The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country [Paperback]

Neil Gaiman (Author), Kelley Jones (Illustrator), Charles Vess (Illustrator), Colleen Doran (Illustrator), Malcolm Jones III (Illustrator), Steve Erickson (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1991

Absolutely NO publisher overstock or black remainder mark on page edges!! BRAND NEW, NEVER READ -- A+ MINT!! NO blemishes. From a dry/smoke free environment --Tight, crisp, and clean - you'll hear the book CRACK when opened. Published by Vertigo Press. Book has NO names, highlights, underlines, dog ears, loose pages, or wrinkles. Soft cover is in excellent condition and has cover illustration featuring the "wooden face"!! An exceptional copy! GIFT QUALITY!! NO remainder mark. NOT ex-library book with markings. I ship daily. Carefully packaged with bubble wrap for the journey and I provide email verification at time of shipment. Delivered in 3-6 days (Expedited) or 6 -14 days (Standard) -- additional delivery time required for AK, HI and APO. Expedited shipping recommended for speedy delivery. Book will ship same or next day! Customer service and satisfaction is a priority. Know EXACTLY what you are buying with my detailed description -- Full disclosure on all books all the time! Buy with conidence from an Amazon Pro-Merchant

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156389016X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563890161
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to the series..., July 2, 2002

By 

Allen W. Wright "Webmaster, 'rogue scholar" (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country (Paperback)

Yeah, I know it's not the first volume in the series. But I don't think Neil Gaiman really hit his stride until Dream Country. As this collection is a bunch of stand alone short stories, I think it makes an excellent book get people hooked on the Sandman.

There's Calliope, a one-hit novelist's muse really is one of the muses. He rapes and abuses his muse -- bad news when her ex comes to the rescue. Creepy, creepy story. Best of all, the collection includes the script to this story.

A Dream of A Thousand Cats... A charming tale that shows what cats dream of, and why those dreams will never be reality.

A Midsummer Night's Dream .. The real Oberon, Titania and Puck (and other fairies) attend the first performance of Shakespeare's classic play. Simply magical with superb art by Charles Vess.

Facades ... The life of a has-been superheroine. It takes a silly and forgotten character and makes her painfully human.

All of these stories are must-reads -- each told with different styles. What a wonderful way to sample what comics can be.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uneven, but worth it for the last two, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country (Paperback)

"Dream Country" contains 4 unrelated stories about Dream and Death. The first story, "Dream of a Thousand Cats" is an amusing tale, but it does not deserve an entire issue to tell. It could have easily been one of the stories told to Rose by the old women in "Kindly Ones" and taken up only a few pages.

The second tale "Calliope" is much better, but is still missing that Gaiman magic. It does however, introduce us to one of Sandman's great loves and mother of his only child. It's a good story, but it's unoriginal.

The third tale is the real treat. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes off from a chapter in "Doll's House" where Dream tells William Shakespeare to write 2 plays for him. Shakespeare and his troop of actors perform Midsummer Night's Dream on a grassy hill in the English Countryside for the actual fairies that are represented in the play. It's a wonderful story and the art is just breathtaking.

The last one, "Facade", doesn't include Dream. Instead it focuses on an obscure super-heroine of the 60's and how she longs for a normal life which is granted by Death. It's a moving story, the kind of super-hero tale that only Neil could write. Super powers may be great, but being a normal person would be much more appealing sometimes.

All in all, Dream Country is not the best collection of Sandman stories, but "Midsummer Night's Dream" is the single best Sandman issue and actually won a slew of awards. It's worth checking out for that tale alone.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Work in the Reader's Head, October 4, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country (Paperback)

This collection contains two of Gaiman's best short stories. "Dream of a Thousand Cats," with its gorgeous artwork by Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III, is one of the great ironic cat stories. And "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which actually won a World Fantasy Award. The Award committee was so chagrined by the notion of a comic book winning the prize that they changed the rules to prevent such an abomination from ever happening again. Ah, what fools these mortals be. The collection also includes, as a bonus, a copy of Gaiman's script for another story, "Calliope," in which the magician shows us how the illusion is created. In one of his panel descriptions we see the key to his method: "NOW I WANT TO GET ACROSS THE RAPE, AND THE HORROR AND THE DOMINANCE, FAIRLY SUBTLY, DOING ALL THE WORK IN THE READER'S HEAD." Yes, indeed. That's where Gaiman always does his best work. In the reader's head