"It was one of those books which I grew up believing to be a children's classic, in the sense that I couldn't imagine getting through childhood without having read it, like "Alice in Wonderland," I suppose, or these days, "Harry Potter." You assume every kid has probably read it. Coming to America, I figured, now I'm in the home of James Thurber. But I would mention it to people and I would get blank looks. I slowly realized that this thing that I thought was required reading in order to be a human being was a book that actually only a tiny minority had read, and in fact had been out of print when I came to America. So that was the point where I started my little campaign to bring it back into print." (Interview: The Wall Street Journal)
Every time I re-read "The 13 Clocks" I find something new to love about it. It's just that kind of book..
"A fair wind stood for Yarrow and, looking far to the sea, the Princess Saralinda thought she saw, as people often think they see, on clear and windless days, the distant shinning shores of Ever After. Your guess is quite as good as mine (there are a lot of things that shine) but I have always thought she did, and I will always think so" (Thurber 120-1).
WSJ Book Club
Neil Gaiman's blog
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