Night Owls -- April 10, 2023

For the month of April, the Night Owls met to discuss Art Matters, a collection of essays by Neil Gaiman with illustrations by Chris Riddell. The collection covers a wide range of topics within a relatively short amount of pages: freedom of speech, freedom of information, the importance of libraries, procrastination, and the perseverance of working in the arts. 

Most members greatly enjoyed the book and found that while what the author was stating regarding several of the aforementioned topics was not necessarily new or groundbreaking, his style of writing and breakdown of complex ideas were done in a straightforward and accessible manner for all levels of readers to understand. Gaiman's wry wit when comparing the challenges of writing a book to building a chair in Making a Chair was also well-liked by the group. While some members of the group found the book to be very uplifting and inspiring, some members did comment that they felt some parts of Gaiman's writing came across a bit preachy and that some advice given was somewhat idealistic. 

Overall though, the group enjoyed reading this month's book and gave it a favorable 4 average rating. 

Final Rating: 4
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ = It was amazing

⭐⭐⭐⭐ = Really liked it
⭐⭐⭐ = Liked it
⭐⭐ = It was ok
⭐ = Did not like it