Fragile Things

an alternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereLet me tell you a story. No, wait, one's not enough.I'll begin again?Let me tell you stories of the months of the year, of ghosts and heartbreak, of dread and desire. Let me tell you of after-hours drinking and unanswered phones, of good deeds and bad days, of breaking down and making up, of dead men walking and missing fathers, of little French ladies in Miami, of trusting wolves and how to talk to girls.There are stories within stories, whispered in ears in the quiet of the night, shouted above the roar of the day, and played out between lovers and enemies, strangers and friends. But all, all are fragile things made up using just 26 letters arranged and rearranged again and again to form tales and imaginings which, if you let them, will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul.The following stories are contained in this collection:1) An introduction where Gaiman details some background on each of the stories, and includes a short-short story (The Mapmaker)2) A Study in Emerald3) The Fairy Reel (poem)4) October in the Chair5) The Hidden Chamber6) Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire7) The Flints of Memory Lane8) Closing Time9) Going Wodwo (poem)10) Bitter Grounds11) Other People12) Keepsakes and Treasures13) Good Boys Deserve Favors14) The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch15) Strange Little Girls16) Harlequin Valentine17) Locks18) The Problem of Susan19) Instructions20) How Do You Think It Feels?21) My Life22) Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot23) Feeders and Eaters24) Diseasemaker's Croup25) In the End26) Goliath27) Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox Left in a Greyhound Bus Somewhere Between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Louisville, Kentucky28) How to Talk to Girls at Parties29) The Day the Saucers Came30) Sunbird31) Inventing Aladdin32) The Monarch of the Glen