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Ben MarcusBen Marcus's books The Age of Wire and String and Notable American Women were considered "experimental" fiction because of his unconventional use of... Continue »
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eBook editions

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

American Gods Cover

 

Awards

Winner of the 2002 Hugo Award

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Review:

"The book has wit but is too busy and not very engaging and includes some graphic language, sex, and disturbing events." Library Journal

Review:

"A magical modern Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — this book will astonish you on ever page." Tim Powers, author of Declare

Synopsis:

Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever he the same...

About the Author

Neil Gaiman wrote the award-winning graphic novel series The Sandman, and with Terry Pratchett, the award-winning novel Good Omens. His first book for children, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, illustrated by Dave McKean, hasn't yet won any awards, but was one of Newsweek's Best Children's Books of 1997. Angels &Visitations, a small press story collection, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award and won the International Horror Critics Guild Award for Best Collection, despite not having any horror in it. Well, hardly any.

Born in England, he now makes his home in America, in a big dark house of uncertain location where he grows exotic pumpkins and accumulates computers and cats. He is currently at work turning his first novel Neverwhere into a film for Jim Henson films.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 12 comments:

bitternerd, January 19, 2012 (view all comments by bitternerd)
Given my sporadic, but passionate love for mythology across the land, this book was amazing. Gaiman writes beautiful prose that paints a pictures of our gods and goddesses among us. Made me a Gaiman fan for life.
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Bluefastakan, September 20, 2011 (view all comments by Bluefastakan)
If you're a fan of mythology, this book is for you. Neil Gaiman weaves together the deities from a dozen different religions together into one place, and then manages to give them all interestingly human characteristics. It feels like an extremely well-polished Stephen King novel, and I mean that in the best regards.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Melinda Spencer, September 3, 2011 (view all comments by Melinda Spencer)
American Gods is a fantastic modern book of mythology. Gaiman shines a light on the morals and priorities of a modern age and shows how selfish Americans can be with their belief systems. The ancient gods have been dragged to a new world to be forgotten and to die at the hand of young hip gods who will surely go out of fashion much quicker than the old gods did. This is a fantastic story that mixes fantasy and whimsy and the harsh realities of the America we live in today. A must read. It is my opinion that this should be a high school required reading book.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780380789030
Author:
Gaiman, Neil
Publisher:
HarperTorch
Author:
by Neil Gaiman
Location:
New York, N.Y.
Subject:
Spiritual Warfare
Subject:
Fantasy - General
Subject:
Fantasy fiction
Subject:
Fantasy - Contemporary
Subject:
National characteristics, american
Subject:
Bodyguards
Subject:
Ex-convicts
Subject:
Widowers
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-Fantasy-Contemporary
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st paperback ed.
Edition Description:
Mass Market PB
Series Volume:
no. 431-S
Publication Date:
May 2002
Binding:
MASS MARKET
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
624
Dimensions:
6.92x4.12x1.33 in. .65 lbs.

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Related Aisles

American Gods New Mass Market
0 stars - 0 reviews
$7.99 In Stock
Product details 624 pages Harpertorch - English 9780380789030 Reviews:
"Review" by , "The book has wit but is too busy and not very engaging and includes some graphic language, sex, and disturbing events."
"Review" by , "A magical modern Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — this book will astonish you on ever page."
"Synopsis" by ,

Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever he the same...

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