Fragile Things

About this book

Let me tell you a story. No, wait, one's not enough. I'll begin again? Let me tell you stories of the months of the year, of ghosts and heartbreak, of dread and desire. Let me tell you of after-hours drinking and unanswered phones, of good deeds and bad days, of breaking down and making up, of dead men walking and missing fathers, of little French ladies in Miami, of trusting wolves and how to talk to girls. There are stories within stories, whispered in ears in the quiet of the night, shouted above the roar of the day, and played out between lovers and enemies, strangers and friends. But all, all are fragile things made up using just 26 letters arranged and rearranged again and again to form tales and imaginings which, if you let them, will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul. The following stories are contained in this collection: 1) An introduction where Gaiman details some background on each of the stories, and includes a short-short story (The Mapmaker) 2) A Study in Emerald 3) The Fairy Reel (poem) 4) October in the Chair 5) The Hidden Chamber 6) Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire 7) The Flints of Memory Lane 8) Closing Time 9) Going Wodwo (poem) 10) Bitter Grounds 11) Other People 12) Keepsakes and Treasures 13) Good Boys Deserve Favors 14) The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch 15) Strange Little Girls 16) Harlequin Valentine 17) Locks 18) The Problem of Susan 19) Instructions 20) How Do You Think It Feels? 21) My Life 22) Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot 23) Feeders and Eaters 24) Diseasemaker's Croup 25) In the End 26) Goliath 27) Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox Left in a Greyhound Bus Somewhere Between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Louisville, Kentucky 28) How to Talk to Girls at Parties 29) The Day the Saucers Came 30) Sunbird 31) Inventing Aladdin 32) The Monarch of the Glen