American Gods - A Novel By Neil Gaiman
Have you ever wondered what happens to Gods when people stop believing in them?
In his internationally acclaimed bestselling novel "American Gods", award winning British author Neil Gaiman tells the intriguing tale of Shadow, an ordinary young man who encounters some very extraordinary characters who involve him in a journey across America on a strange and very dangerous adventure in which ancient mythology and folklore meets the New Gods of the modern world...
American Gods - Index
Neil Gaiman - American Gods
- American Gods Summary & Review
- Who Are All The Gods Featured In "American Gods"
- Who Is Your Favourite "American Gods" Character?
- Neil Gaiman Reads An Extract From "American Gods"
- American Gods - Awards And Nominations
- More About The Author Of American Gods - Neil Gaiman
- Other Books By Neil Gaiman
- "American Gods" Feedback
"Gods die. And when they truly die they are unmourned and unremembered..."
American Gods Summary & Review
Plot synopsis of American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Shadow is a petty criminal serving out the last few remaining days of his jail sentence and looking forward to going back home to his beloved wife and his old life.
His dreams are shattered when he receives the news that both his wife and best friend have been killed in the same car crash and that they had been having an affair. Numb and bewildered, Shadow returns to a life beyond prison now devoid of any meaning and stability.
He is approached by a mysterious man calling himself "Mr Wednesday" who offers him work. Unable to think of anything better to occupy himself and grabbing at a chance to get away, Shadow soon finds himself travelling the length and breadth of America undertaking (quite literally!) a very peculiar and often dangerous series of "jobs" and meeting the strangest "people" along the way...
If you like Neil Gaiman's other works, you'll love "American Gods" - it's as rich in characterisation and as cleverly written as Gaiman fans have come to expect...if you're a newcomer to the works of Neil Gaiman, you'll be amazed at how well he can tell a story...
"American Gods" on Amazon
Independent
'This is a fantastic novel...runs as precisely as clockwork, but reads as smoothly as silk or warm chocolate'
Peter Straub
'Poignancy, terror, nobility, magic, sacrifice, wisdom, mystery, heartbreak, and a hard-earned sense of resolution... Masterful storytelling'
American Gods: A Novel
Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 12/20/2009) 
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Who Are All The Gods Featured In "American Gods"
A comprehensive listing of the mystical and mythical characters featured in "American Gods"...
American Gods features numerous Gods, Goddesses, deities, spirits, demons and characters from mythology and folklore, all from totally diverse cultures and time periods. This mixed bag of supernatural entities are taken out of their usual "mystical" background and presented as "ordinary" (well sort of!) people, living normal (comparatively!) everyday lives in modern America
Some you'll recognise quite easily, some are harder to spot and (if you're anything like me), some you won't know at all...
However, help is at hand for those trying to understand the signifcance of some of the characters in American Gods!
Here's a link to an exceptionally comprehensive and helpful website which lists and explains virtually all of the Gods, Goddesses, supernatural and mythical beings featured in American Gods. If you're scratching your head in puzzlement or wondering why a character is behaving in a certain way, take a look at;
Only The Gods Are Real
Who Is Your Favourite "American Gods" Character?
Vote for your favourite person, God or mythical being!
Neil Gaiman Reads An Extract From "American Gods"
"People imagine and people believe and it is that rock-solid belief, that makes things happen..."
American Gods - Awards And Nominations
Awards and nominations wom by "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
In 2002, American Gods won the following awards for Best Novel;
Hugo Award
Nebula Award
SFX Magazine Award
Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel
The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
In the same year it was also nominated for the BSFA Award, World Fantasy Award, International Horror Guild Award and Mythopoeic Award.
In 2004, American Gods won the Geffen Award
"This is a bad land for gods..."
American Gods On Wikipedia
Plot Summary Of American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The book follows the adventures of ex-convict Shadow, who is released from prison a few days early due to the death of his wife, Laura, in a car accident that also kills his best friend. Because his best friend, who was to give Shadow a job, has died, Shadow is hired by the mysterious "con man" Mr. Wednesday to act as an escort and bodyguard, and travels across America visiting Wednesday's colleagues and acquaintances. Gradually, it is revealed that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin the All-Father (the word "Wednesday" is derived from "Odin's (Woden's) day"). Wednesday is recruiting American manifestations of the Old Gods of ancient mythology, whose powers have waned as their believers have decreased in number, to participate in an epic battle against the New American Gods, manifestations of modern life and technology (e.g., the internet, media, & modern means of transport).Mythological characters prominently featured in the book include Odin, Loki, Czernobog, the Zorya, the Norns, Anansi, Eostre, Kali, Thoth, Anubis, Horus, and Bast. In addition to the numerous figures from real-world myths, a few characters from The Sandman and its spinoffs make brief cameos in the book. Other mythological characters featured in the novel are not divine, but are legendary or folk heroes, such as Johnny Appleseed...
Read the rest of this article at - American Gods on Wikipedia
"If I win, I get to knock your brains out. With a sledgehammer..."
"American Gods" Blog Posts
Bloggers write about "American Gods" By Neil Gaiman...
- The Sunday Salon: Neil Gaiman « The Literary Omnivore
- ... Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman. While the Discworld novels were just as I thought they would be (cunningly clever, although Monstrous Regiment is a much sharper satire than I realized at the time), American Gods blew my mind It was ...
- a Deranged Clown and some American Gods.
- One of the books I am currently reading is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is actually the second time I'm reading it, but so many new things are popping out at me. Neil Gaiman is one of those authors who will never cease to astound ...
- Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
- Oh, Neil Gaiman, how I love thee. Anansi Boys is a sequel-of-sorts to American Gods. While it is not so much necessary to read AG in order to understand AB, it definitely gives a good amount of back story on the whole idea of the novel? ...
- San Franciso Dreaming « death by paper cut
- i am midway through american gods by neil gaiman. i brought to the states as alternative in-flight entertainment. i realised that meal times, movies and trying to catch some sleep doesn't leave you much time for reading. but its always ...
More About The Author Of American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods
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The Works Of Neil Gaiman
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Neil Gaiman - British born author of fantasy and science fiction novels, short stories, poems, graphic novels and films. Neil Gaiman is possibly best known for "The Sandman" graphic novels, and his books "Stardust", "American...
Other Books By Neil Gaiman
Novels by Neil Gaiman
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Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
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Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman poses the question; "How would YOU react if you found out your Dad was a God?" Following on loosely from his bestselling novel "American Gods", author Neil Gaiman has taken the popular character of &q...
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Coraline
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Coraline is a novella by the British author Neil Gaiman, which was first published in 2002. Coraline is a fantasy tale in which Coraline Jones, a smart, feisty and curious young girl, home from school for the summer holidays finds herself very bored...
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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - a novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is a novel jointly written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and first published in 1990 The plot of the book concerns an unusual young boy, an unconventional angel, an even more...
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Neverwhere By Neil Gaiman
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Under the streets of London there's a secret world which is Neverwhere...a dark mysterious place of shadows, tunnels and abandoned underground stations populated by assassins and warriors, angels and vampires, talking rats and a hierarchy of nob...
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Stardust - A Novel By Neil Gaiman
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Award winning British author, Neil Gaiman wrote the novel, "Stardust" and in it he weaves a sparking, magical tale that will enchant and enthrall anyone who loves a good tale, well told. If you love stories or films such as "The Princess Bride", "Le...
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The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman
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The Graveyard Book is a fantasy novel for children by award winning British author, Neil Gaiman. The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens (called "Bod" for short). At the start of the story, Bod is a toddler who witnesses the murde...
American Gods On Twitter
Tweets about American Gods by Neil Gaiman
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- hyper7
- On page 360 of 588 of American Gods by Neil Gaiman http://bit.ly/4pn2zA
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- Red_Box
- Brrrrr... in bed reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This better be good, Amazon Listmania.
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- MidnightRem
- @BrianKlems I do the same thing with copies of American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
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- Aervane
- Has anyone here read 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman? Did you get the feeling that Gaiman was trying his best to confuse you, too?
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- al_the_x
- @HeatherSolos The House on the Rock appears prominently in American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and "Get to the CHAPPA(, WI)!" #popquiz
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- TonyRetrobot
- @LBOI well, I do have a couple unfinished books I've been meaning to read but, probably will go with Neil Gaiman's "American Gods".
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- hyper7
- On page 140 of 588 of American Gods by Neil Gaiman http://bit.ly/4EjrsJ
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- RobertTidwell
- @mingna american gods by neil gaiman
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- _sonja_
- It's been so long since I've read a Neil Gaiman(@neilhimself)book .What should I reread?Good Omens,American Gods,The Graveyard book perhaps?
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- wendybird3
- I want to read: American Gods by Neil Gaiman - http://bit.ly/6JHJ5Q
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- workie
- *sqeee* Finally got my copy of American Gods autographed by Neil Gaiman! That man is a book signing machine :D
"American Gods" Feedback
Have you read "American Gods"? Would you like to? Share your thoughts!
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Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Nov 10, 2009 @ 6:22 am
- Now I've read this review, I have to read this book. Blessed by an Angel.
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Reply
- missbat missbat Sep 12, 2009 @ 1:26 am
- I truly did enjoy "American Gods". No one can craft a story like Gaiman. Good job!
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- TrueGhostTales TrueGhostTales Jun 3, 2009 @ 6:38 am
- I have read this book (its a thick one) and have also listened to the audio book version. Loved it. I highly recommend anything from Gaiman. I was first introduced to him in the 80s with DC Comics The Sandman.
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Reply
- drifter0658 drifter0658 Mar 9, 2009 @ 7:46 am
- Gee thanks....add another 'must read' to my list will ya?
This reminds me of a cross between Douglas Adams' 'Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul' and Donald Westlake's (much shorter title) 'Humans'.
^5 and You Rock!
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Reply
- ArtByLinda ArtByLinda Jan 13, 2009 @ 9:33 pm
- Hi, I just dropped by to say, congratulations on making Giant Squid! You deserve it! Linda
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