American Gods, Neil Gaiman (4.0)
Why didn’t the gods of the old country survive the trip across the ocean and thrive in the US? Mr. Gaiman spins a complicated, though poetically written tale discussing their current state. Surprisingly, in his vision, they exist, though diminished due to their lack of devotees, and they are getting ready to go to war with the newer, shinier gods (think of commerce, TV, etc.). In some ways this book reminded me of ‘The Stand’ – albeit no one here really represents ‘good’. While the story and characters can be distracting and sometimes quite unsettling, I loved how I was transported to a truly realistic representation of Northern Wisconsin. His description of a bone-chilling walk 500 ft from his front door convinced me that Gaiman had indeed been to the small town where my parents grew up (a little Googling confirmed this). I can still feel the frost on my eyelashes from 30 years ago while walking to my dorm. Great books do just that: show, don’t tell.
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