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You see, this is kind of what I mean. Gaiman exists partly as authgor and partly as social commodity in a way that many "proper" writers do not - partly because JD Salinger is less likely to have his photo taken with you, maybe...so we are talking about *meeting* Gaiman rather than *reading* Gaiman.
Case in point. I used to know somebody who was part of the inspiration for Delirium blah blah fishcakes (who also crops up in DWJ's dedications, rather worryingly), and as a result of that had wangled all her goth chums "ins" to be extras in Neverwhere. As a result of *that*, each one of them had their own "the day I met Neil Gaiman" story, every single one of which essentially went "I was on the stairs going up, and Neil was on the stairs coming down, and he said, "Watch out - these stairs are a bit narrow," and I said, "Right you are, Neil."
I think that possibly one element of this in a broader sense is that (and I am getting a germinating Head Shop thread here) often his work is enjoyed by people (and I am obviously not referring to anyone here) who generally have not acquired a critical vocabulary - scientists, for example - and as such are unable to express their admiration through the standardised language of Eng Lit. As a form of substitution or exchange, l'homme does duty for l'oeuvre, aloowing the less "learned" vocabulary of personal response to be deployed. In effect, the man or woman becomes metonym.
Which also addresses Lada's point above... |
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