By Michael Machosky

Published: Thursday, November 8, 2012, 8:53 p.m.
Updated: Friday, November 9, 2012

An English fantasy novelist ought to be smart, eccentric, charmingly self-deprecating, and as adept with witty repartee as with summoning fantastical worlds on the page.

We Americans like to get what we pay for. Slovenly, introverted, comic book hoarder-types might be good enough for our fantasy writers, but we prefer to hold the land of Tolkien, Narnia and Harry Potter to a different standard.

Luckily, Neil Gaiman was born to play the role of English fantasy writer. The author of the beloved “Sandman” graphic novels, and regular novels like “American Gods” and “Stardust,” is coming Wednesday to speak at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

He lives outside Minneapolis, instead of in some thousand-year-old Northumbrian castle. But otherwise, he's the real thing and a terrific speaker. Gaiman will be talking about “Stardust,” to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the acclaimed fantasy novel, which was made into an excellent movie in 2007 (starring Claire Danes and Robert De Niro). But, most likely, he'll be talking quite a bit about everything he's done, from comics to children's books, to whichever one's in his mind.

Admission is $15 to $30; $10 for students. Tickets are available from the Pittsburgh Arts & Lecture Series. Details: 412-622-8866 or www.pittsburghlectures.org.

Michael Machosky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at mmachosky@tribweb.com or 412-320-7901.

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