American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neil GaimanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-03-04
ISBN: 0747263744
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
Book Reviews of American Gods
Book Review: Manichaeanism American-style
Summary: 5 Stars
Some fantasies are impossible to classify, and are almost impossible to review. "American Gods" is one of them. Zelazny's "Lord of Light" is a story of a 'gods versus gods' war, and so is this book. But in Gaiman's book, everyone is either a god, an unusually decent American, a serial killer disguised as a decent American, or a wife who returns from the dead. The only gods who don't show up are Big J and his only begotten Son. My favorite characters are the Egyptian deities who run a funeral home in Cairo---that's Illinois, not Egypt, even though one of them likes to snack off bits of organ meat from his customers.
All the way through "American Gods" I kept asking myself, 'what could possibly be a happy ending for this book?' All gods require believers and sacrifice in order to exist. The gods we imported to America with us are hungry, cranky, and old. The new gods (one is thinly disguised as Bill Gates) are afraid that their life-spans are going to be very short. Who still believes in the railroad god?
Gods die, the very old ones who lose all of their followers. Why does Gaiman include their stories? Well, it certainly lends to the dark atmospherics of his book. I think he also wanted to show how these gods and their worshippers came to this land: some as traders; some in chains; some as warriors and hunters. Here, he says, here is how we ended up elbow-to-elbow with Odin and Ibis-headed gods, gods of the internet, and gods of the land. No wonder Armageddon is inevitable.
Or is it? Can an ex-con named Shadow, his dead wife, and some of his very odd friends stave off the final confrontation? Follow Gaiman to an eerie motel in the navel of America and celebrate (or mourn) the twilight of at least one god. Follow him to San Francisco and witness the violent demise of the Queen of Sheba. With this book, Gaiman has turned himself into the William Least Heat Moon of America's fantasy highways.
Gaiman, Neil Books
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