On Sunday, October 4, my husband Matt and I went to see Neil Gaiman reading at the Cleveland Public Library. Amazingly, this event was free. I mean, I would have paid to see Neil read, but free is fantastic. Our libraries rock. Matt is wonderfully supportive of my fan-girl-ness. It probably helps that he is also a big fan of Neil Gaiman’s writing and comic books.
I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of crowd. I figured either, yeah, it’s Neil Gaiman, so they’ll be lining up around the block (this is what actually happened) or this is Cleveland, so no one will find out about it, and there will be 14 people in a huge auditorium yelling, “We love you Neil!”
There ended up being over a thousand people, all radiating happiness and hero worship. Not everyone fit in the main room, which I think holds about 700 people. Another few hundred people were shuffled into an overflow room across the hall, where I suppose they watched on TV screens. Still more were turned away entirely. Matt and I got there at noon, two hours early, and managed to get great seats in the middle. The first fan started the line absurdly early in the morning.
Neil’s fans are an odd assortment of hippie-crafters, goths, metal-biker types, and general misfits, most of whom are much friendlier than they look. The bookworm connection probably helps. Matt, who is usually by far the social one in our pairing, accused me of being a social butterfly for once. 
It’s just easier to talk to people who are a bit batty over fantasy and such. Cult audiences are so much fun. Also, yes, a real bat got into the building, flapping spookily among the rafters, which only seemed fitting. Neil himself is super friendly, which didn’t surprise me, but he is also rather adorable, which did. The grim visage he carries around doesn’t really translate in person.
We got to hear the first ever reading (I think) of Odd and the Frost Giants, a short novel he wrote for World Book Day, which I’d never even heard of until the reading (the day, not the book, but actually, I’d never heard of either). Apparently authors and publishers put out 100-page books for free, children are given book tokens and get to choose from (I think) nine books. I’d never heard of it because it’s the world outside of the US (just UK and other island-y parts of Europe actually). Shame, it sounds like a good idea.
Article comments
1 - Jenna
Great review of the Neil Gaiman visit. Such an interesting and lively account. Would love to have been there (if I wasn't several hundred miles away across the Atlantic). Good on him for making a (free) library visit. And well done Cleveland Public Library in having the vision to extend an invite.
Authors are too often nowadays, only let loose on their public by their publishers at bookshop signings, where there's a prospect of dosh and publicity in the offing. (Thanks also Meagan for the nudge towards the Sandman bookshelf and a happy prospect of yet another re-read).
2 - Lynn Voedisch
I absolutely love Neil Gaiman and wish he'd spend more time writing ADULT books. But that's just my little peccadillo. I think it would be wild to set Gaiman loose on an audience and see what he does.
3 - hadesarrow
Jenna - One of the things Neil does very well is connecting with fans. I suspect he'll end up SOMEWHERE near you eventually... and yes CPL is awesome. Cleveland has a bad rap, but we've got a lot of upsides and our library system is one of them.
Lynn - I agree... his children's books are wonderful, but they're just over too quickly to get adult length enjoyment out of them.