“Are you happy?” asked Mr. Nancy, suddenly. He had been staring at Shadow for several hours. Whenever Shadow glanced over to his right, Mr. Nancy was looking at him with his earth-brown eyes. “Not really,” said Shadow. “But I’m not dead yet.” “Huh?” “ ‘Call no man happy until he is dead.’ Herodotus.” Mr. Nancy raised a white eyebrow, and he said, “I’m not dead yet, and, mostly because I’m not dead yet, I’m happy as a clamboy.” “The Herodotus thing. It doesn’t mean that the dead are happy,” said Shadow. “It means that you can’t judge the shape of someone’s life until it’s over and done.” “I don’t even judge then,” said Mr. Nancy. “And as for happiness, there’s a lot of different kinds of happiness, just as there’s a hell of a lot of different kinds of dead. Me, I’ll just take what I can get when I can get it.”

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About Neil Gaiman

English author, contemporary

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. He is known for works that move easily between page and screen, including The Sandman and novels such as Good Omens, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, Anansi Boys, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. His career spans comics, fiction, and adaptation work. Several of his stories were brought to the screen, including Coraline and American Gods, and he co-created the television versions of Good Omens and The Sandman. His writing ranges across fantasy, myth, and modern storytelling in different forms.

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Books by Neil Gaiman

Coraline

2008

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American Gods

2017

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Stardust

2007

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The Ocean at the End of the Lane

2020

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Neverwhere

2016

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