The Best Short Story Collection of the Last Thirty Years: Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors

Neil Gaiman, a British fantasy novelist, compiled the best of his short stories into a collection entitled Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions. The book was published in 1998 in the United States, and it was released in the United Kingdom in 1999.

Each story is brilliant, in true Neil Gaiman fashion. Those readers who are familiar with Gaiman's particular and distinct brand of fantasy surrealism will not be disappointed by this gathering of stories and poetry. In many of the selections, things are not quite what they seem, which is understandable when looking at the title of the book. Gaiman cleverly disguises the truth of reality behind "smoke and mirrors," giving the reader an entirely unique experience. The stories in Smoke and Mirrors range from pure fantasy to horror to bizarre mystery.

Among the stories are a heartbreaking tale of a troll living under a bridge who yearns for something more in life, a slightly frightening take on the childhood Jack-in-the-Box toy, and an extremely powerful piece about a world where humans have run out of things to eat and must look for a new source of nutrition. It's difficult to forget that one after reading it.

By far, the best story in the book is called "Snow, Glass, Apples." It is a retelling of the Snow White fairytale, given the Neil Gaiman treatment. Narrated by the stepmother queen (an enemy in the original tale), the story follows a disturbed and unnatural Snow White as she terrorizes the kingdom. The imagery in "Snow, Glass, Apples" is amazing, perfectly describing the way characters look (the king had "eyes the blue of a summer sky, his skin tanned the gentle brown of ripe wheat") and the rituals they participate in ("Autumn is the time of drying, of preserving, a time of picking apples, of rendering the goose fat. Winter is the time of hunger, of snow, and of death; and it is the time of the midwinter feast, when we rub the goose-fat into the skin of a whole pig, stuffed with that autumn's apples, then we roast it or spit it, and we prepare to feast upon the crackling"). All of the familiar aspects of the story are present with a slightly skewed edge; the dwarves are little henchmen to Snow White's evil doings, and the poison apple is the queen's attempt to save her kingdom before it's too late. As is usual for a Neil Gaiman story, things are definitely not as they originally seem. "Snow, Glass, Apples" has been adapted into an audio theatre play, and singer-songwriter Tori Amos (one of Gaiman's close friends) makes reference to the story in one of her song, "Carbon."

Many of the very adult themes running through the stories in this collection might make some readers uncomfortable, so I recommend Smoke and Mirrors to people who enjoy fantasy and surrealism told in an uncensored way.

To read "Snow, Glass, Apples" online, follow this link: http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/snow-glass-apples

Additional sources:
Wikipedia