{"id":1616,"date":"2009-04-19T16:51:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-19T16:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2018-11-20T05:30:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:30:57","slug":"ye-olde-curiosity-shoppe-fragile-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=1616","title":{"rendered":"Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe: Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_AS3Nr1ChgcU\/SeovuCN25tI\/AAAAAAAAByE\/qJolZSCwlBY\/s1600-h\/FragileThings.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;\" src=\"https:\/\/writingya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/FragileThings.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326121977234515666\" \/><\/a>Yeah, I know, this isn&#8217;t technically a YA book. But because I started reading Gaiman&#8217;s Sandman comics as a YA myself, and because I&#8217;ve been sort of a gibbering fangirl ever since, well&#8230;it&#8217;s gotta be done. Honestly, though, if you&#8217;re a fan of his other work you&#8217;ll almost certainly enjoy this amazingly diverse collection of short (and somewhat longer) stories and poems. I finished each one amazed by the author&#8217;s skill in attacking a number of different styles and themes\u2014this is a versatile volume and an excellent showcase of Gaiman&#8217;s talent and vision. I even enjoyed reading the introductory notes, for crying out loud. <\/p>\n<p>The initial story, &#8220;A Study in Emerald,&#8221; won a Hugo award in 2004 and starts the collection off with a bang\u2014in fact, it&#8217;s the story that has lingered in my mind the most, perhaps, of all of them, with its dark Lovecraftian setting and its mystery structure. &#8220;How to Talk to Girls at Parties&#8221; was another memorable piece, maybe because I could so easily picture a young version of the author narrating the uncanny events. Stories of insatiable gourmands seeking a once-in-a-lifetime delectation; bizarre underground circuses; demons, killers, schoolboys&#8230;it&#8217;s a veritable potpourri of strange delights and an awe-inspiring glimpse into the author&#8217;s imagination. By the time I finished reading it, I was even more of a fan than when I started. Seriously. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.indiebound.org\/aff\/readersrant7?product=9780061252020\" target=_blank>Buy <i>Fragile Things<\/i> from an independent bookstore near you!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yeah, I know, this isn&#8217;t technically a YA book. But because I started reading Gaiman&#8217;s Sandman comics as a YA myself, and because I&#8217;ve&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,30,12,63,5],"class_list":["post-1616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-af","tag-crossover","tag-fantasy-sci-fi","tag-magical-realism","tag-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5570,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions\/5570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}