  smoke and mirrors: short fictions and illusions is a collection of short stories and poems by neil gaiman. it was first published in the us in 1998, and in the uk in 1999. many of the stories in this book are reprints from other sources, such as magazines, anthologies, and collections (including ten stories and poems from gaiman's earlier small press miscellany angels and visitations). ==contents== the included stories and poems are different between some of the editions. the us, uk, and ebook editions have some differences in the stories they contain (see table to right): {| style="font-size:80%;float:right;" |- ! â  | not in us print version |- ! â¡ | not in ebook version |- !* | appears in ebook version as apple |} * reading the entrails - a rondel about the pleasures and perils of fortune-telling * the wedding present - a story included in the introduction * chivalry - a story about the holy grail written for an anthology by marty greenberg * nicholas was... - a very short story (100 words) used for a christmas card * the price - on the subject of cats and angels * troll bridge - an adult retelling of the three billy goats gruff written for the anthology snow white, blood red by ellen datlow and terri windling * don't ask jack - inspired by a demonic jack-in-the-box sculpture by lisa snellings * the goldfish pool and other stories * eaten (scenes from a moving picture) â  * the white road - a narrative poem retelling some old english folktales * queen of knives (for eric stern's opera of the same name see queen of knives) - a narrative poem about stage magic * the facts in the case of the departure of miss finch â â¡ * changes - written for lisa tuttle about gender reflection * the daughter of owls - written in the style of john aubrey * shoggoth's old peculiar * virus - written for the anthology digital dreams by david barrett about computer fiction * looking for the girl - commissioned by penthouse for their 20th anniversary issue * only the end of the world again * bay wolf - a story poem retelling beowulf as a futuristic episo
1998_short_story_collections Short_story_collections_by_Neil_Gaiman