American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel - Softcover

Gaiman, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062472100 ISBN 13: 9780062472106

Publisher: William Morrow, 2016

Synopsis

Newly updated and expanded with the author's preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman.

First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, lauded for its brilliant synthesis of "mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose" (Washington Post) and as a modern phantasmagoria that "distills the essence of America" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is the story of Shadow--released from prison just days after his wife and best friend are killed in an accident--who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster, Mr. Wednesday. So begins Shadow's dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. For, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing--an epic war for the very soul of America--and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.

"Pointed, occasionally comic, often scary, consistently moving and provocative....American Gods is strewn with secrets and magical visions."--USA Today

"Original, engrossing, and endlessly inventive."--George R. R. Martin

About this title

Review:

Within just a few pages of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, he commandingly reveals that he is at his considerable best with this disturbing and dark journey into the hidden soul of America. Gaiman, one of the most talented and imaginative writers at work today, achieved nigh-legendary status with his comic Sandman, which took the genre to heights that even the equally talented Alan Moore had not attained; Gaiman's subsequent career as a novelist has displayed the same glittering inventiveness and exquisite use of language.

Gaiman's protagonist Shadow has patiently done his time in prison. But as the moment of his release approaches, he begins to sense that some unnamed disaster is lying in wait for him. As he makes his way home, he encounters the mysterious Mr Wednesday, who appears to be both a refugee from a distant country at war and the King of America. And perhaps even a god. As Shadow and Mr Wednesday begin a bizarre odyssey across the United States, solving murders is only one of their accomplishments. With an epic storm of supernatural origin brewing, one questions whether they will be destroyed before Shadow pays the price for grim mistakes in his past.

The use of language here is impeccable, and it is wedded to a surreal narrative that brings out the most quirky and unsettling aspects of Gaiman's imagination. Forget Gaiman the Guru: just enjoy Gaiman the consummate writer:

He opened his mouth to catch the rain as it fell, moistening his cracked lips and his dry tongue, wetting the ropes that bound him to the trunk of the tree. There was a flash of lightning so bright it fell like a blow to his eyes, transforming the world into an intense panorama of image and after-image. The wind tugged at Shadow, trying to pull him from the tree, flaying him, cutting to the bone. Shadow knew in his soul that the real storm had truly begun...

--Barry Forshaw

Review:

"American Gods is like a fast run downhill through a maze -- both exhilarating and twisted."--Jane Lindskold, author of Changer and

American Gods is sexy, thrilling, dark, funny and poetic."--Teller, of Penn & Teller

"Original, engrossing, and endlessly inventive."--George R. R. Martin

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0062472100
• ISBN 13: 9780062472106
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 784