The View from the Cheap Seats

Selected Nonfiction

Neil Gaiman

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780062262288
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

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.

Index

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Abel, Jessica, 310

Academy Awards (Oscars), 463–69

Acker, Kathy, 188

Adams, Douglas, 11, 103, 114–16, 367–72; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 114–15, 368, 370–72; “Remembering Douglas Adams,” 114–16; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, 367–72

Adams, Neal, 264–65

Addams, Charles, 51

“Afterword Afterword: Evelyn Evelyn,” 415–18

Agnew, Spiro, 121, 122

Aladdin Sane (album), 475

Aldiss, Brian, 169–76, 194, 195; Billion Year Spree, 169, 191; Hothouse, 169–76

Alex Award, 85

Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators (Arthur), 17

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll), 68

“All Books Have Genders,” 67–72

Allen, Woody, 269

Allred, Michael, 279

Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The (Pratchett and Briggs), 103–4

America, 64–66

American Gods (Gaiman), 62, 64–65, 68–72, 77, 85, 193, 357–58

American Library Association, 297

Amis, Martin, 403, 405

Amos, Tori, 389–93

Anderson, Brent, 261

Anderson, Poul, 193

Andrews, Julie, 139

And to My Nephew Albert I Leave the Island What I Won off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game (Forrest), 27, 84

Angry Candy (Ellison), 123

Anno Dracula (Newman), 323

“Apt Pupil” (King), 133

Archer’s Goon (Jones), 97

Ardingly College (school), 26-27

“Argonauts of the Air, The” (Wells), 334–35

Aristocrats, The (movie), 215, 216

Arkham House, 349

Art, 451–59

Art and Artifice: And Other Essays on Illusion (Steinmeyer), Introduction to, 380–82

Asimov, Isaac, 27, 196

Askwith, Mark, 267, 268–69

Aston House (school), 78–79

Astounding Science Fiction, 340–41, 343

Astro City: Confession (Busiek), Introduction to, 257–62

Austin, Alan, 282–84

Author photographs, 93–94

Bacchae, The (Euripides), 254

Bacchus, 253–55

Bag of Bones (King), 134

Baker, Tom, 219

Baker Street Irregulars, 325

Balcombe, Florence, 325

Baldwin, Alec, 466

Ballard, J. G., 121, 165, 171

Banks, John, 28–29, 30

Barker, Clive, 148

Barks, Carl, 271

Barry, Lynda, 312

Batman (movie), 222

Batman: Cover to Cover, 263–66

Baynes, Pauline, 34, 35

Beagle, Peter S., xv–xvi, 35–36

Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, The (Ellison), Foreword to, 117–24

Bechdel, Alison, 73

“Bells, The” (song), 406, 408

Beloved Demons (Martignetti), Introduction to, 483–90

Berger, Karen, 280

Berlin (album), 398, 400

Best American Comics 2010, Introduction to, 308–13

Bester, Alfred, 183–88

Best of the Spirit, The (Eisner), Introduction to, 286–89

Betty and Veronica, 305

Between Thought and Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou Reed, 403–4, 407, 410–12

Biard, Gérard, 76

Bigelow, Kathryn, 468

Big Time, The (Leiber), 167

Billion Year Spree (Aldiss), 169, 191

“Birdhouse in Your Soul” (song), 394

Birkin, Charles, 82

Black Orchid (Gaiman and McKean), 107

Blair, Tony, 225

Blish, James, 170

Bloch, Robert, 348

Bloody Chamber, The (Carter), 425

“Blue Cross, The” (Chesterton), 344–45

Blyberg, Will, 261

Blyton, Enid, 7

“Body, The” (King), 133

Bogart, Humphrey, ...

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• I: Some Things I Believe
• II: Some People I Have Known
• III: Introductions and Musings: Science Fiction
• IV: Films and Movies and Me
• V: On Comics and Some of the People Who Make Them
• VI: Introductions and Contradictions
• VII: Music and The People Who Make It
• VIII: On Stardust and Fairy Tales
• IX: Make Good Art
• X: The View from the Cheap Seats: Real Things
• Credits
• Index
• About the Author
• Also by Neil Gaiman
• Copyright
• About the Publisher