Book Review - Short stories from Neil Gaiman and Bill Veeck

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (with an excerpt from "The Ocean at the End of the Lane") by Neil Gaiman -  This is a short story by the acclaimed author with an excerpt of a novel.  In it two English lads in the 1970s go to a party and discover what most of us discovered back then.  Girls are different.  As the night goes on they discover that these girls are a lot more different than most.  Nominated for a Hugo for Best Story it also won a Locust award in 2007.

I haven't read a lot of Gaiman (an oversight that appalls my daughter, just appalls her) but I do know enough to look for his puckish sense of humor.  This is a quick fun read.

The excerpt from the novel is interesting in a completely different way.  Gaiman takes us to that fantasy world that exists just at the edge of what we all "know" to be reality.  It looks like someplace normal but it really isn't.  A man re-visits the places of his childhood and ends up wishing he hadn't.  There are memories that should have been left buried and he must rely on the strange girl Lettie Hempstock to find his way through.  Just another item in favor of digging in and exploring Gaiman's output in greater detail.

Rating - **** Recommended

Bill Veeck's Crosstown Classic by Bill Veeck - You can not claim to love this history of baseball if you do not know the name Bill Veeck.  Veeck is one of the great innovators, promotors, personalities and owners in the history of the American Game.  This book is part of a series of short works called "Chicago Shorts".  It covers the time when Veeck was buying the Chicago White Sox from the Comiskey family.  Now the Comiskeys were characters unto themselves so it's a clash of the titans.  It's a fascinating look into one of the most unique careers in American sports.  Sports fans of all kinds should read this.  It's even fun if you're not.

Rating - *** Worth A Look