In the foreword 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 "Cartographer", from which we learn - what is the relationship between stories and geographical maps - an inserted novel, not included in the final version of the novel "American Gods" "Souvenirs and Treasures" about Mr. Alice . Mr. Alice is one of the ten richest people in the 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 never appeared in print. And Mr. Alice always gets what he wants even when he wants the most beautiful 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. After the events described in the "American Gods" Shadow went on a trip to Europe; a year and a half later he was brought to a remote Scottish town, where he was offered to serve as a guard at the upcoming weekend picnic "the strong of this world". It would seem that everything is simple, but the 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" .