The very best View is from the Cheap Seats

This is the most surprising and touching book I've ever read.

I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's. Every book I read of his, I've liked more than the previous. I've loved his stories, how he pulls magic from seams you didn't even realize were there. I've loved his complex characters who spiral down their own emotional and thoughtful rabbit holes: Fat Charlie discovering his own strength. Bod growing up. The Ocean at the end of the Lane's protagonist making us question what's really happened or hasn't.

If there were ever a doubt that these (and all of his other) characters were real, this book will rid you of it. His fiction characters are as real as Lou Reed, Amanda Palmer, Tori Amos and Terry Pratchett.

This book is a gift. I want to read it again and again and again. I want to hug Neil Gaiman and thank him for, well, believing in the magic that is this world. I want him to know how touched I am. I want everyone who's thinking of listening to this audible recording to do so as soon as possible, but to also be cautious in their timing because there will be times you'll have to pull off the freeway because you're crying too hard to safely drive.

Listen to this book. Whoever you are, listen to it. Learn from it. And go make the world a better place like Neil Gaiman has.

45 people found this helpful

A pleasure for Gaiman fans

If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman, the man, not necessarily his works, you will be thrilled with this book. If the individual introductions to the short stories in Trigger Warning interested you as much as the short stories themselves did, pick this book up. It will not disappoint.
If you have only read some of his novels, it's still worth a go. You'll learn a lot about the man, and what went into shaping him into the author who created those wonderful books.

I loved it.

27 people found this helpful

Need to be familiar with the author.

This book really is not for readers unfamiliar with the author, cause so much of it refers to his other books. Also many essays are forwards to other author's books, speeches given for particular awards/societies/clubs, most of which I am unfamiliar with. Although obviously well written and thoughtful, there is just way way way too much insider references for my mind to stay engaged. I'm stopping for now, may return to it after I've read a little more stuff by the author.

21 people found this helpful

non-optional, optional heading

Not a binge read, probably better to pick it up and read a little then come back to it again later. But, it's fantastic. I literally did laugh and cry.

20 people found this helpful

Sometimes the cheap seats have the best view...

First I would like to say Bravo, Neil Gaiman, Bravo!

As a manager of a bookstore, to say I love books would be an understatement. I try and read 10 to 12 each month, I talk to people about them all day, and I write about them in a blog. It is amazing to here the nonfiction words of one of the most prolific authors of the day.

He beautifully and unabashedly captures his love of books, people, comics, and experiences in this amazing collection. The story he paints is one filled with as much imagination, love, heartbreak, and bizarre occurences as in his or any other fiction.

By the end of this books I have caught the contagion of comic fever and have been inspired to learn to appreciate it as a medium. After reading this I better understand that the reason people love his writing is because he loves people and loves writing.

I would place this book on par with Stephen King's on writing and would/have recommended it to anyone looking for a great book about life, love, and the human experience.

15 people found this helpful

A beautiful mind.

Would you consider the audio edition of The View from the Cheap Seats to be better than the print version?

I have not read the printed version.

What other book might you compare The View from the Cheap Seats to and why?

There is not another book like this one.

Which character – as performed by Neil Gaiman – was your favorite?

Neil Gaiman.

If you could give The View from the Cheap Seats a new subtitle, what would it be?

I saved a seat for you.

Any additional comments?

This book matters very much today. It will matter a thousand years from now. It will matter 10,000 years from now and as long as we can communicate with one another. There are book I have read more than once, but only twice. This one I know, I will read over and over.
The best narration of any audio book I have listened to. I think I have listened to between 3 and 400.

13 people found this helpful

Amazing. Required reading for fans

I must admit that I am only half way through this, but I am already enjoying it immensely. It is a collection of Neil Gaiman's non-fiction writing. So this includes speeches given, introductions written and other miscellaneous things. The writings here come in a wide variety of flavors including, funny, entertaining, heartfelt and thought provoking. If you are generally not a fan of non-fiction, however, you may want to skip it or rent it from the library to get a feel for it before you spend the credit. It is very different from listening to fiction, but I find it equally rewarding. Neil Gaiman also narrates. For me, this is a huge plus. I LOVE Neil Gaiman's voice and narration style.

10 people found this helpful

Wonderful

I could listen to Neil Gaiman read anything, but listening to him read his own writing is the best.

9 people found this helpful

Consumed this nonfiction with greedy pleasure

I had an appetite for something nonfictiony but not boring. Sometimes boring is a matter of how you're feeling at the moment and what you've just finished reading and want more of.

I've always liked Neil Gaiman. His fiction. So I thought, eh, I'll give this compilation of intros, speeches, articles and whatnot a try.

I wasn't prepared to like it as much as I did. Gaiman kept me listening. He writes about writers. Lord Dunsany. Poe. Lovecraft, Stephen King. Dianna Wynn Jones. He writes about musicians. Lou Reed. Tori Amos. Amanda Palmer. Comic book artists and illustrators. Movie deals.

He throws in essays that make you think about the importance--and magic--of book stores, libraries and friends.

Another reviewer mentioned that along the way Neil Gaiman gives us an unintentional memoir. He does that. He chronicles his life, his ups and downs, his passions, while he gushes fanboy-like over the best and brightest minds in comics, literature, art and music.

This book is worth the purchase price for his essay on his night at the Oscars (in the "cheap seats") alone. And for the insightful piece on Stephen King. And I could name a dozen.

This is one to return to again. And if you want to know how to write a really smashing introduction to a book, this is full of them.

4 people found this helpful

Cheap way to make money on past glory

What would have made The View from the Cheap Seats better?

Something new to read or listen by NG that isn't already out there in public domain. It reads like the scrap book of NG where he past d every paper clipping, every 67 versions of the make good art speech he wrote, every forward he ever wrote for any book all compiled and called a book , because ardent fans of NG like me, who have read and continue to be enamoured by Sandman, by American gods, by Anansi boys, will buy anything he throws at us. First book of NG that I gave up listening after a few hours as I was so bored listening to the same speech, same article that I had already read of his and available I the public space being given to me at a cost. I'm disappointed terribly and feel cheated.

4 people found this helpful