Fragile things : short fictions and wonders / Neil Gaiman

Introduction -- A study in emerald --The fairy reel --October in the chair --The hidden chamber --Forbidden brides of the faceless slaves in the secret house of the night of dread desire --The flints of memory lane --Closing time --Going wodwo -- Bitter grounds -- Other people --Keepsakes and treasures --Good boys deserve favors --The facts in the case of the departure of Miss Finch --Strange little girls --Harlequin valentine -- Locks --The problem of Susan --Instructions -- How do you think it feels?--My life --Fifteen painted cards from a vampire tarot --Feeders and eaters--Diseasemaker's group--In the end --Goliath --Pages from a journal found in a shoebox left in a Greyhound bus somewhere between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Louisville, Kentucky -- How to talk to girls at parties --The day the saucers came --Sunbird --Inventing Aladdin --The monarch of the glen.

This third collection of "short fictions and wonder" (after Smoke and Mirrors and Adventures in the Dream Trade) from the author of Anansi Boys ranges from a tale of zombies to a series of meditations inspired by singer Tori Amos's album, Strange Little Girls. As in his other books, there are fantastical elements. Gaiman follows no overarching theme, but that is what makes these stories charming, at times creepy, and good fun. They read like dreams and meditations, with a stream-of-consciousness quality to their presentation. Gaiman also explains some of the inspiration behind the stories to help put them in perspective.