“When I was a boy, Ray Bradbury picked stories from his books of short stories he thought younger readers might like, and he published them as R Is for Rocket and S Is for Space. Now I was doing the same sort of thing, and I asked Ray if he’d mind if I called this book M Is for Magic. (He didn’t.)” (p. xii)
I’m a big fan of Neil Gaiman’s work and for anyone who is looking for a place to sample Gaiman’s work, M Is for Magic (2007) would be a great place to start. The 11 stories in this collection range from science fiction to fantasy to suspense. I love “The Witch’s Headstone, ” a cunning story with a great ending. I’m also fond of “How to Sell the Ponti Bridge” where a group of con artists listen to a stunning variation on the old selling the Brooklyn Bridge scam. The Ponti Bridge is located on another planet and it consists of gems and diamonds and other precious stones held together by Magic.
M Is for Magic showcases stories with humor, wit, and occasional darkness. And, a great book to read around Halloween! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Introduction — ix
- The case of the four and twenty blackbirds — 3
- Troll bridge — 24
- Don’t ask Jack — 44
- How to sell the Ponti Bridge — 49
- October in the chair — 75
- Chivalry — 100
- The price — 125
- How to talk to girls at parties — 138
- Sunbird — 164
- The witch’s headstone — 205
- Instructions — 256
I enjoy Gaiman’s short fiction better than most of his novels. I must have read all of these but the only two I remember are Troll Bridge and How to Talk to Girl’s at Parties (made into a fairly mediocre film).
Steve, I agree with you that “Troll Bridge” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” are memorable.
We appear to be on the same wavelength, George; my Halloween reading this year included Gaiman’s THE NEIL GAIMAN READER, a big fat bok (730 pages, 59 short stories and excerpts) that include even of these stories. Gaiman writes faster than I can read, which is a pretty good thing in my book since I, too, am a big fan of his work.
Jerry, I have THE NEIL GAIMAN READER around here somewhere. I’ve had M IS FOR MAGIC on my shelf for years and this seemed to be the perfect time to read it. Like you, I’m a fan of Gaiman. Keeping up with his output is like keeping up with James Patterson’s output!
seven
I probably read this, as I’ve read a lot of Gaiman, including most of his short stories.
Jeff, I’d read some of the stories in M IS FOR MAGIC in other volumes but it’s great to have them all together in one volume.
Love Neil Gaiman and this sounds great!
Thanks for the suggestion, George.
Beth, after reading Neil Gaiman’s INTRODUCTION I think Gaiman loves Ray Bradbury’s work as much as you do! I love that Gaiman contacted Bradbury to get his approval for the M IS FOR MAGIC title!
Chivalry is a favorite of ours, in part from having a recording of Neil reading it. This one has a woman picking up the Holy Grail at an Oxfam shop.
Jeff, I love that Grail story, too!
Unfortunately, he’s a member of the Scientology Organized Crime Family and I will have no truck with any of them.
Bob, I think Gaiman left Scientology.
I hope so. How did you hear of it?
Bob, where I get all of my confidential information: the Internet.
This sounds perfect for me, since I have not read much by Neil Gaiman.
Tracy, M IS FOR MAGIC is a perfect place to start!
I really do need to read these. Short stories are always a great place to begin.
Patti, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these Gaiman stories!
It is a fun collection. The Witch’s Headstone is a chapter out of the novel, The Graveyard Book, which is Bod’s story, with the novel’s format inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. If you haven’t read it, it is worth a read.
Carl, I have THE GRAVEYARD BOOK on my Read Real Soon stack. Loved “The Witch’s Headstone”!
Listening to the audio of The Graveyard Book has become an annual tradition with me. It has the coming of age elements that I enjoy in good YA fiction and I think the short story-ish elements of the chapters, with an overall story arc, really works for me.
Carl, I’m a huge fan of Neil Gaiman and I also have an audio book version of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK waiting to be listened to.
Is it the full cast audio version? The one read by Gaiman is great, as his reading is always enjoyable, but the full cast one is great too. I’ve enjoyed them both over the years.