Bayou Bytes Blog

Author Neil Gaiman, courtesy of The New Yorker “Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.” It is hard to describe English author, Neil Gaiman. He knew he would be an author when he was a child; he fanboys over Ray Bradbury; he is a beekeeper.  He is also is an award winning author (I lost count after 75) and has had several books conquer the bestseller list.  Gaiman cannot be pigeonholed into a single genre; he has written fantasy ( Stardust ), comedy ( Good Omens , with late author, Terry Pratchett), graphic novels, collections of short stories ( Trigger Warnings is his newest book, published February 2015), children's books (some of the books lovingly referred to as "Kid Goth" ), sc...

Courtesy of goodreads.com Literary critics are always looking for the next big novel; they're looking for the next Scarlet Letter , the next Great Expectations,  the next To Kill a Mockingbird , even the next Harry Potter series.  Yet, it appears that critics are missing the point of literature.  They look for the weird factor, the shock factor in your face, the factor that makes a novel seem edgy and hip.  However, edgy is not always what a novel needs.  A classic is supposed to capture the feeling of the moment, to reveal to an audience a timeless concept, to resemble life and human error and triumph.  A masterpiece novel is supposed to make you think, to make you feel, to stay with you long after you have put the book down.  A reader will learn something without even realizing it; you will be slightly uncomfortable, but the pull of finishing the story is too great to ignore.   The Art of Fielding  (2011) will make you slightly uncomfor...