Firstly, I wanted to talk a bit about the author, this book's author. This Charming Man. Isn't that the name of a Smiths song? Neil Gaiman is a charming man, there is no denying that. One doesn't have to go far on the internet to find praise from scores of fans of both his fantasy and some of the highest regarded comics ever written.
At a past New York Comic Con I've attended a Neil Gaiman event, not the first time I've seen him speak, he is wonderful listen to, a natural storyteller, pulling you into his world effortlessly with his charming accent (there it is again).
We waited in line as it was listed that the first 500 people in line would receive a book. What we didn't know was that as we were waiting, Neil was feverishly scribbling his signature away, on not one, but two books, so that each of the first 500 would leave with two signed copies. While we waited in line, we noticed a door to one of the back rooms was open, and low and behold, there he was, feverishly signing books.
This photograph was taken by my wife, Fotini, from that line as we waited. There's Neil at a table scribbling his signature so that us huddled masses could leave each with two signed new books.
A gentleman, that one.
A gentleman, that one.
I love the woman racing by out-of-focus on the right side of the photo, it's almost ghost-like, which seemed appropriate being in line waiting to hear Neil speak about fantastical stuff, his writing, both really.
This little snippet of a post is a lead-in to a longer follow-up post, which I hope to have up soon, where I aim to discuss my thoughts on The Ocean at the End of the Lane, where I first heard Neil speak about the book at this very panel at New York Comic Con. Maybe I'll talk more about the panel too. I've got notes somewhere.
