Reading this collection is a journey into the mind of a writer, a revelation of unexpected questions, and a thought-provoking quest for answers. Along the way, Gaiman offers lessons on how to listen, how to read, and how to value honest writing ... This book is a study in the power of observation. It brings to light Gaiman’s attention to language, to literature, and to everything that makes up a cultural life.
Broken up into sections — 'What I Believe,' 'Music and the People Who Make It,' 'Some People I Have Known,' 'Make Good Art,' and so on — his musings shine with wit, understatement, and a warm lack of pretention ... As these sorts of odds-and-ends collections typically are, View is a mixed bag, both in subject matter and quality ... Together these assorted tidbits form a mosaic — a composite picture of Gaiman as a writer, but also as a thinker, a cult figure, and barometer of genre fiction's trends and sentiments over the past 20-odd years. Not to mention an unassuming guy who just so happens to be a brilliant, best-selling author. As such, View is not only invaluable, but engrossing.
His [Neil Gaiman] tone of voice is readily identifiable. It’s the careful expository tone of a tale told to children, of a good, scary story that will keep them listening ... That, I think, is very good, even if it does not quite bear sustained scrutiny (you still have to walk around Horror on your own, surely?); and it also shows how adept he is at delivering scripts to be drawn up by artists ... This book is an excellent way of getting a purchase on the man who could be said to have almost single-handedly revived the comic genre, or made it respectable. It is also a great way of learning about the history of comics, science fiction and fantasy ... He is charming, enthusiastic, full of wonder. He is, at heart, the best kind of child reader: an adventurous one, and one willing to learn.
