5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Asks You to Think, December 15, 2009

This book is fascinating, titillating, smart and funny. This is not a light read on vacation because the book asks you to suspend reality and be immersed in it. Mr. Gaiman makes many cultural references, societal commentary (not always good) and loads of mythological elements weaved into this fascinating story.

The book's main character takes us through a journey which weaves a tale of how the old gods (Odin, Thor, Anubis, elves, leprechauns, etc.), who were brought over to the US by immigrants, are dying because people stopped believing in them to favor the new gods (media, celebrities, technology, money and more).

The book follows "Shadow" upon his release from jail due to the death of his wife in a car accident. Shadow gets a job as bodyguard for a mysterious man named Wednesday. As they travel across the US visiting Wednesday's friends it is slowly reveled that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin who is recruiting the old gods for an epic battle against the new gods in order to regain their power and status.

I don't want to give too much away as this is a wonderful book, but the storyline gets much more complex, interesting and fascinating. ( )

The premise is brilliant: America, the immigrant nation, where old Gods had to be imported by the poor huddled masses because there were none already here, finds it has grown new Gods after all - styled after the new Americans' "worship" of their gadgets, media and consumerist lifestyle. The people now *consume* their idols: in the old days, the idols demanded it was the other way around - that was the sustenance of the Gods, and consequently we find the old Gods now worn out, power weakening, in the face of the new materialistic age. In a last ditch attempt to fight off destruction by distraction, Odin tries to rally the troops and co-opts, sneakily, Shadow, an ex con, to help him do it.

It's a great premise: as soon as I heard it I had to get a hold of the book, but when you reflect more deeply it's simply a great idea that doesn't really work, because, well, *then* what? A götterdammerung-style clash of the titans doesn't really work - what would be the point? How would you judge the result? Since that's the route that Gaiman takes his plot it's a dilemma he has, ultimately, to resolve, and how he does do it is a bit of a cop out.

The original edition of the work was something of a runaway success, and a bit like a now-famous film director, Gaiman's literary standing is such that he can go back and overturn editorial excisions to release a "Director's Cut". That's the version that I read - something like 100 pages longer than the originally published version, and with some modifications is largely reinstating material that some officious subeditor took out.

The problem is, I suspect the original subeditor was probably right: American Gods as reinstated feels flabby, over-populated with characters and events which aren't entirely mission critical to the plot or message, and - well - about a hundred pages too long. The resolution unfolds itself gently and carefully, and is deftly handled when it finally arrives. It just takes a little bit longer than it should to get there.

It's a striking book, make no mistake, and displays a depth of erudition on Gaiman's part which is never allowed to get in the way of a good yarn. But, at least in the version I read, this feels like a pretty good novel still uncut and in the rough, and in need of a editor's careful attention. Attention, that once upon a time, it apparently had! ( )

A fabulous novel exploring where the gods of mythology have gone. ( )

I absolutely love this book. It was recommended to me by someone who also absolutely loves the book, and I have continued to recommend it to others who will probably love the book. I'm a big fan of Gaiman's writing style (as evidenced by the number of his books that I now own), and the inclusion of gods from a wide variety of world religions was thrilling for someone who has always enjoyed mythologies from all over the world. ( )

This book is epic, suspenseful, sometimes humorous, and also happens to contain a scene that is quite possibly the most disturbing to attempt to visualize that I have ever read in my life. It also has prose that I want to find a way to crawl inside of, whatever it happens to be describing. A must read for everybody who isn't terminally allergic to the fantastic in their fiction, or possibly overly squeamish. ( )