The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection

This audio cd is not too bad. I love Neil Gaiman and every story I've read has been wonderful. In this case, it was not so. This cd is made up of 4 children's stories. The reading was done quite well but I didn't really get into the stories too much. I like "I swapped my dad for two goldfish" probably the best. The poem wasn't too bad either. They just didn't grab me like most of his stories. I enjoyed the interview at the end in which his own daughter interviews him. I thought that was very sweet.

Okay, I love Neil. I really do. So foolishly that I even have his silly documentary about John Bolton and several autographed works. So it kills me to say that this is a worthless listen on tape. For starters, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls RELY on Dave McKean's illustrations. Removed and put in audio format, the stories lose all their drama and punch. You get that feel to a lesser extent with other works on the CD, which is short, and comprised of pictureless picture books and a not-so-interesting interview with Neil. Clearly an attempt to make a few extra bucks off Neil's growing fame, this is a bad, sad introduction to his work and one of only 2 Neil Gaiman items I don't and won't own (the other is the silly comic he did about Alice Cooper, because even I can't get excited about that, no matter who wrote it).

I love Neil Gaiman, and I especially love listening to him read his own work. This was delightful in every way, and made me want to get my niece and nephew and let them listen to it!

Neil Gaiman reads this himself and does a very nice job. I've never seen the pictures so I just enjoyed the emphasis he put on the words. Nothing complex here, just ironic fun. Warning: it was very short - one disk.