By: Neil Gaiman Publisher: Harper Perennial Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Harper Perennial Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 624 Publication Date: September 01, 2003 Release Date: September 02, 2003
Amazon.com's Best of 2001: American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.
Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book.
Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says Shadow.
More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what's real and what's not. --Therese Littleton
Product Description:
Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path.
One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.
Download Description: "Special Feature: This PerfectBound e-book contains ""On the Road to American Gods: Selected Passages from Neil Gaiman's Online Journal"". The storm was coming..Shadow spent three years in prison, keeping his head down, doing his time. All he wanted was to get back to the loving arms of his wife and to stay out of trouble for the rest of his life. But days before his scheduled release, he learns that his wife has been killed in an accident, and his world becomes a colder place. On the plane ride home to the funeral, Shadow meets a grizzled man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A self-styled grifter and rogue, Wednesday offers Shadow a job. And Shadow, a man with nothing to lose accepts. But working for the enigmatic Wednesday is not without its price, and Shadow soon learns that his role in Wednesday's schemes will be far more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. Entangled in a world of secrets, he embarks on a wild road trip and encounters, among others, the murderous Czernobog, the impish Mr. Nancy, and the beautiful Easter-all of whom seem to know more about Shadow than he himself does. Shadow will learn that the past does not die, that everyone, including his late wife, had secrets, and that the stakes are higher than anyone could have imagined. All around them a storm of epic proportions threatens to break. Soon Shadow and Wednesday will be swept up into a conflict as old as humanity itself. For beneath the placid surface of everyday life a war is being fought-and the prize is the very soul of America. As unsettling as it is exhilarating, American Gods is a dark and kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an America at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. Magnificently told, this work of literary magic will haunt the reader far beyond the final page. "
Had potential I initially went to Barnes and Noble to pick up Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" after reading many positive reviews on Amazon. It was not in stock, but the sales clerk, who claimed to be a fan of Gaiman, said that "American Gods" was her favorite book of his.
This was the first novel of Gaiman's I have read and was very let down. At points it would peak my interest, but these were few and far between (and mostly occurred at the end).
I also believe there must have been at least 200 pages that could have been removed with no detrimental effect to the story being told. Lots of frivolous, too-much-information going on here. The book never felt cohesive to me, like the author never found proper direction in it and instead just zig-zagged through the whole story.
I have been on a hot streak of good books lately. For well over the past 6 months I have managed to find books that I found amazing and absorbing. That streak ended with "American Gods". .
Solid/interesting premise, poor execution, hard to relate to characters (even those who are not gods), and some down right annoying characters and dialog choices. I'm doubting whether or not to give any of his other books a try after this.
What's the opposite of apotheosis? That's the Jeopardy answer to American Gods.
The modest thesis is that immigrants to America throughout the ages have brought their gods with them. They have proliferated, but not flourished, in the melting pot.
The story starts strongly. An early release from prison launches the protagonist, Shadow, on a picaresque tour through the "sacred" corners of the US. He meets a broad assortment of deities (mostly understated and well-researched) and is caught up in multilateral war between the gods.
As the story begins, the narrative and atmosphere are reminiscent of the King / Straub masterpiece, The Talisman. But as the battle lines become clearer, the story slows way down. Shadow's dead wife observes that he is less alive than she. Unfortunately, I have to agree.
A creative and fun take on an old theme Seeking something a little lighter than my usual fare, and simply wanting a fun summer distraction, _American Gods_ was enthusiastically recommended to me by a friend, telling me this was just what I was looking for. He was right.
The story is an easy one for close readers to quickly pick up on - Gaiman gives plenty of hints about "mysterious" characters to reward the attentive; I was immeadiately drawn in. Those not familiar with the character names and plays on names may feel a bit left out of the joke; fear not, the story is rewarding in its own right.
Without giving away much (did I mention the story is fun and rewarding?), the hero, Shadow, is hired by a mysterious man to help him recruit equally mysterious men and women from around the country in anticipation of a major showdown. Figuring out who these people are, where they came from and how the showdown will play out had me blazing through the book. The fun and rewarding part? Watching the plot and character's true identities slowly revealed, and (along with Shadow) trying to figure out what the importance of the showdown is, and how the heck he will get out of it. For those with more serious (or "literary") tastes, there is much to like here as well: think James Frazer meets Margaret Mead, with a healthy dose of action.
Gaiman is a master storyteller, as this book certainly demonstrates. Its a fun summer read. Highly recommended.
Lacking This book started off good and ended good. The middle was pretty terrible. It went off into trying to develop Shadow instead of the plot. Shadow is the dullest main character I've seen in a long while, so reading through his 'development' was something like pulling teeth.
Also, chapter endings introduced characters that were not used again in any meaningful way. These chapter caps felt both disconnected and wasteful.
If only Gaiman had focused primarily on the unfolding plot, then this book would have been great all the way through. As it is, only about 2/3 are great and remaining 1/3 is gray and pointless.
An excellent fantasy I read this before his Sandman books (Comics/Vertigo) and I was hooked. It is a great read in the sci/fi fantasy genre, with old Mythical creatures, Norse Gods, Greek Gods, New Gods and others Gaiman dips into nearly every mythology to create a masterpiece of modern fantasy filled with Humor and wit.
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