You can learn a lot by peering into an artist's process. In The Art of Neil Gaiman, Gaiman friend and fan Hayley Campbell is given generous access to Gaiman's notebooks, sketches, archives, and even the details on some of his failed projects.
The result is a satisfying deep dive into the imagination and output of one of today's most engaging and evocative storytellers.
There seem to be a lot of these visual biographies floating around these days, from Alan Moore: Storyteller (a book I loved), to the new Jimmy Page photographic autobiography, to Nick Drake: Remembered for a While. Unlike the Drake bio, which feels more like a heavily-annotated scrapbook, The Art of Neil Gaiman is a proper biography, heavily leavened with photos, drawings, manuscript pages, article reprints, and the like. Campbell's well-written, passionate, and intimate-feeling text paints a satisfyingly hi-res picture of Gaiman and gives you a sidecar seat to the professional ride he's been on, from a freelance book reviewer and pop culture journalist (did you know he wrote a book on Duran Duran?), to comic book writer, to best-selling author and creative-culture icon. There is so much to chew on here, so much eye candy, and so many curious revelations at every turn. I hope Neil and Hayley won't be offended if I recommend this as perfect toilet tank fare.
See sample pages from this book at Wink.
