American Gods

[Leather_Book_Wizard]

I recently finished reading American Gods by Neil Gamain and it was very good. But I have one question. Who was the guy in the charcoal suit in Las Vegas??? It never tells who he is in the book, and I was unable to find an answer online. Anyone here know the answer, or just want to talk about the book?

[WalkingTarget]

This is one of the great mysteries. There are many theories, but, as far as I've been able to determine, it hasn't been definitively answered. One common theory is that he's Hades or a related god, but the absence of the rest of the classical pantheon is a mark against it. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's pretty much my favorite book and I like hearing about other people reading it.

[StickMan]

Is the book worth the hype, I keep thinking about hearing it but am not sure if I want to read it.

[Green Bean]

Is the book worth the hype, I keep thinking about hearing it but am not sure if I want to read it.

I really enjoyed it. It's part fantasy, part whodunnit, part social commentary, and part 'spot the reference', with a dash of caper. If you're into books and movies similar to Ocean's Eleven, you'll enjoy the theme of the two man con running throughout the book.

[13_CBS]

It's a bit surreal, though, especially how the main character is so dead pan about all the bad stuff he runs into;

"Oh, sorry sir, but, your wife's dead. She died a mere 3 days before you were released to see her."

"Oh."

"...oh...and?"

"Well, just oh."

"Aren't you, uh, traumatized or anything?"

"No, I guess not."

"Ok..."

[WalkingTarget]

It's a bit surreal, though, especially how the main character is so dead pan about all the bad stuff he runs into;

"Oh, sorry sir, but, your wife's dead. She died a mere 3 days before you were released to see her."

"Oh."

"...oh...and?"

"Well, just oh."

"Aren't you, uh, traumatized or anything?"

"No, I guess not."

"Ok..."



Well, that's sort of the point of the character. I mean, it's not like Shadow was his given name, it's a description. I mean...
He's not entirely human to begin with, he's a person-shaped hole in the world.
I really identified with Shadow (tall, stoic guy who has a tendency to be overlooked or otherwise fall off of other peoples' radar), so that might have something to do with it. That and I've yet to find anything written by Neil Gaiman that I haven't liked since the mid-90s when I first stumbled across the MarvelMan (aka MiracleMan) comics that Alan Moore and he wrote.

[Mavian]

If you enjoyed American Gods, you might want to look into its sequels.
Anasani Boys, and the short story, whose name escapes me. I think its in his Fragile Things book.

And yeah, he's never said who the man in Las Vegas is, although theories abound on the matter.

[WalkingTarget]

If you enjoyed American Gods, you might want to look into its sequels.
Anasani Boys, and the short story, whose name escapes me. I think its in his Fragile Things book.

And yeah, he's never said who the man in Las Vegas is, although theories abound on the matter.

Monarch of the Glen is the story, it was originally in the anthology Legends II, both have other good stories (one is all by Gaiman, the other is various authors writing stories within their larger settings). Anansi Boys is sort of a sequel. Mr. Nancy is a character common to both books, but that's about it. Much different vibe thematically.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Here's my response from the last American Gods discussion...


American Gods, which everyone seems to prize so highly, literally made me queasy. I'm sorry, but Gaiman came off as nothing less than a sick, sick man for having written that thing.

Its like he said to himself, 'To what levels of perverted thought can I attain in this book...'

And then he has to describe it all in his meticulous way down to the smallest detail. In some instance that is fine, but in others I do NOT want to read that.

Its like the difference between someone taking a picture of a crime scene or going up and literally shoving the camera down their throat so you can see necrosis from within as well as without.

I mean it was decently well written Isuppose, and had its gems here and there, but on the whole I'd say it is by far the worst of his I've yet read.

[Semidi]

Here's my response from the last American Gods discussion...

[...]

I mean it was decently well written Isuppose, and had its gems here and there, but on the whole I'd say it is by far the worst of his I've yet read.

I can't remember anything overly gory in the entire book. Though I'm used to reading Clive Barker so I guess I'm a bit jaded when it comes to gore discriptions.


If you enjoyed American Gods, you might want to look into its sequels.
Anasani Boys, and the short story, whose name escapes me. I think its in his Fragile Things book.

And yeah, he's never said who the man in Las Vegas is, although theories abound on the matter.

Anansi Boys isn't a sequel. It has absolutely nothing to do with American Gods other than one character is the same. I think of it more as a spin-off.

I didn't really care for American Gods. I didn't hate it, but at the same time, I felt it needed a harsher editor. Many of the scenes in the book are superfluous (vagina eating someone scene and so on), and most of the characters are as well.

I preferred Neverwhere and Anansi Boys over American Gods, and his comics over everything prose he's done. I feel Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are a product of someone who has had more skill as pacing a novel.

[RTGoodman]

I want to say first that I enjoyed American Gods, and most of what Neil Gaiman has written in general (especially a lot of his short stories). However, I had one problem with AG - there was way too much in there that was completely unnecessary.

The homoerotic efreeti scene, the sex scene with the woman(?)s genitals eating the guy, the entire subplot of the dead girl in that town he lives in - all of them had nothing to do with the main plot, and I thought detracted from it. It would have been much better if he would have just taken these out and made them into separate short stories, maybe in a whole anthology of stories about mythological beings in the modern world.

I second the idea that you should check out Anansi Boys, though it's a completely different type of novel than AG. Stardust was really good for a modern day fairy tale, though I thought the whole last quarter of it seemed really rushed. Also, if you can get your hands on them, both Fragile Things (which has the AG short story "Monarch of the Glen") and Smoke and Mirrors are great (though I preferred most of the short stories in Smoke and Mirrors to those in Fragile Things).

[WalkingTarget]

True, there are a number of asides that in themselves don't further the plot. They're there to show who these various gods have had to become and what they've had to do in order to continue their existence (and the plot in Lakeside is an extension of that theme into the main story). i.e. what Hinzelmann had to do to survive. I think they help flesh out the world and I enjoy them, but that's just me.

If the sex scenes bug you, there's not much anyone can say to get around that. Sexuality is one of the themes throughout the book, however, so they're not totally out of left field. Another thing that Gaiman comes back to often in his work is that myths and fairy tales don't have to be G-Rated. If you don't like them, fine, but not everyone thinks that they detract from the book as a whole.

[13_CBS]

Well, that's sort of the point of the character. I mean, it's not like Shadow was his given name, it's a description. I mean...
He's not entirely human to begin with, he's a person-shaped hole in the world.


True, but still, it's rather...surreal, the book.

[MrsbwcMD]

American Gods was the first novel I had ever read by Gaiman, and now, he is my all-time favorite author. I regularly visit his blog, which apparently is one of the first blogs ever started on the net. I haven't read any of his Sandman graphic novels, and I haven't started Anansi Boys, yet (though I listened to some of the audiobook on a plane, once), but I did enjoy Neverwhere and Stardust as well as both of his short story collections, Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors. I think AG still remains my favorite of his books, only because it was the first one I read and because it's primarily set in the Midwest, where I happen to live. I really enjoyed his descriptions of the places Shadow visits--all of the quaint, roadside attractions that I hope to one day try to find myself and visit. I don't think you can quite fit the book into one genre, but I like the mix of mystery and travelogue along with the mix worldwide mythology and Americana. I think it appealed to my inner-Viking as well with all of the Norse references, so it will probably always be my favorite. And if you want suggestions for what to read next, I think Neverwhere would be a good start or one of his short story collections.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Many of the scenes in the book are superfluous (vagina eating someone scene and so on), and most of the characters are as well.

That's not superfluous at all; it's a statement on what the old gods have to do to survive. It's brutal and quite unpleasant. That's the idea. This is a creature with the power to eat a human spirit to bring itself power, and in modern society, it's resorted to prostitution; selling itself of obnoxious jerks like the guy in the scene to gain life further. The days of virgin, bowing sacrifices are gone. She has to trick her worshippers into her temple, and needs to go into a career path considered ignoble by most to do so.

[valadil]

The homoerotic efreeti scene, the sex scene with the woman(?)s genitals eating the guy, the entire subplot of the dead girl in that town he lives in - all of them had nothing to do with the main plot, and I thought detracted from it. It would have been much better if he would have just taken these out and made them into separate short stories, maybe in a whole anthology of stories about mythological beings in the modern world.


I thought those scenes were a nice touch in defining the world. Before you could get gods roused up for the climax, you have to see what their lives are like outside of the main plot.

Anyway, I liked the writing and I liked the characters, but I didn't care for the overall fantastic style. This is the only Gaiman I've read (though I've seen Mirror Mask) so I'm willing to give him another try, but if it's all feels like a convoluted dream with no clue where you're going I'm probably not gonna read too many more of his books.