Neil Gaiman Draws an Adoring Crowd

My wife got tickets for us to go hear British bestselling author Neil Gaiman last night. I've never read any of his books, my loss, and I intend to do something about that. Mr. Gaiman has written a bunch of them in various genres and formats, and won many awards for them, too. Where have I been?

After hearing his funny and insightful interview/talk, in a church in Berkeley, I can understand the enthusiasm. Gaiman grew up practically living in the library and his love for the written word is sincere. He claims to just "get ideas and write them down," but there's much more to it than that. In his remarks he talked about the hard work that has to take place between the moments of inspiration and exultation at finding just the right way to say something.

Gaiman's American Gods was the centerpiece of his talk--it's ten years old now and available in a Tenth Anniversary Edition. Neil read a passage from it to the crowd--the part that takes place in San Francisco--and had everyone in the palm of his hand.

After his interview, the crowd immediately stood for a standing ovation. The author apologized for his "no autograph" policy, but it would have been a crush for hours if that had been part of the deal. Nobody seemed to mind, although I did see some attendees holding copies of his works.

Gaiman's blog is read by many--I'm going to go check it out now.