, or will only be for you when you’re ready. But sometimes you will read it anyway, and you will take from it whatever you can. Then, perhaps, you will come back to it when you’re older, and you will find the book has changed because you have changed as well, and the book is wiser, or more foolish, because you are wiser or more foolish than you were as a child.
That exact circumstance is how I discovered Norman Spinrad’s The Iron Dream, which my understanding of has evolved a number of times over the years. One of my favorites. I have re-read it three or four times. And another re-read should be in my near future.
WTF Moments:
Ghost in the Machine: Some Hallowe’en Thoughts: When he tells the story of the blogger, without any identifying characteristics on the site, blogs about wanting to commit suicide, flat, bleak, hopeless, not a cry for help, just didn’t want to live any longer. He tried to find out where the blogger was and what he could do to send help. She described getting the pills a few at a time so they wouldn’t be missed from medicine cabinets. And finally, she posted “Tonight.” Helpless, he swallowed the feeling of not knowing who to tell and how to help. And then, she started to post again, at this point, I thought he was going to tell us that she was doing some kind of sociology project. However, she posted that she was cold and lonely where she was. He thinks she knows he’s still reading. Brr, that’s good.
These Are Not Our Faces: “There was a story I was told as a child, about a little girl who peeked in through a writer’s window one night, and saw him writing. He had taken his false face off to write and had hung it behind the door, for he wrote with his real face on. And she saw him, and he saw her. And, from that day to this, nobody has ever seen the little girl again.” This is the reason that writers look just like other people today, though sometimes their lips move as they write. “This is why people who encounter [fantasy] writers...are rarely satisfied by the wholly inferior person that they meet.”
I don’t believe that I’ve ever managed to write with my true face. Maybe this is why I haven’t been truly satisfied with anything that I’ve written...yet.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The later sections of the book has blurbs written for other books and intros which aren’t as good as some of the essays and speeches in the earlier parts of the book.
_________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
An interesting read.
Author Assessment:
To me, Gaiman writes like Morgan Freeman speaks. In the same way that I would listen to Freeman read the phonebook, I would read Neil Gaiman if he wrote a trilogy about the life of a mayfly.
Editorial Assessment:
Could have realistically been trimmed by a good 200 pages and wouldn’t have suffered from the absence.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
glad I read it
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library
South Campus
Irving, TX
Dewey Decimal System:
824.914
G141v
Would recommend to:
genre fans
_________________________________________________
Show Less
LibraryThing member ozzer
Picking up Neil Gaiman’s non-fiction collection, THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS, is daunting because of its length and breadth. However, you will find it to be highly accessible, entertaining and positively addicting. Reading this book is a little like having a long conversation with a
Previously, my experience with Gaiman’s work consisted of just one novel (THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE), where he captures for adult readers the confusion and dangers that inhabit the childhood of a very imaginative boy who lives in a world of books. That theme was a great introduction to this collection because it was a snapshot of an articulate man with many interests and an inquisitive nature. He is friendly, self-deprecating, funny, insightful, encouraging, iconoclastic and passionate about many things, especially pop culture. As readers, we get to go along for the ride and it covers a lot of territory but is never boring.
As a prolific and successful author, one should not be surprised that Gaiman’s prominent themes involve reading and writing. The collection if chock filled with great advice for both writers and readers. “Most of the things I’ve got right over the years, I’d got right because I got them wrong first." “I’ve learned over the years that everything is more or less the same amount of work, so you may as well set your sights high and try and do something really cool." “Go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art.” “…because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story.” “Sometimes you return to a book and find that it’s better than you remembered, better than you had hoped: all the things that you had loved were still there, but that it’s even more packed with things that you appreciate. It’s deeper, cleaner, wiser.” “If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom.”
Another prominent impression is how much of a fan Gaiman is of other authors. He spends a large portion of this collection encouraging you to appreciate these people as much as he does. The people he is passionate about are mostly his mentors and role models in the fantasy/SF genre (a topic he also has interesting ideas about), including Poe, Wells, Lovecraft, Adams, Ellison, King, and Bradbury. I especially loved his takes on classical films like “The Bride of Frankenstein” and “They Might Be Giants,” and the film industry in general with his impressions of the Sundance Film Festival.
Yet it was surprising also to learn how passionate Gaiman is about other things like the Syrian refugee crisis, the music of Lou Reed and especially to be introduced to his rock-star wife, Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls.
This book is not just for graphic novel, fantasy and science fiction aficionados. It is for everyone because it is full of important ideas that easily extrapolate to other life situations. There just might something here that will change your life.
Show More
much-admired parent who’s seen it all. He succinctly reveals his intention in the dedication to his infant son, Ash: “These were some of the things your father loved and said and cared about and believed, a long time ago.” Previously, my experience with Gaiman’s work consisted of just one novel (THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE), where he captures for adult readers the confusion and dangers that inhabit the childhood of a very imaginative boy who lives in a world of books. That theme was a great introduction to this collection because it was a snapshot of an articulate man with many interests and an inquisitive nature. He is friendly, self-deprecating, funny, insightful, encouraging, iconoclastic and passionate about many things, especially pop culture. As readers, we get to go along for the ride and it covers a lot of territory but is never boring.
As a prolific and successful author, one should not be surprised that Gaiman’s prominent themes involve reading and writing. The collection if chock filled with great advice for both writers and readers. “Most of the things I’ve got right over the years, I’d got right because I got them wrong first." “I’ve learned over the years that everything is more or less the same amount of work, so you may as well set your sights high and try and do something really cool." “Go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art.” “…because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story.” “Sometimes you return to a book and find that it’s better than you remembered, better than you had hoped: all the things that you had loved were still there, but that it’s even more packed with things that you appreciate. It’s deeper, cleaner, wiser.” “If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom.”
Another prominent impression is how much of a fan Gaiman is of other authors. He spends a large portion of this collection encouraging you to appreciate these people as much as he does. The people he is passionate about are mostly his mentors and role models in the fantasy/SF genre (a topic he also has interesting ideas about), including Poe, Wells, Lovecraft, Adams, Ellison, King, and Bradbury. I especially loved his takes on classical films like “The Bride of Frankenstein” and “They Might Be Giants,” and the film industry in general with his impressions of the Sundance Film Festival.
Yet it was surprising also to learn how passionate Gaiman is about other things like the Syrian refugee crisis, the music of Lou Reed and especially to be introduced to his rock-star wife, Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls.
This book is not just for graphic novel, fantasy and science fiction aficionados. It is for everyone because it is full of important ideas that easily extrapolate to other life situations. There just might something here that will change your life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
"The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you're walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself, that's the moment you may be starting to get it right."
It's not too often that I actively seek to pull back
That's not to say I expect my favorite authors to be perfect in real life; I know they're real people, beautifully flawed. However, I've always been leery of tainting the stories I love with the reality of their creators' true selves. Thankfully, in The View From the Cheap Seats, the truths that Neil Gaiman reveals about himself only reaffirm why his stories so fully capture my imagination and heart: he's passionate about reading AND writing; he's passionate about differences and tolerance; he's passionate about friendship and love. His passion filled every page, the overflow pushing me forward, until I found myself at the end of the book excited to read all the stories he loves that I haven't read yet, inspired to write the stories I've always wanted to read, and hungry to live every moment of my life.
4 stars
It's not too often that I actively seek to pull back
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the curtain on my favorite authors, for fear of finding, not necessarily a fraud, but a writer whose personal truths might ruin the worlds they created by being less than, in some way. For example, the discovery that a beloved writer doesn't even try to hide his homophobia, or a history of domestic violence, or nauseating self-importance, etc.That's not to say I expect my favorite authors to be perfect in real life; I know they're real people, beautifully flawed. However, I've always been leery of tainting the stories I love with the reality of their creators' true selves. Thankfully, in The View From the Cheap Seats, the truths that Neil Gaiman reveals about himself only reaffirm why his stories so fully capture my imagination and heart: he's passionate about reading AND writing; he's passionate about differences and tolerance; he's passionate about friendship and love. His passion filled every page, the overflow pushing me forward, until I found myself at the end of the book excited to read all the stories he loves that I haven't read yet, inspired to write the stories I've always wanted to read, and hungry to live every moment of my life.
4 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member mahsdad
This is a collection of Gaiman's non-fiction work, to quote him from the introduction; 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
To be honest, I didn't read all of them. There was a section where he is writing introduction to graphic novels and comic artistic collections. These aren't really in my wheelhouse and I didn't know who a lot of these folks were, so I moved on. However, the majority I did read are wonderful examples of the mind and voice of Gaiman. In includes introductions to authors I either need to read, or forgot that I read them and need to read again. Reviews of some classic movies, interviews with musicians, several stories about his wife Amanda Palmer, a lovely eulogy of Terry Pratchett and his essay Make Good Art. Well worth your time.
From an introduction a Harlen Ellison collection : "It's true of the rest of the tales herein. They remain relevant; the only thing in the anthology that feels dated is the introduction, as Harlan grooves to Jimi Hendrix and points to Piers Anthony as an underground writer. But hell, no one reads introductions anyway. (Admit it. You're not reading this, are you?)"
"Make good art. I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn't matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art."
8/10
S: 11/2/17 - 11/24/17 (23 Days)
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them are earnest and some of them I wrote to try and make people listen. You are under no obligation to read them all, or to read them in any particular order."To be honest, I didn't read all of them. There was a section where he is writing introduction to graphic novels and comic artistic collections. These aren't really in my wheelhouse and I didn't know who a lot of these folks were, so I moved on. However, the majority I did read are wonderful examples of the mind and voice of Gaiman. In includes introductions to authors I either need to read, or forgot that I read them and need to read again. Reviews of some classic movies, interviews with musicians, several stories about his wife Amanda Palmer, a lovely eulogy of Terry Pratchett and his essay Make Good Art. Well worth your time.
From an introduction a Harlen Ellison collection : "It's true of the rest of the tales herein. They remain relevant; the only thing in the anthology that feels dated is the introduction, as Harlan grooves to Jimi Hendrix and points to Piers Anthony as an underground writer. But hell, no one reads introductions anyway. (Admit it. You're not reading this, are you?)"
"Make good art. I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn't matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art."
8/10
S: 11/2/17 - 11/24/17 (23 Days)
Show Less
LibraryThing member Mishker
The View From the Cheap Seats is a compilation of Neil Gaiman's best non-fiction. Some of these are essays, some are introductions, some are speeches and all of them are thoughtful. In this book, Neil Gaiman shares things he believes, things about the people he is fortunate enough to know, movies,
You might be thinking that Neil Gaiman is best known for stories, fantasy or science fiction works and why would anyone want to read 500 pages of speeches and introductions, who reads introductions anyways? Well, I always read introductions and hopefully you will too.
In The View from the Cheap Seats I have learned what I have always known, but have never put into complete thoughts; stories are important, stories have power. I have learned that words are magic that turn into ideas, ideas that can make you change the world.
In his essays, speeches and introductions about other authors I learned of the deep respect held for fellow mentors and writers. I also gleamed some insight into how authors work and develop ideas. Most of all, I discovered some authors that I have never had the pleasure of reading and have now been added to my to-be-read pile.
With any compilation, you could pick and choose which sections to read or individuals selections. If you do choose to read this, read it however you choose, skip around, devour or meander through, but I do suggest reading it all and letting the power of the words soak in.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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comics, music and more.You might be thinking that Neil Gaiman is best known for stories, fantasy or science fiction works and why would anyone want to read 500 pages of speeches and introductions, who reads introductions anyways? Well, I always read introductions and hopefully you will too.
In The View from the Cheap Seats I have learned what I have always known, but have never put into complete thoughts; stories are important, stories have power. I have learned that words are magic that turn into ideas, ideas that can make you change the world.
In his essays, speeches and introductions about other authors I learned of the deep respect held for fellow mentors and writers. I also gleamed some insight into how authors work and develop ideas. Most of all, I discovered some authors that I have never had the pleasure of reading and have now been added to my to-be-read pile.
With any compilation, you could pick and choose which sections to read or individuals selections. If you do choose to read this, read it however you choose, skip around, devour or meander through, but I do suggest reading it all and letting the power of the words soak in.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TobinElliott
I'm not sure why I approach every Neil Gaiman book as though I'm not going to like it, but I do. It's quite weird when I look at my bookshelves as see all the Gaiman books and comics I own, knowing I enjoyed each of them, and yet, for some reason, I'm always reluctant to pick up another
Weird.
But that's exactly what happened with this one. I saw it in the book store. I read the back cover. I thought, no, I wouldn't enjoy that.
And then, next thing I know, I'm reading it. And, as usual, enjoying the hell out of it.
I enjoyed this book so much. Maybe it was the sections where he talks writing. Maybe when he's talking comics. Maybe it's when he's talking about all the cool books he's read, many of which I have as well. Maybe it's all the cool authors and musicians he's talked to, authors and musicians that I enjoy.
Or maybe it's just that I love Gaiman's outlook on life, on writing, on creativity, on all of it.
And yet, I guarantee you, regardless of how much I loved this book--and really, I loved it a lot--the next time I see something by him, I'll likely approach it with some trepidation.
Then, I'll find myself reading and loving it too.
Weird.
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one.Weird.
But that's exactly what happened with this one. I saw it in the book store. I read the back cover. I thought, no, I wouldn't enjoy that.
And then, next thing I know, I'm reading it. And, as usual, enjoying the hell out of it.
I enjoyed this book so much. Maybe it was the sections where he talks writing. Maybe when he's talking comics. Maybe it's when he's talking about all the cool books he's read, many of which I have as well. Maybe it's all the cool authors and musicians he's talked to, authors and musicians that I enjoy.
Or maybe it's just that I love Gaiman's outlook on life, on writing, on creativity, on all of it.
And yet, I guarantee you, regardless of how much I loved this book--and really, I loved it a lot--the next time I see something by him, I'll likely approach it with some trepidation.
Then, I'll find myself reading and loving it too.
Weird.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
This was a fun collection of various pieces of nonfiction Gaiman has written across his career, ranging from 1989 to 2016. It's a hodgepodge (or an olio as the LA Times crossword might say) of speeches, introductions, newspaper columns, and all sorts. There's a lot to like here: Gaiman is a lively,
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engaging writer, enthusiastic in his appreciations, and usually humorous. There are only so many introductions you can read in a row, though, especially as Gaiman comes across as vaguely skeptical of the whole concept of the introduction, but my main takeaway from reading this was how invested Gaiman is not just in the genre of speculative fiction, but its fandom and its fans. We could do a lot worse. (Also, his thoughts on genre contrast in interesting and productive ways with Le Guin's in her own collected nonfiction volume that I read around the same time.) Show Less
LibraryThing member mstrust
A collection of what must be every speech and book introduction Gaiman has ever written, along with a few interviews and short articles. At just over 500 pages, there are speeches about bookstores, myths and comic books. He visits Stephen King at home and interviews Lou Reed, spends an entire night
This is one of those books that needs to be read with a pen and paper nearby. I found myself stopping to rummage my shelves, wondering if I had the books he discussed, had a seen that movie, do I own enough Lou Reed, can I find the podcasts he refers to? I love books like that. I admit to skimming over the comic books introductions because I have little interest and there were so many of them, but nearly all of the writings here have fascinating little asides.
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in Soho looking for something seedy to report on, and discusses Poe, Wells and Bradbury. This is one of those books that needs to be read with a pen and paper nearby. I found myself stopping to rummage my shelves, wondering if I had the books he discussed, had a seen that movie, do I own enough Lou Reed, can I find the podcasts he refers to? I love books like that. I admit to skimming over the comic books introductions because I have little interest and there were so many of them, but nearly all of the writings here have fascinating little asides.
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LibraryThing member MickyFine
A collection of Neil Gaiman's nonfiction writing, predominantly book introductions with a smattering of speeches, newspaper/magazine articles, and general essays. As one would expect of Gaiman, the prose is beautiful, thought provoking, and, as he promises in the introduction to the collection, at
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least one of the essays will point you to books, films, authors, artists, or musicians you now want to explore. Despite weighing in at just over 500 pages, I found the collection a quick read and a delight to explore. A read worth dipping into if you're a Gaiman fan. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
A collection of nonfiction essays, introductions, etc. from one of my favorite authors. This did not disappoint! I love the way Gaiman thinks and reading his work is always a treat.
LibraryThing member TheBentley
This is a collection of Gaiman's non-fiction—introductions, speeches, essays, and other tidbits. I already knew that I love Gaiman's non-fiction voice—I teach his essay on Batman—and this didn't disappoint. It is an entertaining collection. Nothing, however, beats his fiction.
LibraryThing member DLMorrese
I'm not sure a star rating applies to books like this. It's a collection of Neil's previously published articles, speeches, and forwards for books (some of which I had read previously from their original sources), but most are interesting. They were to me, anyway, as we share some commonality in
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our tastes in books (except for comics/graphic novels, which I never could get into). I gave the collection four stars, though, because the writing is good and I gleaned a few reading recommendations from it. I already own copies of just about everything Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams ever published (and have read each multiple times), but I only have a few books by Diana Wynne Jones on my 'keeper' shelves. I'll be checking the local library's web site latter today to see what they have. Show Less
LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction collects many of Neil Gaiman's speeches, book introductions, and essays on a variety of topics. He structures his book into ten parts. Part I, "Some Things I Believe," reads like a manifesto in which he outlines the importance of books, of genre,
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and of creating a space for reading. From there, he discusses authors and others that he's known, science fiction, movies, comics, other books, music, fairy tales, his 2012 keynote address at The University of the Arts, and "real things." Fans of Gaiman's will revel in his wit and find their "to-read" list growing based on his recommendations and delight in others' works. Those who may not have read Gaiman's work before will discover the message that drives his writing and see his influences and hopefully pick up one of his books for themselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member Arkrayder
This is an excellent book! I listened to the audiobook version, read by Neil Gaiman, and it was just a pleasure to listen to. Listening to this book I believe is the best way to absorb Gaiman's text. Gaiman's reading is brilliant and just listening to him talk about his favorite books and music
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just makes you want to read more. Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
These are all the speeches, articles, blog entries, and forewords Neil Gaiman has written over the years. A lot of them were about stuff I know nothing about -- old authors that he admired, music I don't listen to, stories from his youth I'm too young to appreciate. It's not a memoir, it's a series
And it's long. His writing style is unchanged -- full of comfort and warmth, like when Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time, and you know that this guy is one of the good ones. But I am not the kind of guy who has found solace in any of Gaiman's influencers -- Diana Wynne Jones, Terry Pratchett, Will Eisner, etc. There are a few memorable ones, but as a whole, this is only for the most diehard Gaiman fan.
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of essays. Most of them are gushes about someone. There's nothing about the writing process or creation in here, except the "Make Good Art" speech which everyone knows.And it's long. His writing style is unchanged -- full of comfort and warmth, like when Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time, and you know that this guy is one of the good ones. But I am not the kind of guy who has found solace in any of Gaiman's influencers -- Diana Wynne Jones, Terry Pratchett, Will Eisner, etc. There are a few memorable ones, but as a whole, this is only for the most diehard Gaiman fan.
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LibraryThing member StormRaven
The View from the Cheap Seats is an eclectic mix of selected fiction drawn from a wide swathe of Neil Gaiman's career. The works include the transcripts of speeches, introductions to books, memorials to departed writers, liner notes from albums, interviews, and pretty much every other form of
[More forthcoming]
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writing that one can think of. The topics covered range from libraries to bookstores, from authors to books to music, and from comic books to refugee camps. While this volume is not a complete collection of Gaiman's nonfiction (assembling which would likely be a nigh impossible task), it does contain a broad spectrum of his work, both in terms of style and substance.[More forthcoming]
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LibraryThing member SESchend
Read via library & despite already owning 25% of these essays in other books, I'll be adding this volume to my shelves for inspiration in years to come.
LibraryThing member Catherine_GV
I'll be honest here: I can't stand Neil Gaiman's fiction writing style. I'm not saying he doesn't write well, I'm saying it's just not for me. And that's not from lack of trying: I've read three of his books and... no. Just no.
HOWEVER, I know he must do some things right because of how renown he is
It wasn't entirely what I expected what with very few essays about the writing world. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it greatly! I mean it when I say 500 pages wasn't enough! I read it every night before going to bed and I was always looking forward to what Neil had to say next.
As much as his fiction writing style repels me, I admit his nonfiction style is excellent! It's honest, straightforward, vulnerable and funny. It's charming in his own way.
It was fun to see what made up this author and he got us close to several celebrities in different fields. It was like a "behind-the-scenes" view.
I loved it!
Now, I'll be off buying it to put it in my writing books section, even though it's not about writing per se. But I still think this book is important. At least to me.
If you love Neil Gaiman: read it!
If you don't like his writing style: read it, too! It might show you different sides of things, opinions, people. It might make you fall in love with his nonfiction writing style, just like it did me.
HOWEVER, I know he must do some things right because of how renown he is
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in the writing world. Plus, I believe that even though his style doesn't appeal to me, he has a few things to teach me about writing. So, I decided to give this selected nonfiction book a try.It wasn't entirely what I expected what with very few essays about the writing world. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it greatly! I mean it when I say 500 pages wasn't enough! I read it every night before going to bed and I was always looking forward to what Neil had to say next.
As much as his fiction writing style repels me, I admit his nonfiction style is excellent! It's honest, straightforward, vulnerable and funny. It's charming in his own way.
It was fun to see what made up this author and he got us close to several celebrities in different fields. It was like a "behind-the-scenes" view.
I loved it!
Now, I'll be off buying it to put it in my writing books section, even though it's not about writing per se. But I still think this book is important. At least to me.
If you love Neil Gaiman: read it!
If you don't like his writing style: read it, too! It might show you different sides of things, opinions, people. It might make you fall in love with his nonfiction writing style, just like it did me.
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LibraryThing member brakketh
Well written but I found it repetitive and underwhelming.
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
This nonfiction collection reads like Neil Gaiman is sitting down and telling you lots of cool stories about writing and people he knows. The collection is sectioned out with talks about his writing, speeches he has given over the years, introductions he has written for books. The only problem is
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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this really isn’t a complete collection but more of a greatest hits of some of the introductions. After reading this there are some writers I want to track down just from reading Neil talk about how wonderful they are. The nice thing about this collection is it doesn’t need to read in one sitting and it makes for a great book to dip in and out of. Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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LibraryThing member quondame
Reads vert easily, little sweet Neil writing nibbles. He loves comics and movies and libraries and books and music and his people and tells you why.
LibraryThing member m_mozeleski
A brilliant collection of introductions to other books, speeches written about various events, and discussions on the people important to Neil Gaiman.
The last one is about Sir Terry Pratchett, and will probably make you at least tear up, but don't read it first because then nothing else will be
All entries in this book are quite moving.
The last one is about Sir Terry Pratchett, and will probably make you at least tear up, but don't read it first because then nothing else will be
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appetizing.All entries in this book are quite moving.
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LibraryThing member JaredOrlando
A View from the Cheap Seats is for hardcore Gaiman fans, lovers of introductions and speeches, and aficionados of the inspirational word.
LibraryThing member bragan
This is a collection of miscellaneous non-fiction bits and pieces by Neil Gaiman from the late 90s through about 2016, when the book was published. And when I say "miscellaneous," I mean it. There are speeches given at various venues, a lot of introductions to other people's novels (or short story
And yet I found myself strangely engrossed, interested in everything Gaiman had to say, even when he was introducing works I'd never read by people I'd never heard of. 500 pages of this, and, I swear, I never got tired of it. I think that's in large part because it's not as disjointed as you'd expect, since almost all of these pieces involve variations on the same broad subject matter: stories, storytelling, and storytellers of all kinds. And, boy, is this a topic Gaiman can talk about intelligently, compellingly, and eloquently. I could listen to him going on all day. Or, apparently, for the five days or so it took me to read the book.
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collections or comics), even things he wrote for the liner notes of albums. It should feel interesting -- because Gaiman is always interesting -- but kind of disjointed and slight. After all, lots of these pieces are very short, most of them are out of their proper context, and, because they were never meant to appear all together like this, there is inevitably a little bit of repetition, as Gaiman tells the same anecdote or makes the same point in more than one place.And yet I found myself strangely engrossed, interested in everything Gaiman had to say, even when he was introducing works I'd never read by people I'd never heard of. 500 pages of this, and, I swear, I never got tired of it. I think that's in large part because it's not as disjointed as you'd expect, since almost all of these pieces involve variations on the same broad subject matter: stories, storytelling, and storytellers of all kinds. And, boy, is this a topic Gaiman can talk about intelligently, compellingly, and eloquently. I could listen to him going on all day. Or, apparently, for the five days or so it took me to read the book.
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LibraryThing member meandmybooks
As with Gaiman's story collections, there were some essays here I loved, and others that were a complete miss for me. Actually, though, the arrangement, once I caught on to it, makes it fairly easy to skip the sections that will be of little interest to a particular reader, and, for me at least,
The first section, “Some Things I Believe,” consists of the sort of inspirational, general essays, about the importance of reading and books, which are wonderful but become repetitive if you read them all in one gulp. So I figured out early on to pace myself and read just a few pieces a night. The second section, “Some People I Have Known,” includes pieces on various authors, about half of whom were really of interest to me. Still, I read them all, and now I know a bit about Harlan Ellison, Kim Newman, Gene Wolfe, etc., and no harm done. The third section, “Introductions and Musings: Science Fiction,” again, contained some gems and some... not-gems. The fourth, “Films and Movies and Me,” I mostly skipped, though I did enjoy the first piece, “The Bride of Frankenstein.” I read most of the first essay in the fifth section, “On Comics and Some of the People Who Make Them,” before remembering that this is supposed to be fun reading and a speech made to comic book retailers is not a strong contender for “fun” for someone with no interest in comics. So I skipped on to the next section. Section Six, “Introductions and Contradictions,” was a good one for me. Introductions to books by Poe, Kipling, H.G. Wells, Lovecraft, James Thurber, etc. This was easily my favorite part of the book and fully justified the purchase. Which was nice, since the next section, “Music and the People Who Make it,” was a total miss for me – “Lou Reed” I recognized, but the other names were completely unfamiliar. Eight, “On Stardust and Fairy Tales,” was another good section, from my point of view. It reminded me to put “Lud-in-the-Mist” on my new Kindle, because I really do want to read it one of these days, and also to look for a copy of Dunsany's “The King of Elfland's Daughter.” Oh, and to give “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” another chance, because if Neil Gaiman recognizes the perfection of Thurber's “The Thirteen Clocks” (“This book, the one you are holding, “The Thirteen Clocks,” by James Thurber, is probably the best book in the world.”), I'm inclined to listen to him when he insists that Susanna Clarke's book is worth reading. Chapter Nine, “Make Good Art,” was widely distributed when it came out in 2012, and I'd read it before, but it is worth a second reading. The last chapter, “The View from the Cheap Seats,” is a mixed bag, mostly very autobiographical, but I enjoyed more of the pieces than not. The first essay, about his experience at the Oscar ceremony, when “Coraline” was nominated, is particularly funny. The next few were less interesting, but the next-to-last, about his visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, is truly compelling. The last essay, on Terry Pratchett, is another I'm sure I've read before, but, again, I was glad to read it a second time. And, in spite of how long it took me to finish this collection, and of the sections that I skipped because I don't care about the comics, movies, or music Gaiman talks about, I was sorry to be finished with this. The good pieces and the really good pieces easily make up for the less interesting stuff. Four stars.
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this still left plenty to enjoy (it's a nice big book). The first section, “Some Things I Believe,” consists of the sort of inspirational, general essays, about the importance of reading and books, which are wonderful but become repetitive if you read them all in one gulp. So I figured out early on to pace myself and read just a few pieces a night. The second section, “Some People I Have Known,” includes pieces on various authors, about half of whom were really of interest to me. Still, I read them all, and now I know a bit about Harlan Ellison, Kim Newman, Gene Wolfe, etc., and no harm done. The third section, “Introductions and Musings: Science Fiction,” again, contained some gems and some... not-gems. The fourth, “Films and Movies and Me,” I mostly skipped, though I did enjoy the first piece, “The Bride of Frankenstein.” I read most of the first essay in the fifth section, “On Comics and Some of the People Who Make Them,” before remembering that this is supposed to be fun reading and a speech made to comic book retailers is not a strong contender for “fun” for someone with no interest in comics. So I skipped on to the next section. Section Six, “Introductions and Contradictions,” was a good one for me. Introductions to books by Poe, Kipling, H.G. Wells, Lovecraft, James Thurber, etc. This was easily my favorite part of the book and fully justified the purchase. Which was nice, since the next section, “Music and the People Who Make it,” was a total miss for me – “Lou Reed” I recognized, but the other names were completely unfamiliar. Eight, “On Stardust and Fairy Tales,” was another good section, from my point of view. It reminded me to put “Lud-in-the-Mist” on my new Kindle, because I really do want to read it one of these days, and also to look for a copy of Dunsany's “The King of Elfland's Daughter.” Oh, and to give “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” another chance, because if Neil Gaiman recognizes the perfection of Thurber's “The Thirteen Clocks” (“This book, the one you are holding, “The Thirteen Clocks,” by James Thurber, is probably the best book in the world.”), I'm inclined to listen to him when he insists that Susanna Clarke's book is worth reading. Chapter Nine, “Make Good Art,” was widely distributed when it came out in 2012, and I'd read it before, but it is worth a second reading. The last chapter, “The View from the Cheap Seats,” is a mixed bag, mostly very autobiographical, but I enjoyed more of the pieces than not. The first essay, about his experience at the Oscar ceremony, when “Coraline” was nominated, is particularly funny. The next few were less interesting, but the next-to-last, about his visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, is truly compelling. The last essay, on Terry Pratchett, is another I'm sure I've read before, but, again, I was glad to read it a second time. And, in spite of how long it took me to finish this collection, and of the sections that I skipped because I don't care about the comics, movies, or music Gaiman talks about, I was sorry to be finished with this. The good pieces and the really good pieces easily make up for the less interesting stuff. Four stars.
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Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — 2017)
Audie Award (Finalist — 2017)
Locus Award (Finalist — Non-Fiction — 2017)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Non-Fiction — 2016)
Language
Original publication date
2016
Physical description
24 cm
ISBN
9781472207999
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 824.92 |