Neil Gaiman Biography
Neil Gaiman is the best-known for writings of short fiction, novels, graphic novels, nonfiction, and films. His books include the comic book series, The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, and The Graveyard Book.
Neil Gaiman Age
He was born on 10 November 1960, Portchester, Hampshire, England. Birth sign not known at the moment. As for 2019, he is 59 years old.
Neil Gaiman Books
*American Gods
*Coraline
*The Graveyard Book
*Stardust
*Neverwhere
*Anansi Boys
*The Doll’s House
*Dream Country
*Preludes and Nocturnes
*A Walking Tour of the Shambles
*Adventures in the Dream Trade
*Angels & Visitations
*Art Matters
*Blueberry Girl
*Chu’s Day
*Chu’s Day at the Beach
*Chu’s First Day of School
*Cinnamon
*Crazy Hair
*Day of the Dead
*Don’t Panic
*Fortunately the Milk
*Fragile Things
*Good Omens.
*Hansel & Gretel.
*InterWorld.
*M is for Magic.
*Make Good Art.
*MirrorMask, Children’s Edition.
*Neverwhere.
*Norse Mythology.
*Now We Are Sick.
*Odd and the Frost Giants.
*Smoke & Mirrors.
*Stories: All-New Tales.
*The Alchemy of MirrorMask.
*The Dangerous Alphabet.
*The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.
*The Graveyard Book.
*The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
*The Sandman: Book of Dreams.
*The Sleeper and the Spindle.
*The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains.
*The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction.
*Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances.
*Unnatural Creatures.
*Wolves in the Wall.
Neil Gaiman Norse Mythology Book
Master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths. Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki―son of a giant―blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor’s hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman―difficult with his beard and huge appetite―to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir―the most sagacious of gods―is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people.
Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.
Neil Gaiman The Sandman Book
The Sandman grew out of a proposal by Neil Gaiman to revive DC’s 1974–1976 series The Sandman, written by Joe Simon and Michael Fleisher and illustrated by Jack Kirby and Ernie Chua. Gaiman had considered including characters from the “Dream Stream” (including the Kirby Sandman, Brute, Glob, and the brothers Cain and Abel) in a scene for the first issue of his 1988 miniseries Black Orchid. While the scene did not make it into later drafts because Roy Thomas was using the characters in Infinity, Inc., Gaiman soon began constructing a treatment for a new series. Gaiman mentioned his treatment in passing to DC editor Karen Berger.
While months later Berger offered Gaiman a comic title to work on, he was unsure his Sandman pitch would be accepted. Weeks later, Berger asked Gaiman if he was interested in doing a Sandman series. Gaiman recalled, “I said, ‘Um … yes. Yes, definitely. What’s the catch?’ [Berger said,] ‘There’s only one. We’d like a new Sandman. Keep the name. But the rest is up to you.’”
Gaiman crafted the new character from an initial image of “a man, young, pale and naked, imprisoned in a tiny cell, waiting until his captors passed away … deathly thin, with long dark hair, and strange eyes.” Gaiman patterned the character’s black attire on a print of a Japanese kimono as well as his own wardrobe.
Gaiman wrote an eight-issue outline and gave it to Dave McKean and Leigh Baulch, who drew character sketches. Berger reviewed the sketches (along with some drawn by Gaiman) and suggested Sam Kieth as the series’ artist. Mike Dringenberg, Todd Klein, Robbie Busch, and Dave McKean were hired as inker, letterer, colorist, and cover artist, respectively. McKean’s approach towards comics covers was unconventional, for he convinced Berger that the series’s protagonist did not need to appear on every cover.
Neil Gaiman Photo
Themes and genre
The Sandman comic book series falls within the dark fantasy genre, albeit in a more contemporary and modern setting. Critic Marc Buxton described the book as a “masterful tale that created a movement of mature dark fantasy” which were largely unseen in previous fantasy works before it.
The comic book also falls into the genres of urban fantasy, epic fantasy, historical drama, superhero, and is written as a metaphysical examination of the elements of fiction, in which Neil Gaiman accomplished through the artistic use of unique anthropomorphic personifications, mythology, legends, historical figures, and occult culture, making up most of the major and minor characters as well as the plot device and even the settings of the story.
In its earliest story arcs, the Sandman mythos existed primarily in the DC Universe, and as such numerous DC characters made some appearances or were mentioned. Later, the series would reference the DCU less often, while continuing to exist in the same universe.
Critic Hilary Goldstein described the comic book as “about the concept of dreams more so than the act of dreaming.” In the early issues, responsibility and rebirth were the primary themes of the story.
As Dream finally liberates himself from his occultist captors, he returns to his kingdom which had fallen on hard times due to his absence, while also facing his other siblings, who each have their own reaction to his return. The story is structured not as a series of unconnected events nor as an incoherent dream, but by having each panel have a specific purpose in the flow of the story.
Dreams became the core of every story arc written in the series, and the protagonist’s journey became more distinct and deliberate. Many Vertigo books since, such as Transmetropolitan and Y: The Last Man, have adopted this kind of format in their writing, creating traditional prose only seen in the imprint.
The Sandman library
A total of ten trade paperbacks contain the full run of the series and have all been kept in print. In 2010, Vertigo began releasing a new edition of Sandman books, featuring the new coloring from the Absolute Editions.
- Preludes and Nocturnes collecting The Sandman #1–8, 1988–1989: Dream is imprisoned for decades by an occultist seeking immortality. Upon escaping, he must reclaim his objects of power while still in a weakened state, confronting an addict to his dream powder, the legions of Hell, and an all-powerful madman (Doctor Destiny) in the process. Guest-starring several DC Comics characters including John Constantine, Mister Miracle, the Martian Manhunter, the Scarecrow, Etrigan the Demon, and the original Sandman. It features the introduction of Lucifer, with cameos by Batman and Green Lantern.
- The Doll’s House collecting The Sandman #9–16, 1989–1990, Morpheus tracks down rogue dreams that escaped the Dreaming during his absence. In the process, he must shatter the illusions of a family living in dreams, disband a convention of serial killers, and deal with a “dream vortex” that threatens the existence of the entire Dreaming. Features Hector Hall as the Bronze Age Sandman. Introduces the characters William Shakespeare and Hob Gadling.
- Dream Country collecting The Sandman #17–20, 1990: This volume contains four independent stories. The imprisoned muse Calliope is forced to provide story ideas, a cat seeks to change the world with dreams, William Shakespeare puts on a play for an unearthly audience, and a shape-shifting immortal (obscure DC Comics character Element Girl) longs for death.
- Season of Mists collecting The Sandman #21–28, 1990–1991: Dream travels to Hell to free a former lover, Nada, whom he condemned to torment thousands of years ago. There, Dream learns that Lucifer has abandoned his domain. When Lucifer gives Hell’s key (and therefore, the ownership of Hell) to the Sandman, Morpheus himself becomes trapped in a tangled network of threats, promises, and lies, as gods and demons from various pantheons seek ownership of Hell. Wesley Dodds and Hawkman (Carter Hall) appear in one panel.
- A Game of You collecting The Sandman #32–37, 1991–1992: Barbie, a New York divorcée (introduced in The Doll’s House), travels to the magical realm that she once inhabited in her dreams, only to find that it is being threatened by the forces of the Cuckoo. This series introduces the character of Thessaly, who will play a key role in Morpheus’ eventual fate.
Neil Gaiman American Gods Book
American Gods (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow.
The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States. It gained a positive critical response and won the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2002.
A special tenth-anniversary edition, which includes the “author’s preferred text” and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by William Morrow. Two audio versions of the book were produced and published by Harper Audio: an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, released in 2001; and a full cast audiobook version of the tenth-anniversary edition, released in 2011. In March 2017, The Folio Society published a special collector’s edition of American Gods, with many corrections to the author’s preferred text version.
In April 2017, Starz began airing a television adaptation of the novel. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green served as showrunners, and Gaiman is an executive producer. Fuller and Green departed the show after the first season.
Characters
- Shadow Moon – an ex-convict who becomes the reluctant bodyguard and errand boy of Mr. Wednesday.
- Laura Moon – Shadow’s wife, who died in a car crash at the beginning of the novel, a few days before Shadow is due to be released from prison.
- Samantha “Sam” Black Crow – a hitchhiking college student who Shadow meets during his journey.
- Chad Mulligan – a kind-hearted chief of police in the town of Lakeside.
Old Gods
- Mr. Wednesday – an aspect of Odin, the Old Norse god of knowledge and wisdom.
- Low-Key Lyesmith – Loki, the Old Norse god of mischief and trickery.
- Czernobog – the Slavic god of darkness, twin brother to Belobog, the god of light.
- The Zorya Sisters – relatives of Czernobog, sisters who represent the Morning Star (Zorya Utrennyaya), the Evening Star (Zorya Vechernyaya), and the Midnight Star (Zorya Polunochnaya). In Slavic lore, they are servants of Dažbog who guard and watch over the doomsday hound, Simargl, who is chained to the star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor, the “little bear”. If the chain ever breaks, the hound will devour the world.
- Mr. Nancy – Anansi, a trickster spider god from Ghanaian folklore. He often makes fun of people for their stupidity, a recurring aspect of his personality in his old stories.
- Mr. Ibis – Thoth, the Ancient Egyptian god of knowledge and writing. He runs a funeral parlor with Mr. Jacquel in Cairo, Illinois. He often writes short biographies of people who brought folkloric beings with them to America.
- Mr. Jacquel – Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian god of the dead and mummification. He is an expert at preparing bodies for the wake at funerals.
- Bast – Bastet, the Ancient Egyptian cat goddess. Often appears as a small house cat, heals Shadow’s bruises and aches after he has been beaten.
- Horus – the Ancient Egyptian god of the sky.
- Easter – Ēostre, the Germanic goddess of the dawn.
- Mad Sweeney – Suibhne, a king from an old Irish story. Though not portrayed as such in his story, he calls himself a “Leprechaun”, and is foul-mouthed, a frequent drinker, and taller than expected.
- Whiskey Jack – Wisakedjak, a trickster figure of Algonquian mythology. He lives near a Lakota reservation in the badlands with John Chapman, where he is mistaken for Iktomi, a trickster of their culture.
- John Chapman – Johnny Appleseed, described as a “culture hero” rather than a god.
- Alvíss – a dwarf in Norse mythology.
- Gwydion – Gwydion fab Dôn, a trickster god of Welsh mythology.
- Hinzelmann – Hinzelmann, a kobold who was formerly revered as a tribal god by ancient Germanic tribes. He protects the town of Lakeside, in the guise of an old man.
Publishing history
The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States.
A special tenth-anniversary edition, which includes the “author’s preferred text” and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by William Morrow. The tenth-anniversary text is identical to the signed and numbered limited edition released in 2003 by Hill House Publishers, and to the edition from Headline, Gaiman’s publisher in the UK since 2005. The tenth anniversary edition marks the first time the author’s preferred text has been available in wide release outside the UK.
Two audio versions of the book were produced and published by Harper Audio: an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, was released in 2001. A full-cast audiobook version of the tenth-anniversary edition, including the author’s preferred text and 12,000 additional words, released in 2011.
A comic book series, American Gods: Shadows, was published by Dark Horse Comics starting on March 2017. A book of the same name, collecting issues 1 through 9 of the comic book series, was published by Dark Horse Books in February 2018.
In March 2017, The Folio Society published a special collector’s edition of American Gods, with many corrections to the author’s preferred text version. Gaiman described it as ‘the cleanest text there has ever been’.
Neil Gaiman Quotes
- “It’s like the people who believe they’ll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn’t work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If you see what I mean.”
― The Graveyard Book. - “Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are things people are scared of. Some of them are things that look like things people used to be scared of a long time ago. Sometimes monsters are things people should be scared of, but they aren’t.”
― The Ocean at the End of the Lane. - “Kiss a lover,
Dance a measure,
Find your name
And buried treasure.
Face your life,
It’s pain,
It’s a pleasure,
Leave no path untaken.” - “As sure as water’s wet and days are long and a friend will always disappoint you in the end.”
― American Gods. - “This is a work of fiction. Still, given an infinite number of possible worlds, it must be true on one of them. And if a story set in an infinite number of possible worlds is true in one of them, then it must be true in all of them. So maybe, it’s not as fictional as we think.”
- “Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you’ve never been. Once you’ve visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different. And while we’re on the subject, I’d like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it’s a bad thing. As if “escapist” fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in. If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn’t you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with(and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armor: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real. As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.”
- “If you make art, people will talk about it. Some of the things they say will be nice, some won’t. You’ll already have made that art, and when they’re talking about the last thing you did, you should already be making the next thing. If bad reviews (of whatever kind) upset you, just don’t read them. It’s not like you’ve signed an agreement with the person buying the book to exchange your book for their opinion. Do whatever you have to do to keep making art. I know people who love bad reviews because it means they’ve made something happen and made people talk; I know people who have never read any of their reviews. It’s their call. You get on with making art.”
- “Peas baffled me. I could not understand why grown-ups would take things that tasted so good raw, and then put them in tins, and make them revolting.”
- “Why are we talking about this good and evil? They’re just names for sides. We know that.”
- “So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.”
- “M is for magic. All the letters are if you put them together properly. You can make magic with them, and dreams, and, I hope, even a few surprises.
- “In the shower today I tried to think about the best advice I’d ever been given by another writer. There was something that someone said at my first Milford, about using style as a covering, but sooner or later you would have to walk naked down the street, that was useful…And then I remembered. It was Harlan Ellison about a decade ago. He said, “Hey. Gaiman. What’s with the stubble? Every time I see you, you’re stubbly. What is it? Some kind of English fashion statement?”Not really.”Well? Don’t they have razors in England for Chrissakes?”If you must know, I don’t like shaving because I have a really tough beard and sensitive skin. So by the time I’ve finished shaving I’ve usually scraped my face a bit. So I do it as little as possible.”Oh.” He paused. “I’ve got that too. What you do is, you rub your stubble with hair conditioner. Leave it a couple of minutes, then wash it off. Then shave normally. It makes it really easy to shave. No scraping.” I tried it. It works like a charm. Best advice from a writer I’ve ever received.”
Neil Gaiman Neverwhere Book
Neverwhere is the companion novelization written by English author Neil Gaiman of the television serial Neverwhere, by Gaiman and Lenny Henry. The plot and characters are exactly the same as in the series, with the exception that the novel form allowed Gaiman to expand and elaborate on certain elements of the story and restore changes made in the televised version from his original plans. Most notable is the appearance of the Floating Market at Harrods (in the novel) rather than under the Battersea power station (the TV series). This is because the management of Harrods changed their minds about the proposed filming. The novel was originally released by BBC Books in 1996, three episodes into the television series run. It was accompanied by a spoken word CD and cassette release, also by the BBC.
The novel enjoyed great success, whereas its television roots did not receive as much international exposure as the novel. In addition to being translated into various languages, it was also re-published as an “Author’s Preferred Text” version, (a combination of the international and original English version, with additional scenes re-inserted by Gaiman) alongside American Gods in 2006. The original BBC Books version had a cover by longtime Gaiman collaborator Dave McKean, taken from the bird’s head rings, flaming fist and London Underground styled graphics created by McKean for the series, as well as a brief section by Gaiman on the making of the series.
Plot
Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. This breaks, however, when he stops to help a mysterious young girl who appears before him, bleeding and weakened, as he walks with his fiancée to dinner to meet her influential boss.
The morning after Richard rescued the girl, named Door, from the streets, she is greatly recovered and sends him to find the Marquis de Carabas, a man who will be able to help Door escape two infamous and seemingly inhuman assassins, the Messrs Croup and Vandemar. Richard brings the Marquis back to his apartment to meet Door, only to see both of them vanish immediately. Soon after, Richard begins to realize the consequences of his actions. He appears to have become invisible; he loses his job, where no one seems to recognize him, and his apartment is rented out to other people. His fiancée no longer recognizes him.
Determined to set things right, Richard tries to enter the world of London Below in search of Door. He finds a tramp from Below, who is the only person able to see him, and recites the name of the Floating Market as the only place known to him in the underworld. The tramp brings Richard to the realm of the Rat-Speakers, who worship and perform tasks for rats. They attempt to assault and rob Richard, but follow orders from the master rat and set him free. He then travels across the mysterious Night’s Bridge, whose darkness kills Richard’s Rat-Speaker guide, Anaesthesia. Eventually, he arrives at the Floating Market, where he meets again with Door, who is holding an audition for bodyguards. Going to the Market, a giant bazaar where people barter for all manner of junk and magical items, Richard realizes that London Below is not such a bad place.
Adaptations and sequels
Gaiman hinted at a novella-length sequel in the commentary section of his short story collection Fragile Things, published in 2009. The story, titled “How The Marquis Got His Coat Back”, was at that time said to be “half-written”. The story was published in the 2014 anthology Rogues, edited by George R. R. Martin.
Gaiman’s website FAQ states that a novel-length sequel to the book is a possibility; it will most likely be titled The Seven Sisters. Aside from an updated statement that “I don’t think it’s the next book I’ll write,” there is no indication of when the novel may be completed. In February 2017, whilst promoting his newest book, Norse Mythology, in London, Gaiman confirmed to applause from the audience that he was three chapters into writing The Seven Sisters.
A nine-issue comic book limited series began on June 2005, written by Mike Carey (of the Vertigo Comics series Lucifer), with art by Glenn Fabry. The comic is an adaptation inspired by the novel, rather than the original TV series, though apart from certain scenes in certain locations, the dialogue and plot of both novel and television series are identical.
In April 2010, the novel was made into a stage play at the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, adapted by Robert Kauzlaric and directed by Paul S. Holmquist. The play was a commercial and critical success, and a staged reading of the play with the original cast was later included in the One Book, One Chicago celebrations at the Chicago Public Library in 2011. An all-star radio adaptation was broadcast 16–22 March 2013, commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra. Comments by critics were extremely favorable.
In 2017, HarperAudio, an imprint of HarperCollins, released an audiobook of the novel, narrated by Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman Stardust Book
An enchanting fairy tale by master storyteller Neil Gaiman, full of unexpected adventures, true love, whimsy, wonder, and plenty of magic.
Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria Forester—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that stone barrier, Tristran learns, lies Faerie…and the most exhilarating adventure of the young man’s life.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes a tale of the dark and miraculous—a quest for true love and the utterly impossible. The book that inspired the hit motion picture starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, and Robert DeNiro!
Neil Gaiman Lucifer Book
Cast out of Heaven, thrown down to rule in Hell, Lucifer Morningstar has resigned his post and abandoned his kingdom for the mortal city of Los Angles. Emerging from the pages of writer Neil Gaiman’s award-winning series The Sandman, the former Lord of Hell is now enjoying a quiet retirement as the proprietor of Lux, L.A.’s most elite piano bar.
But now an assignment from the Creator Himself is going to change all that. If Lucifer agrees to do Heaven’s dirty work, he can name his own price–but both the task and reward are more than they seem. Thrown into a position of great threat and ultimate opportunity, Lucifer knows that threading a path through this maze will require the harshest of sacrifices.
Neil Gaiman Caroline Book
Coraline is a dark fantasy children’s novella by British author Neil Gaiman, published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and Harper Collins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1990. The titular character’s name came from a typo in “Caroline”. According to Gaiman, “I had typed the name Caroline, and it came out wrong. I looked at the word Coraline and knew it was someone’s name. I wanted to know what happened to her.”It has been compared to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and has been adapted into a 2009 stop-motion film, directed by Henry Selick.
Plot
Coraline Jones and her parents move into an old house that has been divided into flats. The other tenants include Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, two elderly women retired from the stage and Mr. Bobo, initially referred to as “the crazy old man upstairs,” who claims to be training a mouse circus. The flat beside Coraline’s is unoccupied, and a small door that links them is revealed to be bricked up when opened.
Coraline goes to visit her new neighbors. Mr. Bobo relays to her a message from his mice: “Don’t go through the door.” Coraline also has tea with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, and Miss Spink spies danger in Coraline’s future after reading her tea leaves.
Despite these warnings, Coraline decides to unlock the door when she is home by herself. This time, she finds the brick wall behind the door is gone. In its place is a long hallway that leads to a flat identical to her own, except inhabited by the “Other Mother” and “Other Father,” who have black buttons for eyes. The Other Mother is notably taller and thinner than her real mother.
Her black hair seems to move by itself, her skin is paper-white, and her nails are long and red. Coraline finds the “Other World” more interesting than her own; the Other Mother cooks food that she actually enjoys, both of her Other Parents pay more attention to her, her toy box is filled with animate toys that can move and fly, the Other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible perform a never-ending act in their flat, and the Other Mr. Bobo performs a mouse circus.
She even finds that the feral black cat that wanders around the house in the real world can talk. The cat identifies itself as the same cat that lives in the real world and possesses the ability to travel through the gaps between the two worlds. Although intentionally rude and unhelpful for the greater part of the conversation, it briefly praises her for bringing “protection,” then vanishes.
Characters
- Coraline Jones – The young explorer. She is curious, intelligent, resourceful, and courageous. Coraline is often irritated by rain, crazy grown-ups (as they all seem to be), and not being taken seriously because of her young age. She’s described as being “small for her age”, but Coraline is not afraid to face anyone; she is the most adventurous person in the book. Even though Coraline wants to never see the Other Mother again after she kidnapped her parents, she develops Stockholm Syndrome in the slightest for the Beldam. After everything she had heard about the Other Mother and what she has done to Coraline’s family, she can’t deny that the Other Mother does genuinely love her in her own selfish way. She feels some empathy for her Other Mother at the very slightest and realizes that the Beldam wants a strong mother-daughter bond that she doesn’t fully understand how to make. This shows the compassionate side of Coraline Jones and the strong will she has.
- Mrs. Jones – Coraline’s mother. She is very busy most of the time, and sometimes a little inattentive, but she loves and cares about Coraline. She is nice, and helpful, though Coraline considers her to be rather boring. Coraline also gets annoyed with her real mother because she doesn’t seem to want to let Coraline “fit in”. In the film, her first name is Mel.
- Mr. Jones – Coraline’s father. He works at his house on the computer. He cares about Coraline very much and is kind, brave, and helpful. He makes interesting food creations that Coraline strongly dislikes. He, too, is usually too busy to spend time with Coraline. In the film, his first name is Charlie.
- The Cat – A black cat from Coraline’s world. The cat acts as a mentor to Coraline and guides her through her journey. The cat’s name is Sebastion, explaining that cats do not need names to tell each other apart. Unlike many of the characters in the novel, it does not have an “Other World” counterpart, saying that unlike other creatures in the world, cats can “keep themselves together”. It moves freely from one world to the other, although it seems to be only able to talk in the Other World. It is very sarcastic, though helpful to Coraline. It’s defiant of the Other Mother but seems to tremble at the thought of being stuck in the Other Mother’s world. It befriends Coraline and helps her escape from the Other Mother, though Coraline also uses it as a weapon without its permission.
- The Other Mother – The creature that created much of the Other World and the main villain of the novel. She looks similar to Coraline’s real mother but taller and thinner, with long black hair that seems to move by itself, black button eyes, paper-white skin, and extremely long, twitchy fingers with long dark red nails. During the course of the novel, she grows taller, thinner, and paler, looking less and less like Coraline’s mother. She cannot create, but an only copy, twist and change things from the real world when constructing her version of it. She collects children, whom she loves possessively to the point of eventual destruction. She mainly wants someone to mother. It’s implied that she killed her own mother because when Coraline asked her if she had a grave she replied: “Oh yes, I put her there myself.” In the film, her true form is a skeletal-arachnoid creature. She is referred to several times as “the beldam”, a Middle English word meaning “grandmother”, “ugly old woman”, “hag”, or “witch”, and also used to refer to creatures of fairy.
- The Other Father – A creation of the Other Mother, the Other Father is used to help trick Coraline to stay in the Other Mother’s world. Like her real father, he has a study and sits there during the day and will not talk to Coraline for long. He does not work, however; he merely occupies the study, as he is not permitted to talk to Coraline by himself. He is much more fun than Coraline’s real father and always tries to be cheerful and fun in front of Coraline. In reality, the Other Father is sad and nervous. The Other Mother ends up punishing him for revealing too much to Coraline—she transforms him into a grub-like creature, and orders the Other Father to trap Coraline so she cannot win her challenge, but Coraline escapes.
Neil Gaiman Nationality
England by birth.
Neil Gaiman Education
He started reading at the age of four, he was a reader. ”Reading things gave me pleasure. He was very good at most subjects in school, not because he had any particular aptitude in them, but because normally on the first day of school they’d hand out schoolbooks, and I’d read them—which would mean that I would know what was coming up because of reading book.
He went his way through the works of Dennis Wheatley, where especially one man made an impact on him. The things that made a particular impression on him were Tolkien’s books, although they had the first two volumes of the novel. He read them mostly.
He would later win the school English prize and the school reading prize, enabling him to finally acquire the third volume.aiman was educated at several Church of England schools, including Fonthill School in East Grinstead, Ardingly College (1970–74), and Whitgift School in Croydon (1974–77).
Neil Gaiman Family
His great-grandfather emigrated from Antwerp, Belgium, to the UK before 1914, and his grandfather eventually settled in the south of England in the Hampshire city of Portsmouth and established a chain of grocery stores.
The family later moved in 1965 to the West Sussex town of East Grinstead, where his parents studied Dianetics at the Scientology center in the town.
Neil Gaiman Career
He started his early career when he called a whom he discovered when he was nine and asked for advice on becoming an author along with a Lafferty pastiche he had written.
He speaks to an author who influenced him the most, with this influence particularly seen in his literary style and the topics are written about. He has also taken inspiration from the folk tales tradition.
Neil undertakes journalism, conducting interviews and writing books, as a means to learn about the world and to make connections that going to be published. He wrote and reviewed detailed for the British Fantasy Society. His first publication was “Featherquest”, a fantasy story, in the Magazine in May 1984.
He wrote his first book in 1985, as well as Ghastly Beyond Belief, a book of quotations. Even though he thought he had done a horrible job, the book’s first edition sold out very quickly. When he went to withdraw his rights to the book, he finds out the publisher had gone bankrupt. He was offered a job by Penthouse, He rejected.
Finally, he wrote the opening of what would become his collaboration with fellow English author. On the comic novel Good Omens, about the imminent Armageddon.
Neil Gaiman Radio Broadcast
September 2014, Gaiman and Terry Pratchett joined forces with BBC Radio 4 to make the first-ever dramatization of their co-penned novel Good Omens, which was broadcast in December in five half-hour episodes and culminated in an hour-long final apocalyptic showdown.
Neil Gaiman Public Performance
Gaiman frequently performs public readings from his stories and poetry and has toured with his wife, musician Amanda Palmer. In some of these performances, he has also sung songs, in “a novelist’s version of singing”, despite having “no kind of singing voice.”
In 2015, he delivered a 100-minute lecture for the Long Now Foundation entitled How Stories Last about the nature of storytelling and how stories persist in human culture. In April 2018 Gaiman made a guest appearance on the television show The Big Bang Theory, and his tweet about the show’s fictional comic book store becomes the central theme of the episode “The Comet Polarization.”
Neil Gaiman Filmography
*The Great Lint Rush (2010)
*Downturn (2011)
*The Simpsons (2011)
*The Making of a superhero Musical. (2015)
*Neil Gaiman Dream Dangerously (2016)
*The Simpsons (2017)
*The Big Bang Theory (2018)
*Good Omens (2019)
Neil Gaiman Litigation
Gaiman was contracted by Todd McFarlane to write a single issue of Spawn, a popular title at the newly created Image Comics company. McFarlane was promoting his new title by having guest authors Gaiman, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and Dave Sim each write a single issue.
Gaiman introduced the characters Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn. Prior to this issue, Spawn was an assassin who worked for the government and came back as a reluctant agent of Hell but had no direction. In Angela, a cruel and malicious angel.
Gaiman introduced a character who threatened Spawn’s existence, as well as providing a moral opposite. Cogliostro was introduced as a mentor character for exposition and instruction, providing guidance. Medieval Spawn introduced history and precedent that not all Spawns were self-serving or evil, giving additional character development to Malebolgia, the demon that creates Hellspawn.
All three characters were used repeatedly throughout the next decade by Todd McFarlane within the wider Spawn universe. In papers filed by Gaiman in early 2002, however, he claimed that the characters were jointly owned by their scripter (himself) and artist (McFarlane), not merely by McFarlane in his role as the creator of the series.
As McFarlane used the characters without Gaiman’s permission or royalty payments, Gaiman believed his copyrighted work was being infringed upon, which violated their original, oral, agreement. McFarlane initially agreed that Gaiman had not signed away any rights to the characters, and negotiated with Gaiman to effectively ‘swap’ McFarlane’s interest in the character Marvelman.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling in February 2004 granting joint ownership of the characters to Gaiman and McFarlane. On the specific issue of Cogliostro, presiding Judge John C. Shabaz proclaimed, “The expressive work that is the comic-book character Count Nicholas Cogliostro was the joint work of Gaiman and McFarlane their contributions strike us as quite equal and both are entitled to ownership of the copyright”.
Gaiman returned to court over three more Spawn characters, Dark Ages Spawn, Domina and Tiffany, that are claimed to be derivative of the three he co-created with McFarlane. The judge ruled that Gaiman was right in his claims and gave McFarlane until the start of September 2010 to settle matters.
Neil Gaiman Selected Awards and Honours
*1992 Best Writer for the Sandman.
*1993 Best Continuing or Limited Series for the Sandman.
*1999 Best Fantasy Novel.
*2002 Best Fantasy Novel for America Gods.
*2004 Best Young Adult Book for Caroline.
*2005 Best Short Story for Forbidden Brides of The Faceless.
*2006 Best Fantasy novel for Anansi Boys. Nominated for a Hugo Awards.
*2006 Best Short Story for ”Sunbird”
*2007 Best Collection for Fragile Things.
*2009 Best Young Adult novel for The Graveyard Book.
*2012 Best Dramatic Presentation.
*2016 Best Graphics Story for the ”Sandman” Overture.
Neil Gaiman Net worth
He has a net worth is around $18 Million. Concerning his salary, there is no doubt that he is earning good pay from his career. More information will be updated soon.
Neil Gaiman Twitter
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