Neil Gaiman’s Angels & Visitations: A Miscellany collects short stories and poems that Gaiman previously published elsewhere. The works include “Chivalry,” “Troll Bridge,” “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale,” “Vampire Sestina,” “The Mystery of Father Brown,” “Murder Mysteries,” and more. Gaiman’s “Chivalry” is a charming story about the troubles a woman faces when she purchases the Holy Grail in a secondhand shop. “Troll Bridge” takes the story of a troll living under a bridge and makes him a devourer of one’s life and lived experiences, while his human prey finds the world not as hopeful as he though. “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale” is a bit of a satire about a man trying to hire a hitman while bargain hunting. “Vampire Sestina” is a haunting poem. “Six to Six” discusses a failed attempt to join the nightlife in a part of London that only has a nightlife in reputation and nostalgia. “Gumshoe,” meanwhile, is a hilarious riff on scrambling to meet a deadline to maintain a reputation as reliable. In “The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds,” Gaiman pastiches hard-boiled detective stories while using fairytale characters. “Post-Mortem on Our Love” is a brutal poem of someone trying to figure out where their relationship failed. Gaiman discusses the brilliance of G.K. Chesterton and his detective-priest Father Brown in “The Mystery of Father Brown,” an essay that serves as a worthy introduction to the literary character for those whose interest was sparked by the recent television series starring Mark Williams. The book features illustrations from P. Craig Russell, Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, Steve Bissette, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Jill Karla Schwarz – several of whom had worked with Gaiman on his Sandman comics series prior to this miscellany and all of whose expressionist or abstract styles compliment Gaiman’s text. The works are all haunting and sweet; they take the reader to new places and leave them changed after the reading. “Troll Bridge” later became a graphic novel, “Murder Mysteries” became both an audio drama and a comic book, and “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale” has been adapted a few times as independent films. This early collection is a must-read for Gaiman fans, though several of the stories have appeared in subsequent collections of his short works. ( )

Een verzameling van Neil Gaiman zijn vroegere werk waarbij in de introductie ook nog zijn relatieve jeugdigheid doorklinkt. Dit boek kwam uit in 1993 en dat is het moment dat Neil Gaiman zo'n tien jaar betalend schrijver was. Hij wil dan een aantal van zijn stukken graag bundelen, stukken die hun oorsprong hebben in verzoekjes voor een introductie bij een boek, een gedicht bij de viering of verering van iemand, een inzending voor een tijdschrift en nog veel meer aanleidingen. Zoals ik ook uit andere bundels van hem ken, geeft hij in de introductie bij elk stuk een klein beetje achtergrond. Ik lees deze graag voor ik aan het verhaal zelf begin maar als lezer kun je er juist ook voor kiezen om helemaal onbevangen het stuk te lezen. Soms is de introductie wel eens boeiender dan bijvoorbeeld het gedicht dat het inleidt. Dat maakt het voor mij ook altijd de moeite waard om de introducties wel te lezen. Introducties die soms geniaal op zichzelf zijn.

Een aantal van de korte verhalen kende ik al. Bij het aanschaffen van meerdere verzamelbundels van een schrijver is het risico er altijd dat er dubbelingen komen. En hoe meer ik van Neil Gaiman lees, hoe meer dat er zijn. Maar omdat ik zo geniet van wat hij schrijft, zijn die dubbelingen nooit vervelend. Het zijn ook duidelijk zijn beste verhalen die ik wel vaker terug zie keren in die bundels. Zoals ook in deze bundel het verhaal Chivalry waarin een dame die graag in tweedehandswinkel snuffelt de Graal koopt en deze later met moeite aan Galahad afstaat omdat het zo goed staat op schoorsteenmantel. En natuurlijk het verhaal Troll-Bridge. Misschien ben ik dat verhaal al wel in drie verschillende bundels tegen gekomen en het verveelt nooit hoe de ik-persoon op jonge leeftijd de trol onder de brug tegenkomt en hoe dat zijn leven beïnvloedt.

Het verhaal We Can Get Them for You Wholesale heeft mijn hart harder laten slaan. Hoe iemand door verleiding van koopjes de mensheid uiteindelijk ten onder brengt. Humoristisch en tegelijkertijd een kern van waarheid, hoe absurd ook.

Deze bundel is zeer afwisselend met absurdistische verhalen, science fiction, gedichten, introducties voor andere boeken en speurneusverhalen. Niet alles vind ik altijd even interessant. Er zitten stukken tussen waarvan ik de context niet goed begrijp en waarvan mij dan ook de betekenis ontgaat. Blijkbaar werkt het zonder die context dan niet, in ieder geval niet voor mij.

Maar het gros is verfrissend, verrassend, humoristisch en puur Neil Gaiman, hoe jong ook. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2762347.html

Published in 1993 and re-released last year as part of the Gaiman ebook bundle which I got cheap. At that point Gaiman had published half of Sandman, also Black Orchid, the Books of Magic and (with Terry Pratchett) Good Omens, and was obviously a rising star but not quite as stellar as he has since become. So a lot of these pieces are journeyman work, but none the less interesting as we see him work out a few ideas which he returned to later and better. The story that lingers most with me is "Looking for the Girl", about an eternally young nude model, originally published in Penthouse. There is also some poetry and a couple of essays (one on Mary Gentle, one on Father Brown). There are some lovely illustrations as well. I am not a Gaiman completist so won't look out for this in hard copy, but am glad to have it in pixel form. ( )

This is the first, and rather short, short story collection by Neil Gaiman. It is pretty hard to find and most of the stories have been collected again in "Smoke & Mirrors". That said, the stories in the book are really good and fun to read. The book itself is also rather beautiful and contains illustrations from a lot of people such as Charles Vess and Michael Zulli.

Here's a list of the content; I marked all stories also collected in other books in the following way:
* = Story can also be found in "Smoke & Mirrors"
** = Strory can also be found in "M is for Magic"

* The Song of the Audience (Poem)
* Chivalry
* Nicholas Was...
* Babycakes
* Troll Bridge
* Vampire Sestina (Poem)
Webs
Six to Six
A Prologue (The introduction Neil wrote for Mary Gentle's "Scholars & Soldiers")
* Foreign Parts
* Cold Colours (Poem)
Luther's Villanelle (Poem)
* Mouse
Gumshoe (A book review Neil wrote for Josiah Thompson's "Gumshoe")
** The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds
*Virus (Poem)
* Looking for the Girl
Post-Mortem on Our Love (Poem)
Being an Experiment Upon Strictly Scientific Lines
* We Can Get Them for You Wholesale
The Mystery of Father Brown (An essay Neil wrote for "100 Great Detectives")
* Murder Mysteries ( )

In early February of 2007, Gaiman posted an entry in his blog about the break-in of his favorite local bookstore. The owners of the store are friends with Gaiman and asked if he would please tell his blog readers about this and maybe encourage his readers to help out by maybe buying a book. The store, Dreamhaven, has a really nice online catalog, and I used it extensively when collecting my copies of the Sandman.

February is my birthday month, and I hadn't purchased a present for myself yet, so the timing was perfect. I wanted to buy a book by Gaiman, to support Gaiman as well as Dreamhaven, and I when I saw that Angels & Visitations was also published by Dreamhaven, I chose that one.

Dreamhaven provides the option of getting a book signed for you by certain local authors, although it delays the shipping until the author happens to come in and be available to sign. So about a month later, I got my package of this in the mail complete with a "Happy birthday" inscription.

I love presents. Receiving and giving.

The book: Gaiman's first story collection. Many of the better stories were published in other collections, also, and I'm not a fan of some of the book's design (namely the cover lettering and table of contents shadow). But the better stories are still here, and I'm very glad I bought it.

Link to Gaiman's blog entry:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/02/psst-dreamhaven-pass-it-on.html ( )