American Gods (2001) by Neil Gaiman - Fiction

A robust genre-blending novel of mythology and fiction that captures a rough and tumble hero's journey

My wife read this 500 page mythological journey in about two weeks. Which is a considerable feat considering we’re both full time teachers and full time parents. American Gods is arguably Neil Gamin’s magnum opus. He’s a prolific writer with dozens of novels, short stories, comic books, and even children's stories to his name which he has composed over the past 40 years. He’s become even more visible lately with his Masterclass writing lessons on Youtube. And many of his works have been adapted to the screen including a STARZ series of American Gods.

The story opens with our protagonist Shadow (a lack of last name is on purpose). He’s in prison for assault, but he's been on his best behavior awaiting an early release. It’s hard to imagine Shadow beating anyone up since he mostly behaves as a docile gentle giant. He admits to not being an intellectual, but rather more of an Everyman. It feels like Gaiman sets him up as a blank slate; a man newly released from jail looking to start afresh with his wife Laura. However, what a boring book that would be.

He’s intercepted by a mysterious man who goes by the name Wednesday. He’s obviously not your average creepy old guy with a glass eye. Shadows tries to avoid him but Wednesday usually gets what Wednesday wants. Eventually he convinces Shadow to work for him as a bodyguard/driver. They drive throughout America (mostly the Midwest) seeking others who will assist in Wednesday’s grand plan which he adamantly keeps Shadow in the dark about (yes, pun intended). Adventuring with Wednesday is dangerous with bank robberies, bar fights, the walking dead, kidnappings, and supernatural astral projection vision-quests in the oddest of places.

They’re being followed by equally mysterious but seemingly more sinister characters. At one point they kidnap Shadow and try to convert him to their side. One of their kind tells Shadow “I’m the idiot box. I’m the TV. I’m the all-seeing eye and the world of the cathode ray. I’m the boob tube. I’m the little shrine the family comes to adore.” This is what Wednesday, Shadow, and a plethora of others on their side are up against.

But American Gods reaches beyond the strait-forward “good guys” versus “bad guys” motif. Shadow confides in someone he trusts, “I feel…like I’m in a world with its own sense of logic. Its own rules. Like when you have a dream, and you know there are rules you mustn't break, but you don’t know what they are or what they mean.” He’s on a journey of self discovery as a mythological world unfolds around him.

In order to keep Shadow safe, and the entire mission under tight wraps, Wednesday takes him to an idyllic little Midwest town called Lakeside. It’s thriving economically despite the fact that every other nearby town is dying. Just coincidence or is something else going on? We encounter a wide cast of characters and question whether or not they’re more than they appear on the surface.

While reviewing my annotations I noticed how cohesive this thick book is. Gaiman ties together a variety of short subplots into a grand narrative. There are clues and insights from the first few pages that tie into the very last ones. He doesn’t waste a sentence. What my weaker judgment supposed was just a 15 page digression actually ended up being a key element of a character's backstory. In fact, one of these “detours” stands on its own right as one of the most eloquent short stories I’ve ever read. It starts with tragic facts about human slavery, but reminds us that “We need individual stories. Without individuals we only see numbers.” It will remind readers why humanity needs stories to break apart the dry facts we’re often bombarded with through our daily indigestion of life.

My wife is more intuitive, and generally more knowledgeable (and wiser, more beautiful etc.) than I am so she easily picked up on more of the mythological nuances embedded throughout. Gaiman obviously marinaded himself in world mythologies since American Gods is brimming with them. If you really want to nerd out you can purchase the annotated version with notes by Leslie S. Klinger. I’ve never read that one, but I’m picturing something similar to a heavy annotated Bible designed to make you look like a real Oxford scholar.

Throughout much of the novel an enigmatic “storm is coming” as multiple characters put it. Every drop of this story is worth soaking up and the culmination of Shadow’s journey is worth every page leading up to it.