Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

by Neil Gaiman

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, a wide-ranging assortment of short fiction that pierces the veil of reality to expose the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath―one of ten classic Gaiman works repackaged with elegant original watercolor art by acclaimed artist Henry Sene Yee

“Beautiful, haunting . . . Evokes our wonder at the myths and imaginations of our childhoods.”—Washington Post

A brilliant writer and accomplished stylist whose creative genius is unparalleled, Neil Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the mundane incandescent.

Abounding in miracles and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a rich compendium that illustrates the strength, breadth, and sheer genius of Gaiman’s storytelling mastery and demonstrates the breathtaking range and power of this artistic powerhouse who “dreams up stories as naturally as he breathes” (Slate).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063075764
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/24/2021
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	52,581
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning author and creator of many beloved books, graphic novels, short stories, film, television and theatre for all ages. He is the recipient of the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and many Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner Awards. Neil has adapted many of his works to television series, including Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett) and The Sandman. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College. For a lot more about his work, please visit: https://www.neilgaiman.com/

Hometown:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

November 10, 1960

Place of Birth:

Portchester, England

Education:

Attended Ardingly College Junior School, 1970-74, and Whitgift School, 1974-77

Website:

http://www.neilgaiman.com

Editorial Reviews

"His mind is a dark fathomless ocean, and every time I sink into it, this world fades, replaced by one far more terrible and beautiful in which I will happily drown.” — New York Times Book Review

“Gaiman displays an uncanny knack for compressing his expansive imagination into the close quarters of his stories’ caves, cottages, and creepy rooms....[he] takes full advantage of his wide range, and it makes for exciting, often musical writing.” — Boston Globe

“[Trigger Warning] showcases the breadth and depth of Gaiman’s talent and the unique plangent warmth he brings to fantasy fiction. He is never anything less than a pleasure to read.” — Financial Times

“Each of the stories and poems celebrates a different aspect of storytelling that has informed the author’s life.”
— NPR

“There’s much to revel in here.” — Huffington Post

Praise for Trigger Warning: “Everything that endears Gaiman to his legions of fans is on display ... Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new ones—if there’s anyone out there left unconverted. — Kirkus Reviews

“[T]his collection of stories and poems doesn’t disappoint....Gaiman has warned us about the monsters, but then come magic and miracles. And love.” — Washington Post

“Gaiman’s is one of the most distinctive voices in modern fantasy.” — Locus

‘All of [the stories] are told with an assured, masterly confidence that should please anyone who misses seeing a new Ray Bradbury collection on the shelf at the library.” — Newsday

“Gaiman calls the stories a “hodgepodge,” with no real interweaving theme throughout. But each of the stories and poems celebrates a different aspect of storytelling that has informed the author’s life.” — NPR

“Trigger Warning is a comfortable hodgepodge of material ... but there’s enough serious-minded and deeply felt fantasy and horror to make readers hope that it won’t be almost a decade before Gaiman completes another similar volume.” — San Francisco Gate

“Lovingly crafted...gleefully enjoyable.” — Bustle.com

“[I]t’s the phenomenon of connecting mythology and modern life that makes Gaiman such a captivating author.” — Winnipeg Free Press

“[T]his is not a ‘best of’ collection, though you’d be forgiven for thinking so at many instances, since Gaiman is, as always, a skilled storyteller.” — Tor.com

“Neil Gaiman’s writing is so present, so engaging, that it can send spasms of bone-chilling terror through your body and your reaction would still be, ‘Please sir, I want some more.’” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Each short piece serves as an exciting foray into some macabre microcosm of his mind. ...It’s a testament to Gaiman’s versatility that he exhibits so many different styles of writing in this single anthology.” — The Harvard Crimson

“The short stories in this collection are shocking, disturbing, funny, insightful ... Trigger Warning offers a good introduction to the works of Neil Gaiman, or a delightful addition to the collection of someone who has been following him for a long time. If you’re a fan, don’t miss this one.” — Oklahoma City Oklahoman

“There is something for every type of Gaiman fan here, and those new to his work will find this to be a solid introduction to the type of stories he crafts: lyrical, literary, sometimes quite chilling, and always strange and provocative. ...This is a book to savor and enjoy.” — Bookreporter.com

“Those who want to greet and shake hands, or settle in for a conversational catch-up with Gaiman’s delightfully dramatic minstrel’s tale-by-the-campfire style will love everything in Trigger Warning, naturally.” — Booklist

“Gaiman is such a powerful and evocative writer that almost everything he churns out serves to justify the aforementioned cultural triumph of fantasy literature over realism and modernism. Gaiman’s attention to craft, passion for language and profound respect for the mythological roots...come through even in his abbreviated prose fragments.” — New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

Each of the stories and poems celebrates a different aspect of storytelling that has informed the author’s life.”

NPR

[Trigger Warning] showcases the breadth and depth of Gaiman’s talent and the unique plangent warmth he brings to fantasy fiction. He is never anything less than a pleasure to read.

Financial Times

[T]his collection of stories and poems doesn’t disappoint....Gaiman has warned us about the monsters, but then come magic and miracles. And love.

Washington Post

[I]t’s the phenomenon of connecting mythology and modern life that makes Gaiman such a captivating author.

Winnipeg Free Press

The short stories in this collection are shocking, disturbing, funny, insightful ... Trigger Warning offers a good introduction to the works of Neil Gaiman, or a delightful addition to the collection of someone who has been following him for a long time. If you’re a fan, don’t miss this one.

Oklahoma City Oklahoman

There is something for every type of Gaiman fan here, and those new to his work will find this to be a solid introduction to the type of stories he crafts: lyrical, literary, sometimes quite chilling, and always strange and provocative. ...This is a book to savor and enjoy.

Bookreporter.com

…there is an ordered and comforting quality to Gaiman's fiction, and not only because he possesses an unfailing sense of poetic justice and a Dickensian zest for punishing the arrogant, the proud and the wicked. More than that, Gaiman is such a powerful and evocative writer that almost everything he churns out serves to justify the…cultural triumph of fantasy literature over realism and modernism…Like all the best writers of fiction…Gaiman draws power not just from his storytelling gifts but also from his ability to work the crowd. He's like a conjurer who shows us how the magic trick is worked, joins us in laughing at its transparency and simplicity, and makes us believe in it anyway.

The New York Times Book Review - Andrew O'Hehir

★ 02/23/2015
Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) again delivers masterful compositions and style in his third collection. His decision to include poetry is vindicated by the concrete images in "Making a Chair" and the mournful tones of "Witch Work." Among the prose pieces are two works of stark horror: "‘The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains...'" and "My Last Landlady." The experimental "ORANGE" and the collected internet project "A Calendar of Tales" represent the rewards of Gaiman's fearlessness in storytelling. He also includes shared-world tales, revisiting Sherlock Holmes in "The Case of Death and Honey" and Doctor Who in "Nothing O'Clock." In "Kether to Malkuth" Gaiman creates a new mythology with the flavor of science fiction, while "The Sleeper and the Spindle" is a delightful fusion fairytale that subverts tropes and creates a new sense of wonder. Both enthusiasts of short fiction and fans of Gaiman's longer works may approach this volume with confidence. Full of small and perfect jewel-like tales, this collection is a thrilling treasure. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

‘All of [the stories] are told with an assured, masterly confidence that should please anyone who misses seeing a new Ray Bradbury collection on the shelf at the library.

Newsday

Gaiman’s is one of the most distinctive voices in modern fantasy.

Locus

Gaiman displays an uncanny knack for compressing his expansive imagination into the close quarters of his stories’ caves, cottages, and creepy rooms....[he] takes full advantage of his wide range, and it makes for exciting, often musical writing.

Boston Globe

There’s much to revel in here.

Huffington Post

"His mind is a dark fathomless ocean, and every time I sink into it, this world fades, replaced by one far more terrible and beautiful in which I will happily drown.

New York Times Book Review

[T]his collection of stories and poems doesn’t disappoint....Gaiman has warned us about the monsters, but then come magic and miracles. And love.

Washington Post

[Trigger Warning] showcases the breadth and depth of Gaiman’s talent and the unique plangent warmth he brings to fantasy fiction. He is never anything less than a pleasure to read.

Financial Times

[T]his is not a ‘best of’ collection, though you’d be forgiven for thinking so at many instances, since Gaiman is, as always, a skilled storyteller.

Tor.com

Neil Gaiman’s writing is so present, so engaging, that it can send spasms of bone-chilling terror through your body and your reaction would still be, ‘Please sir, I want some more.’

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Each short piece serves as an exciting foray into some macabre microcosm of his mind. ...It’s a testament to Gaiman’s versatility that he exhibits so many different styles of writing in this single anthology.

The Harvard Crimson

Those who want to greet and shake hands, or settle in for a conversational catch-up with Gaiman’s delightfully dramatic minstrel’s tale-by-the-campfire style will love everything in Trigger Warning, naturally.

Booklist

Lovingly crafted...gleefully enjoyable.

Bustle.com

Trigger Warning is a comfortable hodgepodge of material ... but there’s enough serious-minded and deeply felt fantasy and horror to make readers hope that it won’t be almost a decade before Gaiman completes another similar volume.

San Francisco Gate

Those who want to greet and shake hands, or settle in for a conversational catch-up with Gaiman’s delightfully dramatic minstrel’s tale-by-the-campfire style will love everything in Trigger Warning, naturally.

Booklist

[Gaiman]’s prolific, like Stephen King, and apparently inexhaustible: He dreams up stories as naturally as he breathes.

Slate

[Gaiman]’s prolific, like Stephen King, and apparently inexhaustible: He dreams up stories as naturally as he breathes.

Slate

Neil Gaiman, a writer of rare perception and endless imagination . . . is . . . an American treasure.

William Gibson on AMERICAN GODS

Neil Gaiman is a literary genius!

James Herbert

[T]here isn’t much Gaiman can’t do when it comes to writing.

Denver Post on ANANSI BOYS

GRADE: A. A feast of imagination, ranging from the eccentric to the terrifying, from the light as air to the genuinely horrific. . . . It is a fine dispatch from one of the wildest imaginations in the field.

Sci-Fi magazine on FRAGILE THINGS

A powerful and oddly unified collection, a perfect introduction to Gaiman’s work for new readers and a thrilling reminder to his long-time fans . . . [T]he shorter prose form allows Gaiman a greater freedom of whimsy and provocation than even his graphic work, with stunning results.

Toronto Star on FRAGILE THINGS

The tales of FRAGILE THINGS are nibbles and bits of Gaiman’s immensely satisfying inner landscape. They are fiercely playful and very grim, wisps of whimsy and wonder buoyed by the happy heart of a tragic poet.

USA Today on FRAGILE THINGS

[Gaiman] is a one-man story engine. . . . FRAGILE THINGS is a delightful compendium . . . [Gaiman] is indeed a national treasure.

Washington Post Book World on FRAGILE THINGS

Not every author is also a talented narrator, but Neil Gaiman is succeeding at mastering the art. It’s a pleasure to listen to him deliver his new collection of short stories. He’s clearly enjoying himself, and listeners will be carried along with his good cheer. Gaiman’s stories are almost always spooky, odd, and disquieting, and he narrates with tense concern, calm bravado, or quiet menace, as called for. He creates terrific Scottish and American accents and softens his tones for female characters, in particular performing convincingly as an elderly woman. The only quibble with this audiobook is its widely varying volume. When Gaiman drops his voice, it becomes so quiet that it can be hard to hear in a car—listening with headphones is best. G.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2015 - AudioFile

2015-01-22
The third collection of short fiction from a beloved modern mythmaker. Everything that endears Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, 2014, etc.) to his legions of fans is on display in this collection of short stories (and the occasional poem): his gift for reimagining ancient tales, his willingness to get down into the dark places, his humor. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, except for the new American Gods story "Black Dog" (which does not disappoint), but the collection as a whole does add up to something bigger than it seems (only partly because there's a TARDIS in it). Even the weakest of these tales have something to recommend them—an image, a turn of phrase, a mood. And the strongest are truly extraordinary. There's the grim implacability of "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains…," walking steadily on to its inevitable yet unexpected ending; there's the absurd Wodehouse-an charm of "And Weep, Like Alexander"; the haunting power of "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury"; and the skin-crawling, slow-building creepiness of the love letter "Feminine Endings." Sherlock Holmes is here, explaining the real reason he started keeping bees, and Sleeping Beauty, twice, and our old friend Shadow, and even David Bowie, in a way. Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new ones—if there's anyone out there left unconverted.

Kirkus Review