(Boo! My original review, which was longer and better, was destroyed, erased by the Internet gods.)

Gaiman's gift to us is his character, Shadow, who is so lackadaisical that everything he thinks, says, or anything he is prone to, reacts against, is absolutely unpredictable. Love the whimsy, do NOT particularly like the way Aztecs or Mayas were nonexistent in Gaiman's America; go and behold! Norse ones are definitely included!

2ish stars.

Big news - I added a whole star since my last reading way back in the day because it was more amusing this time around.
Verdict: still probably in my top 5 most overrated books ever.

Here's the thing. Nothing happens. Gaiman spins an incredibly long yarn that never actually takes form. There's no character development. The protagonist, Shadow, tragically, was born without a personality. It's the dullest road trip ever, without a destination. Even when there's death or mystery or whatever, it's just blah. Except for the shock factor of the man-eating vagina, I guess, which isn't necessarily a compliment.

It feels more like a gimmick than an allegory. An elevator pitch expanded into a 600-page novel.

For a book that Gaiman intended to be "a thriller, and a murder mystery, and a romance, and a road trip," it is more or less unsuccessful in all those areas.

But it is occasionally amusing. :)

Posted in Mr. Philip's Library

a protagonist, Shadow. calm, collected, quiet, passive, cagey, a tough guy and a sensitive guy. his life has been about reacting and not impacting. he moves through his story as if through a dream; tragedies and betrayals and mysteries and confidence games, the beginnings and endings of hope and love and life - all viewed as if through water, as if these terrible wonders were happening to someone else. he could be nothing more than a pawn in life - let alone a pawn of the gods - but yet his passivity is combined with an inner strength, a gentle kindness, an innate decency. his decency is more than a trait - it defines him. and when he does decide to act, his actions become another one of this novel's terrible wonders. he is complex and completely appealing. one of my my favorite heroes in modern fiction.

a wife, Laura. dead before the novel begins. a living ghost, a revenant; aided by a magical coin. a sad and appalling and dreamlike journey. a terrific payoff.

a Road Trip, full of kitchen-sink reality, full of terrible wonder.

an old guard, the Old Gods. Odin, Anansi, Czernobog, Anubis and Thoth and Bast and Horus, Eostre, Kali, the Norns. the Queen of Sheba - strangely, now an Old God. their transformation into prosaic american emigres - confidence men and tenement dwellers and whores and jailhouse cellmates - is both a fun game of mystery-solving (guess the god!) and a rather sad parallel to how the world of the not-aged pushes the aged into their little corners, out of sight and out of mind, into a world of irrelevance. and yet the old gods are not portrayed with cloying sweetness - there is no filter of nostalgia or hints of some long-lost, longed-for Olden Way to make us love them. they are fascinating, powerful, often monstrous, entirely without easy sentiment.

a new guard, the New Gods. Technology, the Media, the Vehicle, the Men in Black. it's easy to put them all automatically in a nice little box labeled The Villains. but that's too simple; too instantly gratifying. the novel's portrait of these potentially repellent figures is one painted in broad strokes, lacking subtlety - but it is also a fair one... they sound and act like villains, and yet they are not. how can they be? we worship them on a daily basis. they are only evil if we consider our modern age an evil one.

a creepy subsidiary villain: a Kobold. he lives in a portrait of classic americana that miraculously manages to be free of condescension.

a Confidence Game, long-game style, played by two gods, with our hero as their catspaw. cleverly done by the gods. beautifully overturned by our hero. brilliantly pulled off by the author.

an author, Neil Gaiman. i'll admit that i have well-stocked reserves of love for the man, ready and willing to be accessed. his Sandman series is my favorite comic book, full of crazy imagination and complex mysteries and creepy villains and complicated heroes and terrible, wonderful journeys. so i was prepared to love this book as i love its author, to draw upon that deep well of affection. there were connecting factors that helped to ease my transition from dealing with my old god of awesome comics to this new literary god of popular fantasy fiction; namely his interest in unearthing and revitalizing the world's myths and legends - an ongoing Gaiman leitmotif. i was less prepared to discover that Gaiman is an actual writer! his prose is fluid, nuanced, supple, at ease with both constant ambiguity and you-are-there, detailed realism. both grounded and hallucinatory. the narrative is anchored by everyday reality as well as a strange lack of affect - a blankness of tone that is a good fit for a phantasmagorical road trip. and then it is capable of sudden, surreal flights of visionary madness, a grey-toned package that becomes a conjurer's box of magic. and then that tricksy legerdemain can just as quickly transform back into a soulful and emotionally honest portrait of one man's journey through various adventures, through his own life, to the end of it and back again. who could ask for more?

This is a review of The Annotated American Gods edition

I love love love Neil Gaiman’s audiobooks, which he frequently narrates himself, so I listened to American Gods. Shortly after, I started watching the series. When I was sent The Annotated American Gods, I was in awe. This is a gift-worthy book, stunning in its presentation. The annotations added to my experience of this masterful work, particularly when they offered insight into Gaiman’s creative process. I highly recommend this one if you are a fan of American Gods or Neil Gaiman’s work in any form. It’s absolutely a treasure.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

I read this when it was first released, and I think it's time for a re-read. This is one of those stories that stay in your mind long after you've read the book, and the pages are getting dusty on the shelf.

"Američki bogovi" je moja prva Gejmenova knjiga za, uslovno rečeno, stariju publiku. Kako sam na samom početku čitanja njegovog opusa (znam, sram me bilo), nisam znala šta da očekujem od ove knjige. Takođe sam izbegla bilo kakav vid istraživanja kako bi utisak bio što autentičniji.

Bez obzira na to što su od početka bili prikazani paralelni događaji koji su nagoveštavali način na koji će se radnja dalje razvijati, sam početak knjige mi nije previše obećavao. Sa druge strane, preplitanje tih tokova sa osvrtom na događaje iz prošlosti u okviru priče mi je držalo pažnju dovoljno da želim da nastavim dalje. Pre svega su mi bili zanimljivi bogovi i njihova manifestacija na zemlji, kao i to da su njihove priče i svedočenja protkana kroz celu knjigu putem segmenata. Samim tim, u drugi plan mi je pao ceo segment o ratu između starih i novih bogova do trenutka kada Senka zapravo pristaje da bdi za Sredom. Ovde bi valjalo da stanem jer ću u suprotnom celu recenziju morati da sakrijem kao spojler.

Takođe bih izdvojila delove koji nam govore o Senkinom boravku u malom mestu Lejksajd. Ta priča je toliko dobra da bi mogla da se nađe kao posebna publikacija. Zaista me zanima kako će sve ovo biti predstavljeno u seriji koja se trenutno emituje, a za koju kažu da je bolja od knjige :)

Reto 12 libros - 12 meses del grupo  Sangre de tinta
Mayo - Un libro con magia

Este es uno de los libros más extraños que he leído, sale de todos los esquemas tradicionales, cuando te vuelves un lector asiduo más o menos sabes cómo será el curso de las tramas de las historias, este libro me sorprendió a cada paso, cada que pensaba ahora va a suceder esto, resultaba que no.

Empieza con un protagonista fuera de lo común, un convicto pronto a ser liberado para poder reunirse con su esposa, ya desde allí empecé a hacerme ideas que no sucederían...

Y a pesar de todo esto, me gusto, no, me encanto, al leerlo se volvía algo adictivo, por eso lo recomiendo a todos. Lo que más atrae es que incluye mitologías y dioses de varios panteones, nórdicos, irlandeses, árabes, egipcios, japoneses, y muchos más (irónicamente casi nada griego o romano que son con los que estoy familiarizado), además habla sobre los nuevos dioses de culto en América, los dioses de la tecnología, de la televisión, del dinero, de la Internet, de las drogas y muchos otros.

Por si fuera poco, también es un thriller, donde hay unas misteriosas desapariciones, que puede que al principio no llamen mucho la atención, pero cuando se resuelven, te volaran la cabeza.

Una razón más para leerlo es que, recientemente se estrenó la serie de televisión que está basada en esta historia de Dioses, la cual pienso ver pronto.

Si no temen salir de su zona de confort como lectores, y quieren probar algo diferente, este libro definitivamente es para ustedes.

(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: A build to war, too long (can bore), but tons of food for thought, on truth/belief, it's godly beefs: a pagan melting pot.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

07/30/2023 - Preamble

(1) Back when I did my reread of adapted Neil Gaiman books, I skipped this one because the TV series wasn't over. I wanted the full gamut of video clips to use for status gifs. Well, the series was cancelled and so I must make do with what's available.
(2) I don't really care for full-cast audiobooks. I prefer a single narrator. However, that one's unavailable to me.

07/31/2023 - Introduction

(1) This 10th Anniversary Edition, as mentioned in the introduction, features the author's "preferred text."
- Meaning the 12,000 words Gaiman was originally forced to cut were fished out of the trash and polished up.
(2) Usually I listen to audiobooks at 1.75 or 1.50 speed. But, being a full-cast narration, I'm treating this like TV and listening to at normal speed.

08/01/2023 - Chapters 1-3

(1) First big difference I noticed between the book and the show is the flaming buffalo man is now just a flaming buffalo.
- Possibly it'd look cheesy in live action.
(2) "Shadow worried about the whole e-ticket business ... Anything electronic seemed ... liable to evaporate at any moment. He liked things he could hold and touch."
- I feel the same way about e-books.

08/02/2023 (1) - Chapters 4-5

(1) Not to talk about the show too much, but the errand shopping scene isn't in small-town America, it's at the Canadian Tire near my house.
- Living in Vancouver, it's tough losing yourself in TV.
(2) In the book, Bilquis lures men as a hooker, in the show she uses a dating app.
- The victim's a lot more sympathetic in the show and, in turn, Bilquis seems more evil.

08/02/2023 (2) - Chapters 6-7

(1) I watched the TV show first, and there's a gay sex scene that I thought must just be Starz being Starz—gratuitous and provocative for the sake of it. To my surprise, I find out it's in the book.
- So, either it's part of the "preferred text" I never read before, or I simply forgot.
- Doesn't seem like something I'd forget. Sex scenes in general make me squeamish.

08/03/2023 - Chapters 8-9

(1) I'm at that stretch past the House on the Rock, and its aftermath, where there isn't much plot movement.
- Stuff happens, but mostly you get miscellaneous musings about small-town America, historical grifts, "Coming to America" tales (of varying value and quality), meetings with townsfolk, etc.
- I look back at my original review and think, "Yeah, I was spot on."

08/05/2023 (1) - Chapters 10-11

(1) Hinzelmann: "You want a video rental card? Eventually they’ll open a Blockbuster here, and then we’ll soon be out of business."
- Ironic statement, considering how Blockbuster would soon be out of business itself.
(2) I'm at the long Lakeside portion. Feels like a lot of navel-gazing.
- Unlike the show, the book feels no need to be periodically exciting/eventful.

08/05/2023 (2) - Chapter 12

(1) Chapter 12 features three "interludes" back-to-back-to-back: short scenes involving Bilquis, Marguerite Olsen and Laura.
- Bilquis and Laura play major roles in the show, whereas here they only show up briefly a couple times each.
- As well, why is this an "interlude" when Bilquis' mini-story before was part of the "Somewhere in America" segments? No consistency!

08/07/2023 - Chapters 13-14

(1) Shadow: "But [Alviss]’s not a dwarf ... He’s what, 5'8"? 5'9"?"
Czernobog: "Which makes him a giant among dwarfs ... Tallest dwarf in America."
- Being the world's tallest dwarf/shortest giant is such a dad joke.
(2) Czernobog: "All the dwarfs talk and talk and talk. And sing. All the time, sing, sing, sing."
- Indeed. "Heigh-ho-heigh-ho, it's off to work we go."

08/08/2023 - Chapters 15-17

(1) Shadow hangs from the World Tree, suffering for three whole chapters so far.
- The obvious symbolism is it's analogous to Jesus. I'm sure Gaiman would say it's actually from traditions preceding Jesus by thousands of years. But he knows the immediate implication, and that's the point: like Easter previously, it's a pagan thing people now assume is 100% Christian.

08/09/2023 - Chapters 18–Appendix

(1) It's been a while since I first read this book but I remembered it very well, all except for the ending scenes, which didn't ring a bell at all.
- When I watched the show I'd assumed those scenes were created for the show.
(2) There's a deleted Shadow and Jesus scene in the Appendix.
- I agree with it being deleted. It's there to be there and doesn't add a thing.

In 2003, I walked away from my childhood religion – a high control (some would say abusive) group with a tiny little worldview and a severe superiority complex.

This was my reality:











I believed with all my being that the things depicted above were real, and were just over the event horizon.

Leaving meant losing almost every friend I had ever made since childhood, it created a rift with my still devout family, and quite possibly saved my life.

Is it any wonder that fiction – alternate realities, fantasy, and mental escape – helped me make that decision, helped me move on, and helped deprogram my cult-think? One fiction supplanted the other, only this time I already knew I was working with stories.

Some of this fiction I had read many times, not understanding why the stories resonated so strongly within me, just knowing that I was compelled to return to those worlds, over and over. Others were stories I read during the time surrounding my breakaway, and shortly thereafter.*

American Gods made me observe and think differently. It gave me a new context for the mythologies I had accepted for most of my life. It was bigger than the story of Shadow, or the girl Sam, or Czernabog. For me, it was about how we allow our Old Gods to define our present worldview, and how we allow our New Gods to steal our awareness. Our mythologies set the boundaries of our culture, and paradoxically, as our culture changes, our gods sacrifice their immortality.

n  "Religions are, by definition, metaphors, after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you--even, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers, and triumphs over all opposition."n

The part of the story that affected me the most profoundly was the story of Hinzelmann and Lakeside. The mixing of good and evil, the blurring of lines, townspeople looking the other way – to such a degree that it never occurs to them to see what is happening right under their noses. Dead men's bones. Deaths of legends. It affected me to my core. During the time I was reading American Gods, it was this which rocked me – I was doing the same thing – choosing and keeping and killing my own Gods, my own mythologies.

It was tremendously painful, made a little easier by having the opportunity to process it within the bounds of somebody else's story.


*The rest of the list:

Dune
Chapterhouse Dune
Fahrenheit 451
Animal Farm
1984
Sandman
Crisis of Conscience
Under the Banner of Heaven
Seductive Poison

Simply Amazing! Many bizzare and sometimes macabre stories within a story for a mixture of mystery, (gruesome) sex, and laugh out loud humor that is thoroughly enjoyable. I must admit that a couple of the early stories were a bit confusing for me, but it all came together in the end.

Probably not for everyone.

n  Update: April 30, 2017 - Well Yikes! - Watched Episode 1 of the series on STARZ - And all I can say is Yikes! (again) OMGOSH! and Holy Crap! It was Wild!n

Only Neil Gaiman could get a FULL NARRATION CAST. O.O Does that ever happen in life? I’ve never seen it done except in this case. But wow, this is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Each character has its own narrator and Gaiman himself narrators the Coming to American sections (which seemed completely random, but, whatever, Neil Gaiman’s voice tho).

I hadn’t read the book before listening so, I was a little taken back at how Shadow seemed to be a really apathetic protagonist. Oh, his wife just died the day before he’s due to get out of jail? He’s not bothered. Someone wants to kill him? He’s not bothered. Weird shit is afoot? He’s really, really not bothered. I didn’t get that about him and would have loved to see more emotion from him. To be fair, he does open up later near the end, and I guess that’s the point (kind of?), but that’s my gripe.

I was really impressed by the plotting and ending. Wouldn’t it be cool to crawl up into Neil Gaiman’s head?

I would never have thought that a book that in its early stages seemed to lack direction entirely would turn out this good. Certainly not that the tendency of atrocious, bizarre, unnecessary scenes would be replaced by the excellent communication of genuinely moving myths.

There is considerable artistic greatness in this book. Just like in Neverwhere, there is also a scarcely-above-mediocre plot and an extremely bland protagonist, but overall, the sheer writing talent of Neil Gaiman, along with the incorporation of half a world's worth of mythological legends, was enough to tip the scales in his favour in my mind.

I'll give up the rest of my review space to the author himself, who describes and introduces the book perfectly:

If Neverwhere was about the London underneath, this would be about the America between, and on-top-of, and around. It's an America with strange mythic depths. Ones that can hurt you. Or kill you. Or make you mad.

It's about the soul of America, really. What people brought to America; what found them when they came; and the things that lie sleeping beneath it all.