The bestselling author of Neverwhere returns with his biggest, most commercial novel yet—a tour de force of contemporary fictionA master of inventive fiction, Neil Gaiman delves into the murky...
The bestselling author of Neverwhere returns with his biggest, most commercial novel yet—a tour de force of contemporary fictionA master of inventive fiction, Neil Gaiman delves into the murky...
Due to publisher restrictions, your digital library cannot purchase additional copies of this title. We apologize if there is a long holds list. You may want to see if other editions of this title are available from your digital library instead.
Due to publisher restrictions, your digital library cannot purchase additional copies of this title. We apologize if there is a long holds list. You may want to see if other editions of this title are available from your digital library instead.
Description-
The bestselling author of Neverwhere returns with his biggest, most commercial novel yet—a tour de force of contemporary fiction A master of inventive fiction, Neil Gaiman delves into the murky depths where reality and imagination meet. Now in American Gods, he works his literary magic to extraordinary results.
Shadow dreamed of nothing but leaving prison and starting a new life. But the day before his release, his wife and best friend are killed in an accident. On the plane home to the funeral, he meets Mr. Wednesday—a beguiling stranger who seems to know everything about him. A trickster and rogue, Mr. Wednesday offers Shadow a job as his bodyguard. With nowhere left to go, Shadow accepts, and soon learns that his role in Mr. Wednesday's schemes will be far more dangerous and dark than he could have ever imagined. For beneath the placid surface of everyday life a war is being fought —and the prize is the very soul of America.
Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. Originally from England, he now lives in America.
Reviews-
May 28, 2001 Titans clash, but with more fuss than fury in this fantasy demi-epic from the author of Neverwhere. The intriguing premise of Gaiman's tale is that the gods of European yore, who came to North America with their immigrant believers, are squaring off for a rumble with new indigenous deities: "gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon." They all walk around in mufti, disguised as ordinary people, which causes no end of trouble for 32-year-old protagonist Shadow Moon, who can't turn around without bumping into a minor divinity. Released from prison the day after his beloved wife dies in a car accident, Shadow takes a job as emissary for Mr. Wednesday, avatar of the Norse god Grimnir, unaware that his boss's recruiting trip across the American heartland will subject him to repeat visits from the reanimated corpse of his dead wife and brutal roughing up by the goons of Wednesday's adversary, Mr. World. At last Shadow must reevaluate his own deeply held beliefs in order to determine his crucial role in the final showdown. Gaiman tries to keep the magical and the mundane evenly balanced, but he is clearly more interested in the activities of his human protagonists: Shadow's poignant personal moments and the tale's affectionate slices of smalltown life are much better developed than the aimless plot, which bounces Shadow from one episodic encounter to another in a design only the gods seem to know. Mere mortal readers will enjoy the tale's wit, but puzzle over its strained mythopoeia. (One-day laydown, June 19)Forecast:Even when he isn't in top form, Gaiman, creator of the acclaimed Sandman comics series, trumps many storytellers. Momentously titled, and allotted a dramatic one-day laydown with a 12-city author tour, his latest will appeal to fans and attract mainstream review coverage—for better or for worse—because of the rich possibilities of its premise.
February 1, 2011
More than a million copies of this novel have been sold in three formats in this country alone, and upon publication it won the Hugo, Locus, Bram Stoker, and SFX awards. So why a new edition? There's a new introduction, the author's "preferred" text--that is, the text before it got edited, with Gaiman's original language sprinkled throughout--and a bonus scene. This would seem like a natural for many collections, especially where the original is worn out, so I find the 50,000-copy first printing a little low.
Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
George R. R. Martin
"Original, engrossing, and endlessly inventive."
Teller, of Penn & Teller
American Gods is sexy, thrilling, dark, funny and poetic."
Jane Lindskold, author of Changer and
"American Gods is like a fast run downhill through a maze — both exhilarating and twisted."
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