MixedThe Washington PostThe narrative voice is what makes these opening pages so engaging: smart, hip and witty, like the shiny surface of a new iPhone. (Sloan used to work for Twitter.) If glib, the narrative is warm, too, and self-effacing, peppered with ironies ... This is a book about systems, both secret and overt, exploring codes, filing, programming and designing. Storytelling has its operating systems, too, and though the author creates a splendid opening and an acceptable resolution, he runs out of steam for the great engine system of the middle. The weakness may be in the development of character. Clay is hardly changed by his experience; and for a book making a large statement about friendship, his friends always come in and out of the story on the basis of utility rather than affection or humanity.
Neil Gaiman
RaveThe Washington PostFragile Things is a delightful compendium rather than a straightforward story collection, but it's a fine sample of the author's versatility. Gaiman writes in different registers: comedy, satire, pastiche, deadpan, lyrical or whimsical, but almost invariably dark. It all depends on whichever sooty, fantastic spirit drops down the chimney of his Minneapolis writing room on any given day … Gaiman's talents and interests lend themselves — perfectly, in fact — to the short form, and there are gems in this collection … One of the pleasures of Gaiman's stories is how often they announce that ‘this is a true story’ or that ‘this happened to a friend,’ though the book's introduction never confirms that any of these things actually happened. But you don't care because the story has already entered the chain of fairy/folk/urban tales, and the vulgar truth is merely academic.
