My copy of Little Big or The Fairies’ Parliament arrived today. At least today is when I ventured out to the post office. I’ve been waiting for this special, limited edition hard bound book for months. Most days, of late, going out into the mad world is a thing I only do by necessity. Things seem even more out of whack than usual so it was with great joy that I received my long-awaited copy of John Crowley’s classic fantasy.

Literature has not been my life focus, as you may know, but I’ve had the privilege to work with some of the best in my years in story and as a primary figure in the Peter Schneider years at Disney Animated Features. Walt’s feature animation had its genesis in fairy tales and classic children’s books. So I was obliged then to immerse myself.

Finding this particular book came, as treasures often do, accidentally. Neil Gaiman, a fiction author I follow and admire, wrote about writing the forward to this edition on his blog. You can find it here https://www.neilgaiman.com . As you may know Gaiman is an award-winning author of fantasy, a few of which have been adapted to the big screen.

In this edition, the publisher has paired Crowley’s work with the ethereal 20th century art of Peter Milton. I started to read Little, Big as soon as my blade released this sizable tome from the packaging. Already I’m enthralled. It is more than 700 pages long so you may not hear from me for few days while I take a luxurious deep dive into one of the greatest works of fiction from the 20th century.