American Gods is the story of Shadow, a convict who is about to be released from prison. He finds out that his wife and best friend were killed in a car accident. Then, at her funeral, he finds out that they were killed in a car accident because his wife was giving his best friend a blow job. Whoops. Shadow then meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. Oh, and gods are real and they walk among us and feed off of our worship. Roadtripping Americana-laced high-jinks ensue. Seriously, it's hard to summarize a book that has such a wide scope. This book is epic. There are Norse gods, Egyptian gods, Eastern European gods, walking dead girls, and dozens of locations.
I have picked this book up twice before, and for various reasons, I never could get into the damn thing. It's weird. I love Neil Gaiman novels, and this is known as his best one. But I finished it. Finally. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It certainly held my attention better this time. Maybe it was because I was using my Kindle which makes reading feel all futuristic and fancy. Maybe because this time I read the tenth anniversary edition. Maybe I was finally in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. I'm not sure, but third time's a charm.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Neil Gaiman, mythology, Americana, or epic novels.
4/5 Stars.
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