Journal

Monday, December 30, 2002
Hi Neil -
I recently won (and will shortly receive) a copy of an anthology called "Strange Kaddish" that claims to have an otherwise-unpublished short story by you called "Into the Light". I checked the bibliography and saw a listing for a story titled "In the End". Can you tell me anything about this collection, and/or your story? Have I indeed acquired a little-known "Gaiman goodie"? And, after checking three different sources and receiving three different interpretations, what exactly does "Kaddish" mean in this case?
Thanks for your help/insight.

Love from Jordan's Mom


Hullo Jordan's mom. If memory serves, the story in Strange Kaddish is "In the End", a very VERY short story that's in the UK edition of Smoke and Mirrors and in the e-book edition of Smoke and Mirrors as well (where, confusingly, it's sometimes listed as "apple" because that was the name of the WordPerfect file).

Kaddish is a Jewish prayer for the dead. To understand what it means in this case you'd have to ask the editor of the anthology.