Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions (1998)

Some of these stories I really liked... others not so much. Pretty typical for a book of short stories in that, to me. ( )

Quite the mixed bag here. I enjoyed about 4 or 5, was ambivalent about most, and against a few, so overall a moderate success, I think. ( )

It's no secret I'm a Neil Gaiman fan. Love the man. And his audiobooks are always fantastic and Smoke and Mirrors is no exception. Gaiman's narration is spot on. As always when I listen to him tell a story, it feels like he's letting me in on a secret. You know, telling me a special tale that not many people know. I'd heard many of the stories in this collection in other places; but lots were brand new to me. They also opened up some new insights into Neil Gaiman that I hadn't seen before. This collection highlights Gaiman's unique talent and masterful ability to tell a story. ( )

A great read by one of my favorite authors. ( )

A fun read, and that includes the introduction (there is a story hidden in there, so if you skip it, you'll miss one!).

Just one little thing though, because I know Gaiman writes a lot of stuff for younger people, and parents often come looking for Gaiman stuff for them... This book is not for kids!!!
Seriously. There is frequent, graphic hanky panky going on. While this is perfectly ok for its intended audience, you do not want to be giving this to your nine-year-old to read. Just sayin'...

But yes, some great stories here, and I'm looking forward to diving straight into another of his short story compilations. ( )