Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

"So," she said. "You met your brother."

"You know," said Fat Charlie, "you could have warned me."

"I did warn you that he is a god."

"You didn't mention that he was a complete and utter pain in the arse, though"

Anansi Boys

"It begins, as most things begin, with a song.

In the beginning, after all, were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world.

They were sung..."

Read more of this extract at neilgaiman.com

"You're no help," he told the lime.

This was unfair.

It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could"

Anansi Boys has won the following awards;

The Mythopoeic Awards for Best Novel 2006

The 2006 YALSA ALEX Award

The British Fantasy Society's August Derleth Award 2006

Anansi Boys received sufficient votes for a nomination for a Hugo Award but Neil Gaiman declined the offer, stating in his online journal;

"...partly I did it because I have three Hugos already, and I felt it was better to get more names on the ballot that weren't mine, and partly because I think I feel more comfortable when the things of mine that get Hugo nominations are marginally closer to SF than to pure fantasy..."

" The creature laughed scornfully. "I," it said, "am frightened of nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," it said.

Charlie said "Are you extremely frightened of nothing?"

"Absolutely terrified of it," admitted the Dragon.

"You know," said Charlie "I have nothing in my pockets. Would you like to see it?"

"No," said the dragon uncomfortably, "I most definitely would not."

There was a flapping of wings like sails, and Charlie was alone on the beach. "That," he said "was much too easy."

From USA Today

"Gaiman had offers to make a film out of his 2005 best seller Anansi Boys, about the sons of an African god discovering their magical background while living in the corrupt modern world, but moviemakers wanted to change the lead black characters to white or drop the magical elements altogether.

"I don't need the money," Gaiman says. "Not needing the money puts me in a magical place because I can say no. I like the idea of having good movies made or having no movies made." "

"... the beast made the noise of a cat being shampooed, a lonely wail of horror and outrage, of shame and defeat"

On 17th November 2007, the BBC World Service broadcast a radio play of "Anansi Boys".

The story was adapted by Mike Walker and directed by Anne Edyvean.

The play starred;

Lenny Henry (pictured) as Spider and Fat Charlie

Matt Lucas as Graham Coats and Tiger

Rudolph Walker as Anansi

Dona Croll as Mrs Noah and the Bird Woman

Tameka Empson as Mrs Higgler

Petra Letang as Rosie

Jocelyn Jee Esien as Daisy

Ben Crowe as Cabbies and other voices

Anansi Boys is the story of Charles "Fat Charlie" Nancy, a timid Londoner devoid of ambition, whose unenthusiastic wedding preparations are disrupted when he learns of his father's death in Florida. The flamboyant Mr. Nancy, in whose shadow Fat Charlie has always lived, died in a typically embarrassing manner by suffering a fatal heart attack while flirting with women in a karaoke bar.

Fat Charlie is forced to take time off from the accounting agency where he works and travel to Florida for the funeral. After the funeral, while discussing the disposal of Anansi's estate, Mrs. Callyanne Higgler, a very old family friend, reveals to Fat Charlie that the late Mr. Nancy was actually an incarnation of the West African spider god, Anansi, hence his name. The reason Charlie had apparently not inherited any divine powers was because they had been passed down to his hitherto unknown brother, whom she mentions can be contacted by simply asking a spider to invite him. Charlie is skeptical, and on his return to England, largely forgets what Mrs. Higgler had told him, until one night when he drunkenly whispers to a spider that it would be nice if his brother stopped by for a visit.

The next morning, the suave and well-dressed brother, going under the name of "Spider", visits Charlie. Spider is shocked to learn that their father had died. Immediately Spider steps through a picture to their childhood home. Charlie goes off to work, rather puzzled by Spider and his sudden disappearance.

Spider returns that night, stricken with grief that Anansi had died and that he had been thoughtless enough not to notice. The two, to drown their sorrows, get uproariously drunk (at Spider's recommendation) on the proverbial trio of wine, women, and song. Although Charlie is not involved in most of the womanizing or singing, he gets drunk enough to sleep through much of the next day. Spider covers for Charlie's absence from his office at the Grahame Coats Agency by magically disguising himself as Charlie. In the process, Spider discovers Grahame Coats's long-standing practice of embezzling from his clients. Spider also steals the affection and virginity of Charlie's fiancée, Rosie Noah.

Spider, in the guise of Charlie, reveals his knowledge of the financial improprieties to Grahame Coats during a meeting which Grahame calls in order to fire Charlie. As a result, Grahame delays firing Charlie. When Grahame seeks him next, Charlie receives a large cheque and a holiday from work. With Charlie out of the office, Grahame Coats proceeds to alter the financial records to frame Charlie for the embezzlement. Embittered by the loss of his fiancée, Charlie uses his vacation to return to Florida, and requests help from Callyanne Higgler and three of her equally old, eccentric friends to expel Spider. Being themselves powerless in this matter, they instead send him to "the beginning of the world", an abode of ancient animal-gods. There, he encounters the fearsome Tiger, the outrageous Hyena, and the ridiculous Monkey, among others. None are willing to trade anything with him, until he meets Bird Woman, who agrees to trade Charlie one of her feathers in exchange for "Anansi's bloodline for my own".

Meanwhile in London, a swindled client, Maeve Livingstone, confronts Grahame Coats directly, having learned of the embezzlement of her late husband's royalties. Grahame Coats agrees to make full restitution and more, suggesting that taking him to court could fail to achieve her purpose. While she is distracted by his offer, he kills her with a hammer and conceals her body in a hidden closet...

Read the rest of this Wikipedia article at Anansi Boys article on Wikipedia

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