Neil Gaiman’s latest collection of short stories, Fragile Things, arrived on bookshelves Tuesday, September 26th and I wasted no time in rushing out to purchase my copy. Despite any good intentions I might have had, all books were laid aside while I sat at the feet of the master. Short story collections are something of an enigma. I have read a fair number of short story collections this year, and while some were fantastic from start to finish others contained stories ranging from the very good to the very average. Fragile Things occupies this latter category.
I have been enamored of WWI flying machines for as long as I can remember. At a guess I would say that Snoopy’s imaginary battles with the Red Baron was my first fueled this passion. Anything with WWI or II aircraft and dirigibles grabs my attention. If you want to know just how geeky I can get about them all you have to do is read my review of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow or get me started talking about one of my favorite computer games of all time, Crimson Skies. It should not come as a surprise then that I wanted to see Flyboys on the big screen.
(Expectations by Christopher Vacher. Click on picture for close up of the lady)
I received the following letter in my email yesterday. It was so deliciously dramatic and gothic, especially after reading The Thirteenth Tale, that I felt the need to share it here. If you have any mood music you may want to play it to heighten the dramatic effect. The email arrived with the subject heading which is the title of today’s post. Without further ado, the Travails of Lady Mosley:
There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots
may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on
the feelings, as now in October.
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
