American Gods by Neil Gaiman →

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American Gods is a fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman. The book blends the connections between American culture, fantasy, and ancient and modern mythology. It is a commentary on society that urges readers to look into their hearts and wonder if they have chosen their gods wisely.

American Gods begin with Shadow, a big man who has spent three years in prison for armed robbery and gets out in two days. He learned in prison to do his own time, and even with his enormous size and strength, he is introverted.

Shadow is let out of prison. He begins the travels that will take him on a journey that digs up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them to this land and the ones already here.

Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details of the 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.

Shadow begins his journey when he gets out of prison two days early, and coincidentally his wife is killed at the same time in an automobile wreck with her lover. He doesn’t believe that she is dead, and he immediately sets out to go where his wife lives. On his way, he meets a man who seems to know a lot about him and says to call him Wednesday. The man claims to have many names, and we learn that one of those names is Odin, an old Norse God, and Wednesday is a name that can be traced as coming from this God.  Wednesday tells Shadow in this first meeting he wants to hire him.

Gaiman wants to show in this book a nation made up of a variety of the people of the world, all of who once at least were subject to particular Gods.

When Shadow arrives at his former home, he seems oblivious about how his wife died and waits to attend her funeral. That night in his hotel room, his conversations and encounters with his wife after she is dead are one of the most exciting parts of the book.

Wednesday sees that no one in America believes in the Old Gods; without belief, they don’t have much power. He succeeded in hiring Shadow as a gopher, and with him, he seems to be on a mission to move the new American Gods out of the way.  They, of course, do not want to comply.  Wednesday and Shadow travel across America and have a planning conference with many other older Gods. Sometimes it isn’t clear if they are even in this world or dimension.

The stories are exciting, and understanding the connections to the old Gods takes some work. The book is considered one of Gaiman’s best, but it took me two readings and doing some research to start appreciating it.