I am a fan of Neil Gaiman and I enjoyed this collection of ephemera, as it is described by another reviewer. The longest part of the book is the blog about the launch of "American Gods", so it is rather fitting that I should read it now as the book is relaunched to link to the TV series. Although much of the writing in this book is essentially "knocked-out", it still illustrates Gaiman's amazing ability to communicate with us. I think it is really for true fans only. ( )

I would never have considered myself the type of person who would read a book of introductions about other works I've never read, a blog from 10 years ago and a few random, not very good poems. But I just did. Cover to cover (with a bit of skimming on the intros, I'll be honest). I really enjoyed some of the essays early on and his thoughts on C.S. Lewis and the Screwtape Letters were something I might never have come across otherwise. It was the second half of the collection that really got me though, all of the blog entries from when American Gods was going through the editing and publishing stages up through his book tours.

This is a great read for anyone whose never read a single Gaiman book or comic but was interested in the reality of a book becoming a BOOK to the public. He really hashes out the details of editing and copy-editing and interviews and what happens to get those blurbs on the back of book jackets. And for anyone who is a Gaiman addict or just simply a fan, well it's a ridiculous pleasure to read his entries, even the shortest of them. His voice is so simply his voice no matter what he's writing and his humor and observations about everything from author's photos to sushi in New York are entertaining and insightful.

It is also an interesting read as it shows Gaiman's transition into the internet world of blogs (he still calls it a "web blog" throughout) and e-books (he thinks their only future will be in being able to read while your bedmate sleeps). Blogger, the site he uses, crashes often or loses his long entries. Occasionally he catches his foot in cord and unplugs the phone line and there goes the internet. As the U.S. book tour gets going he's switching over to his new neilgaiman.com site and again it is interesting (in cultural way at least) to hear about the transition simply in light of the shifts of the past 10 years.


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As an author about to embark on her own book promotion and touring, I really enjoyed reading his blog on what happened *after* he sent American Gods to the publisher. I can definitely relate to the eyestrain of looking over proof after proof of the book design and catching things that somehow didn't get caught by me, the editor, the copy editor or, in the case of [b:Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities|13568677|Don't Leave Your Friends Behind Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities |Victoria Law|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333117456s/13568677.jpg|19147312], my co-editor.

Of course, being on a small independent publisher is waaay different than being on a gigantic publisher and getting *sent* on tour and having everything (the schedule, the events, the travel, the places to stay, the food) for me. But, despite the vast differences in our touring experience, I still enjoyed it. ( )

Having been a fan of Neil Gaiman's writing since his Sandman comics days in the late 1980s/early 1990s, I always pick up anything with his name on it. Adventures in the Dream Trade is no exception; I picked it up at WorldCon in early August. It's a book of Neil ephemera - introductions he wrote to other people's books and graphic novels, poetry, song lyrics and a few pieces of short fiction. The bulk of the book is a reprinting of his blog from February to September 2001, which charts the process between the time he turned in the manuscript for American Gods to the time it was published and shortly thereafter, when he was on book signing tours (in America, the UK and Canada). This is actually quite fascinating, as he describes the process of reviewing what the copy editor has done (which often seems to consist of Neil telling the publisher to put the words back the way he'd written them), how covers for books are chosen, who is invited to write blurbs for a given book and why; all sorts of information about How It's Done. And, of course, being Neil, it's all very entertainingly told. That said, I'd venture a guess that this is probably only for completists, or in any event only for fans who know his writing well; others might find the stories entertaining (well, I'm sure they would), but would miss a vast amount of references to his work. So I recommend it, but it's up to you to decide for whom I recommend it {g}. ( )

This is a collection of Gaiman's introductions to others' works, as well as his blog from the "American Gods" tour. The latter is by far the most interesting part: really witty and charming and just delightful. When Gaiman talks about having to sign 5,000 inserts for a special run of "American Gods," all I could think was, "Gee, I want to be a professional writer!" Which is why I'm crazy. But seriously, this was an extremely...invigorating read that made me excited about writing.