Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions is a collection of short stories and poems by Neil Gaiman. It was first published in the United States in 1998, and in the United Kingdom in 1999. The UK edition included five stories not in the US edition, four of which were included in the US edition of Fragile Things.
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).
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 notes):
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 Martin H. Greenberg
Nicholas Was... - A very short story (100 words) used for a Christmas card
The Price - on the subject of cats, angels, and an unwanted visitor
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 - A brief reflection on a certain pool containing a trio of goldfish
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving picture)
The White Road - A narrative poem retelling some old English folktales
Queen of Knives - A narrative poem about stage magic
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch - A story about how a visit to an underground circus led to an unexpected change
Changes - written for Lisa Tuttle about gender reflection
The Daughter of Owls - Written in the style of John Aubrey
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - A pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft in which a visitor arrives at a pub and partakes in a jovially mysterious conversation and an eldritch concoction
Virus - Written for the anthology Digital Dreams by D
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