In the preface to the collection of short stories “Fragile Things,” Gaiman describes in detail how, when and under what circumstances he came up with this or that story. According to tradition, the preface also contains a small digression, the story “The Cartographer,” from which we learn what the connection is between stories and geographical maps, an inserted short story that was not included in the final version of the novel “American Gods.” The story “Souvenirs and Treasures” about Mr. Alice. Mr. Alice is one of the ten richest people in the entire world, much richer than both Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei. Like the other nine, he spends a lot of money to ensure that no information about him ever appears in print. And Mr. Alice always gets what he wants - even when he wants the most handsome young man on Earth... The main character of the story “Pages from a Diary Found in a Box” finds a postcard in Las Vegas with the inscription: “Remember.” He goes in search of a woman with red hair. And his path is not close... After the events described in “American Gods”, Shadow went on a trip to Europe; a year and a half later, he was brought to a provincial Scottish town, where he was offered to serve as a security guard at the upcoming picnic of the “powers that be” this coming weekend. It would seem that everything is simple, but Shadow feels that his role is supposed to be much more active and important. The events are described in the story “Lord of the Mountain Valley.”