Perhaps because this is my first time reading Neil Gaiman, I was just as fascinated with his introduction, as with the eclectic gumbo of short stories / poems, which followed. In the opening, Gaiman explains his unique writing process and how each story germinated, which for me, as a writer, is intriguing.

Let me start by saying that Fragile Things (Short Fictions and Wonders) was totally out of character for me as a reader. I chose this book just based on the title. Why hadn’t I ever read Gaiman?

For one, I’ve always been a lover of stories that are grounded in realism. I can deal with some magical realism, but I never cared for horror, science fiction, or fantasy. Gaiman’s stories were an unsettling, yet pleasant, surprise for me.

My favorite story was "Bitter Grounds." An unnamed narrator breaks up with a girlfriend, then leaves town, driving, with no destination in particular. He only knows he’s headed south and west. After sleeping in his car, he goes to a hotel, where he meets a stranger who is headed to a conference in New Orleans.

As it turns out, the stranger needs a ride to pick up his car, which had broken down. Afterwards, this stranger mysteriously disappears, but leaves behind his briefcase with all his credit cards, his identification and his thesis-type paper on Zora Neale Hurston (my favorite Harlem Renaissance writer) and zombies.

This narrator winds up assuming this absent guest speaker’s identity and staying in the hotel where the stranger was supposed to have been on the program. From there the story takes a turn for the bizarre. There was a surprise ending, which I’m still mulling over.

I enjoyed many of the poems, but "The Hidden Chamber" was my favorite. This poem tells the haunting story of love and loss. I still savor the last lines, which compare the fleeting flutter of insects with the memory of a lost love. This poem resonated with the title.

This collection has a little something for everyone. Since reading Fragile Things, I’ve found Gaiman all over the Internet. I’ve read his blog, and plan to read some of his other works.

As a reader, this was nice for me to get out of my comfort zone.