It is of course, a very strong collection. In a way I became a Neil Gaiman fan by reading his nonfiction more than by his fiction, since when I had only read a couple of his novels I became a devoted follower of his blog. Again, much of the material is about other people's work- mostly writers of fantasy or comics- so some pieces may be more appreciable for people who are familiar with their subjects, but on the whole I would say that they can be enjoyed without background and you may discover a new author. If it has one fault, I'd say that it's maybe not ideally suited for the way I typically read, a hundred or so pages of the same book in a day if I have my way, and that's when I'm not on an award committee and am just reading for leisure. As a collection of previously published pieces with no prior relationships with each other, many of which relate to Gaiman's background as a reader as well as a writer, there are stories that appear multiple times in different pieces, so there is some repetition if you read it straight through, and in large pieces. This is an ideal book for browsing, for picking up when you have the time to read a piece or two and putting down again, and for selecting the pieces which most strike your fancy.
Overall: A-