The View from the Cheap Seats

The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman, 522 pages

Neil Gaiman is perhaps best known for his magical, yet somehow incredibly realistic, fiction writing, and his phenomenal graphic novel collaborations. Yet this book is neither of those. The View from the Cheap Seats is a collection of more than 60 of his nonfiction writings, everything from speeches he's given to magazine articles he's written to the short essays he's penned as introductions for books or liner notes for albums. While it's definitely not a memoir, I feel like this book gives us a greater insight into Gaiman's life, primarily into those things and people who have influenced his writing career, as well as his methodology. That said, we also get insights into the worlds of people as varied as Lou Reed, Stephen King, and Syrian refugees.

While some may quibble with the topical organization of the book (yes, it does get a bit repetitive when you're four comics speeches into that section), it's still a great collection, and well worth reading.