Contents About This Volume, Joseph Michael Sommers vii On Matters of Dreaming, World Building, and Finding Neil Gaiman’s Magic, Joseph Michael Sommers xiv Biographical Sketch of Neil Gaiman, Justin Wigard xxix Critical Contexts “We have an obligation to imagine”: A Critical Reception of the Work of Neil Gaiman, Kyle Eveleth and Justin Wigard 3 Embodied in Name Alone: Nobody Owens and the Metonymic Estrangement from the Living and the Dead in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, Joseph Michael Sommers 17 In the Shadow of Balder: Breaking the Cycle of Ragnarok in American Gods, Kristin Bovaird-Abbo 31 Opening the Door, Crossing the Wall: (Re) Mediation and Women’s Roles in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Stardust, Julie Perino 47 Critical Readings Guilty Pleasures: Neil Gaiman’s Books for Children for Adults, Annette Wannamaker 67 Reimagining the Cautionary Tale: Collage in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s The Wolves in the Walls, Krystal Howard 81 “What is She?”: Neil Gaiman’s Intertextual Conversation on Female Artistry in Coraline and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Marlyn Thomas 96 “Of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes”: Polyphony and Narrative Braiding in The Sandman: Worlds’ End, Kyle Eveleth 112 Going Postmodern Gothic: Neil Gaiman’s Feminist Fairy Tales, Jill Coste 129 “Everybody’s Here”: Radical Reflexivity in the Metafiction of The Sandman, Orion Ussner Kidder 146 v The Apocalypse and Other Silly Bits: Good Omens, Collaboration, and Authorial One-Upmanship, Laura Nicosia 161 Spoilers, Sweetie—a Madman and His Monsters: Neil Gaiman’s “The Doctor’s Wife,” Kelly J. Murphy 178 Crafting Advocacy through Intimacy and Empathy: A Rhetorical Analysis of The Reading Agency Lecture, Kristin McIlhagga 195 Resources Chronology of Neil Gaiman’s Life 213 Works by Neil Gaiman 219 Bibliography 227 About the Editor 233 Contributors 235 Index 239 vi Critical Insights.

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Anansi Boys Neil Gaiman
ANANSI BOYS NEIL GAIMAN ALSO BY NEIL GAIMAN MirrorMask: The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture from The Jim Henson Company(with Dave McKean) The Alchemy of MirrorMask(by Dave McKean; commentary by Neil Gaiman) American Gods Stardust Smoke and Mirrors Neverwhere Good Omens(with Terry Pratchett) FOR YOUNG READERS (illustrated by Dave McKean) MirrorMask(with Dave McKean) The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish The Wolves in the Walls Coraline CREDITS Jacket design by Richard Aquan Jacket collage from Getty Images COPYRIGHT Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following copyrighted material: “Some of These Days” used by permission, Jerry Vogel Music Company, Inc. Spider drawing on page 334 © by Neil Gaiman. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ANANSI BOYS. Copyright© 2005 by Neil Gaiman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBound™. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gaiman, Neil.
[Show full text]
Tolkien of the New Millenium NEIL GAIMAN: the J.R.R
NEIL GAIMAN: the J.R.R. Tolkien of the new millenium “My parents would frisk me before family events …. Because if they didn’t, then the book would be hidden inside some pocket … and as soon as whatever it was got under way I’d be found in a corner. That was who I was … I was the kid with the book.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR • Nov. 10th, 1960 (came into being) • Polish-Jewish origin (born in England) • Early influences: – C.S. Lewis – J.R.R. Tolkien – Ursula K. Le Guin • Pursued journalism as a career, focused on book reviews and rock journalism • 1st book a biography of Duran Duran, 2nd a book of quotations (collaborative) • Became friends with comic book writer Alan Moore & started writing comics GAIMAN’S WORKS • Co-author (with Terry Pratchett) of Good Omens, a very funny novel about the end of the world; international bestseller • Creator/writer of monthly DC Comics series Sandman, won 9 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards and 3 Harvey Awards – #19 won 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, 1st comic ever to win a literary award – Endless Nights 1st graphic novel to appear on NYT bestseller list • American Gods in 2001; NYT bestselling novel, won Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, SFX, and Locus awards • Wrote the script for Beowulf with Roger Avary OTHER WORKS • Mirrormask film released in late 2005 • Designed a six-part fantastical series for the BBC called Neverwhere, aired in 1996. The novel Neverwhere was released in 1997 and made into a film. • Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls are two award-winning children’s books; Coraline is being filmed, with music provided by They Might Be Giants, and TWW is being made into an opera.
[Show full text]
An Evening to Honor Gene Wolfe
AN EVENING TO HONOR GENE WOLFE Program 4:00 p.m. Open tour of the Sanfilippo Collection 5:30 p.m. Fuller Award Ceremony Welcome and introduction: Gary K. Wolfe, Master of Ceremonies Presentation of the Fuller Award to Gene Wolfe: Neil Gaiman Acceptance speech: Gene Wolfe Audio play of Gene Wolfe’s “The Toy Theater,” adapted by Lawrence Santoro, accompanied by R. Jelani Eddington, performed by Terra Mysterium Organ performance: R. Jelani Eddington Closing comments: Gary K. Wolfe Shuttle to the Carousel Pavilion for guests with dinner tickets 8:00 p.m Dinner Opening comments: Peter Sagal, Toastmaster Speeches and toasts by special guests, family, and friends Following the dinner program, guests are invited to explore the collection in the Carousel Pavilion and enjoy the dessert table, coffee station and specialty cordials. 1 AN EVENING TO HONOR GENE WOLFE By Valya Dudycz Lupescu A Gene Wolfe story seduces and challenges its readers. It lures them into landscapes authentic in detail and populated with all manner of rich characters, only to shatter the readers’ expectations and leave them questioning their perceptions. A Gene Wolfe story embeds stories within stories, dreams within memories, and truths within lies. It coaxes its readers into a safe place with familiar faces, then leads them to the edge of an abyss and disappears with the whisper of a promise. Often classified as Science Fiction or Fantasy, a Gene Wolfe story is as likely to dip into science as it is to make a literary allusion or religious metaphor. A Gene Wolfe story is fantastic in all senses of the word.
[Show full text]
The Ocean at the End of the Lane 2
A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO ALIGNED TO THE COMMON CORE “A novel about the truths—some wonderful, some terrible— that children know and adults do not.” —Time Magazine www.HarperAcademic.com A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO NEIL GAIMAN’S THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE 2 Table of Contents Note to Teachers 3 Guided Reading Questions 4 Prologue 4 Chapter One 4 Chapter Two 5 Chapter Three 5 Chapter Four 6 Chapter Five 6 Chapter Six 7 Chapter Seven 7 Chapter Eight 8 Chapter Nine 8 Chapter Ten 9 Chapter Eleven 9 Chapter Twelve 10 Chapter Thirteen 10 Chapter Fourteen 11 Chapter Fifteen 11 Epilogue 12 Writing and Discussion Prompts 12 Topics for Argumentation Essays or Debate 12 Topics for Informative Writing 13 Topics for Narrative Writing 14 Research Topics 16 More About Neil Gaiman 16 Books by Neil Gaiman 17 About This Guide’s Author 17 A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO NEIL GAIMAN’S THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE 3 Note to Teachers The questions and activities in this teaching guide were written to support standards-based instruction. The Ocean at the End of the Lane meets the standard for Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity for grades 9-10. Its connec- tions to folklore, mythology, and the hero journey make it an excellent anchor text for survey courses of world literature. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 A complete list of the Common Core State Standards can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards This Teacher’s Guide is divided into three sections.
[Show full text]
Waking up the Gods Sandman Series (And Legions of Other Similar Publications) Neil Gaiman Has Also Written Numerous Short Stories and Essays
BOOKWORLD INCWADI YELIZWE tion of the minds of these two authors here truly produces a hugely entertaining read. Besides his acclaim as the author of The Waking up the gods Sandman series (and legions of other similar publications) Neil Gaiman has also written numerous short stories and essays. An excel- The unusual world of Neil Gaiman lent selection of these may be found in the 1999 publication Smoke and mirrors: short fiction and illusions. As its title suggests, the ALEXANDER VAN DER POLL #19 became the first (and only) comic pieces collected within it are all about illusion. Correspondent (graphic novel) to be awarded a literary Often Gaiman uses traditional imagery and prize (The World Fantasy Award) in 1991, ideas, or even fables and then adds his unique ‘Saying Neil Gaiman is a writer, is like the ‘underground’ author took his first otherworldly touch to them. The text itself is saying Da Vinci dabbled in the arts.’ steps toward world acclaim. very varied, ranging from a mere paragraph to (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Today he is hailed by many as an excit- a dozen or more pages. Yet, whether long or ing new voice in English fiction, and even short, the stories, poems and essays included doll with hollowed out eyes is best-selling author Stephen King, has high are always stimulating and tend to linger in the pinned to the wall. An ‘expression’ praise for his work. The dictionary of liter- mind. A of horror fills its lifeless face. A tie ary biography lists Gaiman as one of the And not only in the mind of the reader! is wrapped around its neck.
[Show full text]
The Sandman: Endless Nights
THE SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS Presentation by Jason Moore Heather Morgan Orion Petitclerc http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/249655_S/TV‐Series‐Planned‐For‐The‐Sandman‐Can‐It‐Work.jpg KEYWORDS •Graphic Novel •Endless •Perception/Variation •Sigil •Subculture •Artistic Style GRAPHIC NOVELS 101: A NEW LITERARY ARTFORM! •Graphic Novel –A medium in which text is both accompanied and complimented by art, oftentimes to a degree in which neither elements can stand alone and tell a story. (Exception: “‘Nuff Said” comics) The “Graphic Novel” Controversy: •According to Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), graphic novel is merely “a marketing term…[that] just came to mean ‘expensive comic book’”. http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/9/91/Amazing_Spider‐Man_Vol_2_39.jpg THE GRAPHIC NOVEL FORMAT American Comic Book Format: •Dimensions: 6 5/8” x 10 ¼“ (17 x 26 cm) •Scaled up or down for graphic novels or trade collections. •Length: 32 pages, 21‐24 pages of story and art plus 8 pages of advertisements •Read from left‐to‐right, top‐to‐bottom (unless otherwise dictated by the artistic Types of Publications: arrangement on the pages). •The Standard comic book •Published as an Ongoing Series (Amazing Spider‐Man, Batman, etc.), Annual, One‐Shot, or Limited Series. •Graphic Novels •Trade Paperbacks (TPB’s), Anthologies, and Omnibuses ENDLESS NIGHTS FORMAT •American Graphic Novel •Largely traditional paneled pages and directional flow http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4f/Endless_Nights_cover.jpg/250px-Endless_Nights_cover.jpg NOTE! Endless Nights was only published as a Graphic Novel, whereas the original Sandman series was published as a standard monthly Comic Book later collected in TPB’s.
[Show full text]
Neil Gaiman's Feminist Fairy Tales
About this Volume Joseph Michael Sommers 7KHHVVD\VFRQWDLQHGZLWKLQWKLVYROXPHFRQVWLWXWHDQLQWHUHVWLQJ mélange of thoughts, ruminations, perspectives, and approaches that are as diverse a look at the life and work of Neil Gaiman as any in SULQWWRGD\WRP\PLQGDWOHDVW7KHFRQWULEXWRUVDQG,DUHTXLWH SURXGRIWKDW7KHFKDSWHUVGRQRWUDGLDWHIURPDQ\FHQWUDOWKHVLV chronology (though one is presented in the Resources section of this book), or even thematic progression nearly as much as they make DYDLQDWWHPSWWRH[SORUHDVPDQ\IDFHWVRIWKHDXWKRUDQGWKH¿UVW thirty years of his career from as many different avenues as one FRXOG ¿W EHWZHHQ WZR FRYHUV:H VWDUW DV QHDU DV SRVVLEOH WR WKH beginning of his career in short stories, comics, and journalism and examine works as recent as 2016’s The View from the Cheap Seats while we await his next volume Norse Mythology and the televised adaptation of American Gods, both slated to appear in 2017. Some subjects, like Gaiman’s seminal work on The Sandman receive greater coverage; winning over twenty-six Eisner awards garners that sort of attention. Other topics received less. I could cajole no one to cover Gaiman’s foray into the autobiographical history of Duran Duran no matter how hard I tried. Perhaps, next time. 6R DW EHVW DQG FHUWDLQO\ DW ¿UVW FRQVLGHU WKH YROXPH EHIRUH you as the lot of us making a start, to paraphrase the great American poet William Carlos William’s Patterson, out of particulars and making them general . rolling up the sum by the defective means RIZKDWRQHERRNFDQHQFDSVXODWHRIRQHRIWKHPRVWSUROL¿FZULWHUV RIWKHODWHWZHQWLHWKDQGWZHQW\¿UVWFHQWXU\&HUWDLQO\ZLWKLQWKHVH
[Show full text]
The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon
The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman With Illustrations by Dave McKean 2 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon Rattle his bones Over the stones It’s only a pauper Who nobody owns TRADITIONAL NURSERY RHYME 3 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon Contents Epigraph 1 How Nobody Came to the Graveyard 2 The New Friend 3 The Hounds of God 4 The Witch’s Headstone 5 Danse Macabre Interlude The Convocation 6 Nobody Owens’ School Days 7 Every Man Jack 8 Leavings and Partings Acknowledgments About the Author Other Books by Neil Gaiman Credits Copyright About the Publisher 4 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon CHAPTER ONE How Nobody Came to the Graveyard THERE WAS A HAND IN the darkness, and it held a knife. The knife had a handle of polished black bone, and a blade finer and sharper than any razor. If it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not immediately. The knife had done almost everything it was brought to that house to do, and both the blade and the handle were wet. The street door was still open, just a little, where the knife and the man who held it had slipped in, and wisps of nighttime mist slithered and twined into the house through the open door. 5 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaimon The man Jack paused on the landing. With his left hand he pulled a large white handkerchief from the pocket of his black coat, and with it he wiped off the knife and his gloved right hand which had been holding it; then he put the handkerchief away.
[Show full text]
Download the Issue
Spring 2012 Volume 24 Issue 01 totaltheatre.org.uk ARTISTS TaKING THE LEAD: FROM LANDGUARD POINT TO LONDON BUS TOPS, LONE TWIN AND THE LIONHEART PROJECT THE DEVIL AND MISTER PUNCH! JULIAN CROUCH, IN HIS OWN WORDS NEW YORK, NEW YORk – A WORLDVIEW OF PERFORMANCE USA HaVING A WHalE OF A TIME: LEVIATHAN paRT THE SECOND PLUS: BEING THERE WITH LITTLE BUlb, THE WORKS OF NIE, AND REVIEWS FROM THE LONDON INTERNATIONal MIME FESTIVal, IF ONly…! AT BLUECOAT LIVERPOOL, AND THE SaCRED SEASON AT CHELSEA THEATRE TOT al TOTAL THEATRE MAGAZINE THE TOTAL THEATRE MAGAZINE Editor A TRE Spring 2012 Volume 24 Issue 01 Dorothy Max Prior M [email protected] A G A Deputy Editor ZINE John Ellingsworth [email protected] Spring 2012 Volume Spring24 IssueVolume 2012 01 Welcome to the spring 2012 edition of Total Theatre. Do I need to remind you that this June sees the coming of the Olympics to our fair land? It’s been the subject of all sorts of debates and Reviews Editor grumbles within the arts world, but at last – for better or worse – the time is almost nigh. Beccy Smith [email protected] So, to provide a little background for those not from these parts, or those who are perhaps on a seven-year arts news hiatus: Given that the same government department that funds the arts is Advertising & also responsible for sport, the announcement, in 2005, of London’s successful Olympic bid for Subscriptions Manager 2012 was met with wary scepticism in some artistic quarters. Wouldn’t this mean that arts funding Christian Francis would suffer? We were reassured that alongside the Olympics would run the Cultural Olympiad, a [email protected] scheme that would create a whole succession of arts events that would circle the sports events that [email protected] in turn would circle the Olympics and Paralympics themselves.
[Show full text]
Liminality in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and American Gods Courtney Linn Firman Bucknell University
Bucknell University Bucknell Digital Commons Master’s Theses Student Theses 2010 Fantasy Making the Invisible Visible: Liminality in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and American Gods Courtney Linn Firman Bucknell University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/masters_theses Recommended Citation Firman, Courtney Linn, "Fantasy Making the Invisible Visible: Liminality in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and American Gods" (2010). Master’s Theses. 27. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/masters_theses/27 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Bucknell Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master’s Theses by an authorized administrator of Bucknell Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I, Courtney L. Firman, do grant permission for my thesis to be copied. i Acknowledgements I would like to, first, thank my committee for all of their input and support. Prof. Jean Peterson, Prof. Alf Siewers, and Prof. James Peterson have been indispensible throughout this process. Second, I would like to thank my entire family (especially Logan and Nicole). Without their love, support, and understanding there is no way I could have reached this goal. ii Table of Contents Introduction p. 1 Chap. 1 : The Invisible in Literature: The Voice of the Liminal in Neverwhere p. 5 and American Gods Chap. 2 : The Beast in the Sewer: Representing the Liminal for Two Millenia p. 27 Chap. 3 : Revealing the Invisible: Gaiman’s Use of the Beast in the Sewer p. 41 Conclusion p. 54 Works Cited p. 56 iii Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to examine the ways in which the fantasy genre is ideally positioned for discussing social issues, such as invisibility and liminality.
[Show full text]
Download the Wolves in the Walls Free Ebook
THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean | 54 pages | 05 Mar 2007 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9780747591627 | English | London, United Kingdom Neil's Work | Books | Wolves in the Walls She tries to tell her mother, father, and brother about the wolfish sounds, but they were The Wolves in the Walls incredulous and refused to believe her. Retrieved 27 June The wolves weren't violent or malicious; they thought the house was The Wolves in the Walls own just like Lucy's family did. To avoid the wolves, she goes into the walls herself kind of phasing into it. I loved reading it aloud to my daughter, complete with hushed tones and throaty growls when required. But it's never outright pointed out that there's no reason to be afraid of it, and even at the end when the wolves are shown running away from the house, the family brandishing their chair legs, it's still done in a creepy style, the wolves and people as silhouettes, with weird smoke in the sky and a dark house. As the family thinks of other locations to live places without any wallsLucy faces her greatest fear by returning to the house to rescue pig-puppet. Since they're having trouble sleeping, they take her suggestion and move to the walls of their house. Though they are seen as 'enemies' in the book, they are both equally as fearful of each other. We love this book! Start your review of The Wolves in the Walls. But in the middle of the night, the wolves are having a party and keeping the family awake.
[Show full text]
Coraline 10Th Anniversary Edition
Reading Guide Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition By Neil Gaiman ISBN: 9780380807345 Introduction Coraline's parents are too busy to play with her. She's on her own, and when she goes exploring in her new apartment she unlocks a door that leads to a different world. At first it looks familiar, even intriguing, but Coraline quickly learns that evil lurks there. Soon, Coraline is caught in a life or death challenge—to save herself, her family, and three lost children. It is an experience that will forever change her. Questions for Discussion 1. Describe Coraline. What kind of a person is she? How does she like to spend her time? 2. How is Coraline treated by her parents? Who are the other adults in Coraline's life and how do they treat her? What is the difference between how she is treated in the real world and the other world? 3. Before entering the other world, Coraline receives ominous warnings about her future. What are the warnings and from whom does she receive them? What do the messages mean? 4. When Coraline unlocks the door to the neighboring flat she knows she is doing something she is not supposed to (pp.26). But she does it anyway. Why? What are the consequences? Have you ever done something you knew you were not supposed to? How did this make you feel? What were the consequences of your actions? 5. When Coraline discovers her parents are missing, she calls the police (pp. 54-55). What does she tell the officer? How does he respond? Why? How would you respond if you were the officer? Why? What would you have done if you were in Coraline's situation? 6.
[Show full text]

Table of Contents