“A table for TONIGHT should certainly have been booked years before-perhaps, it was implied, by Richard's parents. A table for TONIGHT was impossible: if the pope, the prime minister, and the president of France arrived this evening without a confirmed reservation, even they would be turned out into the street with a continental jeer.”

British author and storyteller of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Gaiman blends fantasy, science fiction, and horror with lyrical prose. He’s celebrated for works like *The Sandman* comic series, *American Gods*, and *Coraline*, as well as his contributions to children’s literature and film adaptations. His writing often explores myth, imagination, and the boundaries between worlds.