I had the pleasure of reading Neil Gaiman’s The View from the Cheap Seats (William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2016), a work of non-fiction by my favorite author of fantasy fiction. [Before continuing, I feel I must state that J. R. R. Tolkien is my favorite author of high fantasy, a distinction that Mr. Gaiman makes in part VIII and that I will conveniently borrow]. The book consists of a collection of some of Gaiman’s previously published essays, introductions, speeches, and reviews of books, music, and art. The book is organized in ten parts with tantalizing headings such as “Some Things I Believe,” “Films and Movies and Me,” and "On Stardust and Fairytales." Included as part IX is the entire manuscript of Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” speech, which I read last year in the small book form designed by Chip Kidd.
Most people skip reading the introductions to books and are not too keen on essays either as a rule. I am not one of those people but still girded myself for what I expected would be a somewhat tedious read. How wrong was I! Mr. Gaiman’s non-fiction voice is the same entertaining, irreverent, humorous, witty, storytelling voice that he employs in his works of fiction. And I learned a great deal about what spawned, molded, shaped, and influenced the creative genius of one of my favorite authors.
The best part for me was learning what books, authors, art, and music had the most profound influence on Gaiman’s development, most of which were unknown to me and which will no doubt be subjects of future study for me. The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany, who Gaiman puts right up there with Tolkien (perhaps higher than he), and Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees, which Gaiman considers to be among fantasy novels “one of the finest in the English language,” are two books which I will add to my reading list right now. And, of course, I will now have to check out The Dresden Dolls on YouTube, as “Amanda Palmer, half of [that] art-punk cabaret-rock band,” is Gaiman’s wife. And I will definitely have to move Good Omens, Gaiman’s collaboration with Terry Pratchett, up in my reading queue after learning about how much Gaiman loved and admired him.
