Neil Gaiman is one sincere man. He's been a literary rock star for years, and as he took to the stage at Bard College, he said that he was expecting a classroom of about 30 people, not the 700+ people who showed up to simply hear him read a new short story he had written. Through Twitter he asked if people wanted to come out and hear him read, asking them to be his "guinea pigs." Well, people came from all over. A woman drove all the way from Maryland to see Gaiman read. Another said he came from California, and his family would like to think he came to see them, but he really came for Gaiman.Gaiman emerged on stage in his trade mark black jacket and seemed shocked at how many people showed up. Gaiman, one of the best known storytellers of out time, is a bit if a fantasy legend. His best known books include "American Gods", "Neverwhere", Good Omens", and of course "Coralline."Writing children's books, fantasy novels and acclaimed graphic novels Gaiman has had a great career as a writer.
I won't give away too many details of the story he read to the audience. I will say it was an honor to be one of the first people to listen to a Neil Gaiman story. After the story he told us that he would edit the story based on our reactions, including playing up one of his characters. That is really cool that we could have an effect on one of this master's stories. He got a well deserved standing ovation from which he humbly asked if we stood because the story was that good or were we just wanting to stretch due to sitting so long. In addition to the story he read two wonderful poems. Before he started the reading he promised the audience a gift afterward. Naturally the gift he gave us was a cool and quirky one. The gift was a performance by his wife, Amanda Palmer. She took out her ukulele and and enchanted us as Neil Gaiman looked on lovingly.
All in all, it was a delightful evening, and an honor to be in the presence of a literary God. Maybe I'm sounding a bit like a hero worshiper as I write this loving tribute to the great Neil Gaiman. And even tho I only had to travel a few miles to get there I would of strapped on the mileage for this experience. Now, if only I could be in the same room with Stephen King, my life would be complete.---
