Cheap Seats

An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on a myriad of topics—from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories—observed in #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman’s probing, amusing, and distinctive style. An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood. Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seats explores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman—offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time.

Actor and theatre aficionado Ron Fassler recalls his upbringing on Broadway, in conversation with Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bette Midler, Sheldon Harnick, James Earl Jones, Austin Pendleton, Ken Howard, Hal Linden, Stacy Keach, Jane Alexander and Mike Nichols among many others.

Campbell (political science, Louisiana State U.) considers the reasons why the Democrats dominated the House elections for four decades and why they lost control in 1994, examining structural advantages that helped congressional Democrats consistently win most of the very-low- turnout districts, or "cheap seats." He explores theoretical issues of representation that cheap seats raise, and offers proposals to change the system. For general readers as well as scholars. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Citizenship in a Republic is the title of a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States, at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910. One notable passage from the speech is referred to as "The Man in the Arena": It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

In his latest collection of award-winning boxing essays, Springs Toledo takes a hard look at the hardest game from a seat next to yours. Where the widely-acclaimed The Gods of War (Tora, 2014) zoomed in at the greatness of the golden era, In the Cheap Seats zooms out for a panoramic view of the wild world of boxing: the true champions and contenders, the stumblebums trying to make a buck inside of six rounds, the fans who swear by it and sometimes swear at it, and the rich assortment of characters large and small that inevitably gather around the ring. Whether you're a purist or a critic, a casual fan or a toe dipper, Toledo proves to be the perfect companion at the fights.

Poet Barry Holland wasn't born to riches and fancy things in South Wales. He recalls, blithely, that his family was so poor when he was young that, in wintertime, his dad would suck an extra strong mint and the whole family would sit around his tongue to stay warm. Now, he looks back on forty-two years of living in Newport and what those years have meant. View from the Cheap Seats is a collection of fictions, imaginings, as well as true stories from Holland's tumultuous life. He writes of his battles with mental illness as well as the challenges of being a single parent-with a mental illness. Poems draw upon visions Holland saw while sick to real people, the wild characters he's met along the way. Despite life's difficulties, Holland weaves his quirky sense of humor through every word. He dedicates pages to his beloved son, Leuan-Holland's favorite rugby player and best friend-and some serious words to delusion. But no matter how dark things get, how desperate the times, Holland believes in seeing the levity and finding whatever it is that keeps you laughing.

Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.

Contributions by Lanette Cadle, Züleyha Çetiner-Öktem, Renata Lucena Dalmaso, Andrew Eichel, Kyle Eveleth, Anna Katrina Gutierrez, Darren Harris-Fain, Krystal Howard, Christopher D. Kilgore, Kristine Larsen, Thayse Madella, Erica McCrystal, Tara Prescott-Johnson, Danielle Russell, Joe Sutliff Sanders, Joseph Michael Sommers, and Justin Wigard Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) reigns as one of the most critically decorated and popular authors of the last fifty years. Perhaps best known as the writer of the Harvey, Eisner, and World Fantasy Award–winning series The Sandman, Gaiman quickly became equally renowned in literary circles for Neverwhere, Coraline, and the award-winning American Gods, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie Medal–winning The Graveyard Book. For adults, children, comics readers, and viewers of the BBC’s Doctor Who, Gaiman’s writing has crossed the borders of virtually all media, making him a celebrity around the world. Despite Gaiman’s incredible contributions to comics, his work remains underrepresented in sustained fashion in comics studies. In this book, the thirteen essays and two interviews with Gaiman and his frequent collaborator, artist P. Craig Russell, examine the work of Gaiman and his many illustrators. The essays discuss Gaiman’s oeuvre regarding the qualities that make his work unique in his eschewing of typical categories, his proclamations to “make good art,” and his own constant efforts to do so however the genres and audiences may slip into one another. The Artistry of Neil Gaiman forms a complicated picture of a man who has always seemed fully assembled virtually from the start of his career, but only came to feel comfortable in his own voice far later in life.