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Anansi Boys

by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 83,055 ratings · 3,903 reviews

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep -- about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting... and a lot more dangerous.

Paperback, 400 pages

Published September 26th 2006 by HarperTorch (first published September 20th 2005)

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Apr 14, 2008 Seth Hahne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I laughed out loud. While reading. In a Japanese rice bowl joint. Okay, so maybe it was more of a chortle, but it was definitely out loud. And more than just the once. Patrons quietly minding their own business while slogging through their Number Three Specials With Extra Tokyo Beef would be startled into wakefulness to see me - chopsticks in one hand, book in the other - as my grizzled maw broke forth with guffaws and irrepressible smiles.

Really, Anansi Boys may be the first thing I've read fro...more I laughed out loud. While reading. In a Japanese rice bowl joint. Okay, so maybe it was more of a chortle, but it was definitely out loud. And more than just the once. Patrons quietly minding their own business while slogging through their Number Three Specials With Extra Tokyo Beef would be startled into wakefulness to see me - chopsticks in one hand, book in the other - as my grizzled maw broke forth with guffaws and irrepressible smiles.

Really, Anansi Boys may be the first thing I've read from Neil Gaiman that I liked. I never got into Sandman (though I'm told I should have persevered). I never finished American Gods (though I'm told I should have persevered). I never finished 1602 (despite guessing that I should have persevered).

Still, not only did I like it but I loved it. Enough that I gave my copy to someone else to read and purchased a second copy for another friend. And I'm certain they'll want to do similar things with the book.

Anansi Boys is at all times funny, adventurous, and charming. And several other over-used adjectives. In fact, Anansi Boys may be the prototype from which overused adjectives should have come - before they were overused. I'm not sure that Anansi Boys is great literature and I'm not sure that it isn't. What I am certain of beyond any shadow of doubtfulness is that Anansi Boys may be the most fun I have ever had reading a novel.

There may be others that I enjoyed more but my experience of this book was such that it pushed (if even momentarily) all other books from my mind. Someone on the back suggests that the book will make you love and be grateful for spiders. Critics and the things they say, huh? Well, I don't love spiders, but dang was this book good.

The end.

p.s. Anyone thinking of reading Blue like Jazz or Against Christianity or something by Karl Barth should definitely read this first. 'Cuz I mean what if you died after finishing the next book on your queue? It would be an all time tragedy to have wasted hours reading Donald Miller when there is something like Anansi Boys out there. Plus, it's just as spiritual.(less)

83 likes · like · see review

Feb 27, 2012 Keely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, fantasy, novel, reviewed, contemporary-fantasy, uk-and-ireland

I've come to recognize that one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much was that I listened to the audiobook, performed by comedian Lenny Henry, whose background as a Brit of Caribbean descent made him the perfect choice to bring the characters to life. A lot of audiobooks aren't very good, but this one way great, and really brings out the fact that Anansi stories are meant to be heard.

It's recognizable Gaiman stuff, with the fish-out-of-water narrator in a modern fantasy world, with the...more I've come to recognize that one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much was that I listened to the audiobook, performed by comedian Lenny Henry, whose background as a Brit of Caribbean descent made him the perfect choice to bring the characters to life. A lot of audiobooks aren't very good, but this one way great, and really brings out the fact that Anansi stories are meant to be heard.

It's recognizable Gaiman stuff, with the fish-out-of-water narrator in a modern fantasy world, with the author sxploring the history and the form of the mythic story, but there's a level of deprecating humor in this book that is lacking in other works by Gaiman.

One can catch snips of wit in any of his books. Any good book must include some humor: an author might as futilely try to excise pain or desire from life as humor. Gaiman has never placed any such artificial limits on his work; indeed, the only limits on his books are those he, himself cannot overcome.

Previously, his humor was only an occasional element, but there was apparently something in the writing of this particular book which finally allowed him to unleash his sense of the comic as a whole entity. The text swims and bobs with the ridiculous, the unfortunate, and the clever.

After reading 'Good Omens', written by Gaiman and Prachett, I was told that without Prachett, it would have retained none of the humor. I now begin to wonder whether if Pratchett added anything at all. Indeed, this work of Gaiman's overshadows that earlier work in both degrees and shades of the insightful and entertaining.

With the focus on Anansi and stories, the book provides an amusing analysis of storytelling itself, so that anyone who studies the nature and classification of tales will find certain asides and references particularly amusing. It is rare these days that an author will write a piece of fiction which explores on a subtextual level a concept or idea fundamental to the work itself. I have come to wish that more authors could gain the audacity that Gaiman found here.

There is a degree to which this story matches Gaiman's usual monomythic progression from naive outsider to coy insider, which at the outset was my greatest difficulty with the work. The inevitability and redundancy of this trope makes me wish for Gaiman's more eccentric and perverse moments. However, I found in the clever and skilled text a story worth experiencing, and one which matches or exceeds Gaiman's other attempts in the modern fantasy genre.

The story is not as epic or dire as Gaiman's tend to be, and without that there is a loss of urgency in the story. This is not really a deficiency, however, as the playful humor could not cohabitate comfortably with an ever-steepening plot curve.

The work fits into Gaiman's usual mode, exploring the myths and psychologies that most interest him. It may lose some of his fans in that it is less dark and brooding, less hopeless, but this could hardly be counted a loss. Any reader who wants more of the same can re-read his old works. the rest of us may appreciate seeing a master storyteller exploring his form in a new and engaging way.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions (less)

37 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anansi Boys is like a rollercoaster without the loops, very few twists and one that keeps the speed to a minimum. You strap yourself in, ready for excitement that never materializes. My god, I've never felt more luke warm towards a book in my life.

The mildly interesting story is of a somewhat relatable modern day slacker coming to grips with his father's and brother's overwhelming personalities as well as a fantasy world he didn't know existed. I'm tired of stories with modern day slackers brin...more

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Apr 12, 2013 StoryTellerShannon added it

Shelves: fantasy-scifi, owned, my-very-best-reads, books-reviewed

ANANSI BOYS (hereinafter AB) is the archetype tale of the hero's quest but in place of the typical warrior hero is a fool, and, oh, it happens to take place in our days and there is the wonder of something magical yet not totally seen.

Our fool of a hero is Fat Charlie. He used to be chubby as a kid but now he's in good enough shape yet everyone remembers him as Fat Charlie so the name sticks, much to his chagrin, and, it's all the fault of his father.

Wait, did I tell you his father is a tricks...more

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May 13, 2012 Kirstine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sibling-relationships, supernaturality-and-magic

To be quite honest with you, I didn't particularly like the first third of this book. It's got nothing to do with the way it's written (Neil Gaiman is as funny and imaginative as ever), it was something else. The things is, I'm a sucker for sibling relationships and I was pleasantly surprised to find one in this book. But Spider and Fat Charlie spend the first half of this book arguing and generally making each others lives hell and it just made me uncomfortable. There were other things too, lik...more To be quite honest with you, I didn't particularly like the first third of this book. It's got nothing to do with the way it's written (Neil Gaiman is as funny and imaginative as ever), it was something else. The things is, I'm a sucker for sibling relationships and I was pleasantly surprised to find one in this book. But Spider and Fat Charlie spend the first half of this book arguing and generally making each others lives hell and it just made me uncomfortable. There were other things too, like Charlies personality and the plot itself, while not being bad at all, they just didn't appeal to me that greatly.

HOWEVER, I continued reading and I am now unbelievably happy I did. After, well, not half the book, but almost, the plot changes. To me it seems as if the books has got two different stories in it, the story of Spider and Charlie's relationship and then the story of everything else. Everything else takes over half way through the book, and it gets really interesting. It also forces Charlie and Spider to start acting like brothers and working together instead of tearing each other apart, and that made me like especially Fat Charlie a lot more.

What really turned this book around for me, though, was the ending. I sit here, a day after finishing it, with a feeling of absolute satisfaction. I rarely get that from a book, sure I've read books with brilliant, fantastic endings, books that ended exactly the way I wanted them to, but never one that left me so satisfied on all fronts. I believe the biggest contributive to this feeling is Charlie. The one and only. He undergoes some serious changes in the book, and comes out on the other side as one of my favourite characters in fiction. His change from someone I sort of dislike, to someone I utterly love is so complete, and so brilliantly done, that I can't help but feel satisfied.

This is why in the end it gets 4 stars. It wasn't perfect, perhaps, but it was still fantastic.

Oh, and perhaps I should mention, I listened to some of the audiobook at one point, and while I'm not usually a fan of this, I was pleased I did it, because it helped me sort out my "inner Spider" voice. I'd gotten the way he talks completely wrong, and I liked him a lot better when I got it right. (I know it sounds that weird it should matter that much, but there was really quite a difference between my Spider and the audiobook's Spider. So I can recommend that!)(less)

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Jul 15, 2008 Qiana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy, metafiction

I agree with many of the reviewers who praise this fun and inventive novel, but I am especially fascinated by how Gaiman represents race in Anansi Boys. He chooses not to explicitly identify that his globe-trotting main characters are black until at least p. 32 (if I'm mistaken, somebody please let me know) and only then as a point-of-fact that is secondary to their status as gods. It is true that anyone who has read American Gods or heard traditional African folktales will have met Anansi befor...more

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Jun 17, 2008 Erika rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book begins, as most things do, with a song--karaoke in fact. Bad karaoke of the kind only fun with large amounts of alcohol and friends (or blonde, buxom women) who sing just as bad as you do with just as much drunken enthusiasm.

When we left Mr. Nancy (nan-cee from A-nan-si--get it? Gaiman: You. Me. Mad Gab match.) in American Gods he was winding down with Shadow at a karaoke bar. With Anansi Boys, Mr. Nancy--now, I'm-not-hiding-my-Godness-Anansi, we learn, has 2 children, only one whose ge...more The book begins, as most things do, with a song--karaoke in fact. Bad karaoke of the kind only fun with large amounts of alcohol and friends (or blonde, buxom women) who sing just as bad as you do with just as much drunken enthusiasm.

When we left Mr. Nancy (nan-cee from A-nan-si--get it? Gaiman: You. Me. Mad Gab match.) in American Gods he was winding down with Shadow at a karaoke bar. With Anansi Boys, Mr. Nancy--now, I'm-not-hiding-my-Godness-Anansi, we learn, has 2 children, only one whose genetic inheritance included the god-factor, the other (Charlie) is quite normal. Charlie is so normal, he's grown up chubby and earned a nickname for it: Fat Charlie. There's none of this god-nonsense for Fat Charlie. No puff of smoke or wave your hand and fat-be-gone. Oh no. He, just like everyone else, had to work hard to get the fat off. It's the name that's stuck. He lives with the constant embarrassment of his father (Guess who came up with 'Fat Charlie'. Go on. Guess.) who loves to make bad jokes, loves having a good time (at the expense of others) and ultimately opens up one of the worst possible chapters of Charlie's life.

After Anansi's death, Charlie discovers he has a brother. In typical Gaiman fashion, Charlie summons Spider (the brother) into his English home by putting in a request with a spider outside his front door. Spider then proceeds to completely take over Charlie's life. He dates his fiancée, gets him fired, arrested, and further rouses the suspicions of an already wary mother-in-law-to-be. The first half of the novel is witty and entertaining, but when Charlie finally gets fed up he calls on the forces of Mrs. Dunwiddy, an old witch-woman from his childhood Florida-neighborhood home.

Here is where the Gaiman myth-factor comes in and the story takes a dark, sinister turn as Spider is punished for playing in the lives of mortals. Only, it's not just Spider that's in danger. Messing with the gods has unforeseen effects for Fat Charlie as well who hasn't been painstakingly careful with his verbal trade. In his mistake, the Bird Woman begins hunting both Fat Charlie and Spider. It's a battle of gods where, once again (since it's Gaiman we're talking about here) humans have the unfortunate consequence of being involved. But when have mortals ever been benignly involved in the torrential affairs of the gods? Like warring nobility or aristocracy, the plebs suffer the duration of a negligent ruling class.

Anansi Boys is a story of duality. It's Spider vs. Fat Charlie and Tiger vs. Anansi in a battle over the domination of the novel itself--whose story will win? Spider or Fat Charlie? Tiger or Anansi?

I also love the father-son relationship in this one than compared to American Gods. Probably because Gaiman took it further and allowed it to walk off into the sunset. But still a good read.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 05, 2007 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

Some people might prefer American Gods, with that epic tone, but I prefer Anansi Boys, and not just because it's entertaining and lighthearted, but because it seems to have been pulled off much more smoothly. Finally, Gaiman is writing about someone more like himself than Shadow was- a person who lives in England having adventures in America. Though Fat Charlie is American by origin, he's very British, and I guess that just made it easier for Gaiman because he took it and ran with it and everyth...more Some people might prefer American Gods, with that epic tone, but I prefer Anansi Boys, and not just because it's entertaining and lighthearted, but because it seems to have been pulled off much more smoothly. Finally, Gaiman is writing about someone more like himself than Shadow was- a person who lives in England having adventures in America. Though Fat Charlie is American by origin, he's very British, and I guess that just made it easier for Gaiman because he took it and ran with it and everything was simply fantastic. It also feels a lot more like he's actually writing about the America I know.
In its way, this book is just as stunningly creative as American Gods-- the animal-people who represent the ancient African gods are excellent, especially, of course, Tiger. Just as creative are the characters, who are much easier to care for than any of the ones in Gods. They get into hopelessly awkward situations and seem so real that you can't help but be on their side. Even the villain is likable, in a nasty sort of way.
Finally, these modern-fantasy-splotched-in-alongside-the-real-world books are simply my favorite kind of fantasy novel. You can't get away with high fantasy anymore, really. The genre's been done to death over the last fifty years, and unless we want to tire it out completely, there are a bunch of authors who might want to give it a rest. Much more enjoyable, to me, are the fantasy novels that manage to be straight-up fantasy without having elves or castles or swords of any kind in them-- they're often ten times as creative, much fresher, and a lot more fun to read. Other books like this, from both youth and adult fiction, include Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones, the not-quite-fantasy-but-silly-enough-to-count Thursday Next and Jack Spratt novels by Jasper Fforde, and, on a slightly different note, the Terry Pratchett Discworld series, which takes every sentence and uses it to make fun of high fantasy and, more recently, of modern naily life. The Watch mini-series is particularly good at this.
At any rate, I simply liked Anansi Boys a lot more. It felt like a runner who'd had time to stretch their legs a bit and get into a rhythm.(less)

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May 23, 2007 k8lane rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sci-fi fans, Gaiman newbies

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I had quite a bit of knowledge about the Anansi stories going in (my dad, a college prof, was also a professional storyteller while I was growing up, and the Anasi stories were part of his routine) -- perhaps someone who was meeting Anansi for the first time via Gaiman would feel differently. Though multi-layered, it was light enough to feel deceptively simple, yet I felt as though it lacked... something.

Notes I made while reading (I read this for a Book Club)...more

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May 16, 2008 Brownbetty marked it as abandoned-unfinished

It is time to admit I am not going to finish this book. It sat next to my bed with the spine cracked open to chapter two for I don't know how many months without my even touching it. The reason why is very simple: I cannot stand the protagonist, Fat Charlie. He is an utter drip. He's winging, and useless, and sort of ill-willed about it.

I got far enough in to meet the second major character, Spider, who is incredibly obnoxious , at which point I put the book down for however many months it's bee...more

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Jul 21, 2012 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythology, fantasy, loved

It's rare that I ever find myself describing a story as 'charming'. Really, it's just a word that never seemed to suit any particular story I read until Anansi Boys came along.

I think it's firstly because the following is quite possibly one of my favourite ever passages in literature:

“Each person who ever was or is or will be has a song. It isn't a song that anybody else wrote. It has its own melody, it has its own words. Very few people get to sing their song. Most of us fear that we cannot do...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Marialyce rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: february-2013

I do so like Neil Gaiman's stories. They oftentimes bring me back to my childhood and this one was no exception. In fact, while I taught, we covered in literature many of the Anansi stories so this book was a bit of a step back into that time as well. As always, the fantasy element was presented strongly and the tone of the book was ultimately one of happiness and learned strength. The Anansi Boys were brothers and the spirit of the two united into the one made for the strength of the one relyin...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Brad rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I love Neil Gaiman's Sandman so much that I am desperate to love the rest of his work, but I can't do much more than like it because it's mostly only okay.

He deals with all the stuff I love -- mythology, the occult, death, dreams, the urban fantastic -- but he's too tongue-in-cheek. When I read one of his novels, I feel like I'm reading the Nick Hornby of fantasy. Too clever, too hip and too cool for his own good.

It's not that I don't like his prose work. I do. And I even love some of it (like W ...more

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Jul 16, 2007 nfwbls rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found Anansi Boys to be a bit of a disappointment after American Gods. It's definitely a lighter read, which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case the mix of humans and mythology lacked freshness. It was not only a paler imitation of American Gods but also of other novels with the same premise. It's not Gaiman's fault that just this last year I've read a number of young adult novels like "The Lightning Thief" that do the same thing better than Anansi Boys, but it certainly didn't help.

I f...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Louize rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The god with the green fedora is dead. And now, both his sons are in a big tangle of their own making. Without daddy to bail them out, they have to figure a way to untangle their selves. Hoping, maybe they can cheat death as cleverly as their daddy did.

While Neil Gaiman is the brilliant head behind this fun and unique story, Lenny Henry is the voice that transformed this story into Superb! I believe this book should be in the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list, 'cause we all need a goo...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Kernos rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythic-legendary-fiction, favorite-books-re-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a delightful, charming and funny book. It reads like a children's fairy tale while engaging the reader in layer upon layer of humanity. I would have given it 5 stars, but for American Gods which is a Great Book with a capital G. If the latter is 10/10, this book is 9/10. One can easily see how Anansi Boys derives from American Gods.

Many have summarized the novel. I see no need to do so again. Just some thoughts on layers.

Humans create God. Gods don't create humans. I see this as a theme o...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Madeline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favorites, fantasy

It's remarkable, really, how long I was permitted to exist without reading Neil Gaiman. In retrospect, I suppose it's a good thing that I didn't read any of his books until college - had I been exposed to his work in high school, the result would have been a near-obsession filled with pages of awful fanfiction and an emotional meltdown when I learned that Mr. Gaiman is happily married.

But this didn't happen, thankfully. My first Neil Gaiman book was American Gods, and when my roommate (a much m...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Michael Hall rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anansi Boys may be set in the same world/universe as that which was portrayed in American Gods, but it is less epic and entirely more light-hearted in scope -- most of the story I was imagining in cartoon-like details. Charles "Fat Charlie" Nancy is yet another typical modern day slacker who must come to terms with his brother, Spider, and father's overwhelming personality in order to reach his full potential and find happiness in his life -- all while coming face to face with the hidden secret...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Synesthesia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love this book. No wonder it's been the One Book I want to Read. I couldn't find my autographed copy of it so I bought a paperback of it.
This book is full of things I love such as spiders, fedoras, and humour. It's kind of a loose sequel to American Gods only funnier and less dark focusing on Anansi and his sons.
It's a pure delight. The only thing better than this book would be a spider in a fedora and just try to get a fedora on a spider.

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Jan 04, 2011 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think I may have found a new favorite author! I happened to see a movie named "Stardust" one Sunday and I really enjoyed it. I researched more about the book and found out about Neil Gaiman. I had "Anansi Boys" on my list of books to read for a while and finally got around to downloading it. I love it! I'm only about half-way through but this book is like a fairy tale for adults and I'm totally digging it.

I have to say it started a bit slowly for me but in retrospect, the slow start was necess...more

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Feb 19, 2009 Miriam rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think that Anansi, the trickster god accompanied me to the bookstore when I went to buy this book because moments after starting my car, the power steering line broke and the serpentine belt fell off. The mechanic told me these two things occurred independently, but they occurred at exactly the same moment....clearly trickster god involvement there. The bright spot of the car break down is that I took a day off of work so that I could take my car in and while the mechanics were working on it I...more I think that Anansi, the trickster god accompanied me to the bookstore when I went to buy this book because moments after starting my car, the power steering line broke and the serpentine belt fell off. The mechanic told me these two things occurred independently, but they occurred at exactly the same moment....clearly trickster god involvement there. The bright spot of the car break down is that I took a day off of work so that I could take my car in and while the mechanics were working on it I read Anansi Boys.

This book is weird. It is about the trickster god Anansi and his sons. It starts out in realms of mild weirdness similar to the movie Big Fish (which I consider a good thing) and then it gets a lot weirder. It kills me to not discuss the plot at all, but I am not going to because I don't want to wreck any of it for anyone.

In general what I liked about this book was that there are rules to the weirdness and it all makes sense by the end. The writing is disciplined and so is the progression of the story. (The book steers clear the free-fall death spiral of weirdness that most really weird books seem to get sucked into.) The story flows easily between the modern world and mythology. The mythological parts stay in mythological realms as something separate, but there is exchange and interaction between the mythological and the modern world. The mythological realms are well developed and although weird are explained enough to be satisfying.

The dialogue in this book is great. It paints vivid characters. Distinctions between individuals from different cultures are primarily laid out in a subtle way in the dialogue between the characters. I enjoyed the dialogue in this book more than any other I can currently think of.

This book is really funny in a lot of different ways. The characters have distinct styles of humor and the author has some really funny commentaries. I found myself laughing out loud several times.

The downside of this book is that it is really violent and some of the violence is fairly graphic. There is one spot that still makes my stomach uneasy. There is purpose to the violence as it deepens both the plot and the characters, but some of it is just shockingly gross. (Yuck! just thinking about it!) The worst (but not the most shocking) violence occurs in a mythological part of the book and somehow that makes it easier to take. (It's kind of like the difference between Grimm's fairy tales and the 10:00 news).
(less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It seems that at times an author has an idea and then works it from many different points of view. Sometimes this works sometimes not. In this case it seems to have worked. Neil Gaiman at some point came up with the idea of "old gods" or "god beings" or possibly "godlike beings". I wasn't really bowled over by American Gods, nor for that matter by the follow up novella he wrote based on it later. This however is an excellent read.

We follow "Fat Charlie" (you see Anansi, Charlie's father was a "g...more

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May 14, 2012 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-aloud-to-my-wife, fantasy, nonsensical-magic-fixes-all-ending

Wow, it only took me a year and a half to read this book. Originally I started reading it to my wife. We both loved the witty British humor and the plot was mildly engaging. Then for whatever reason we both sort of lost interest. I started reading it again on my own recently and remembered why we’d given up. The plot, which was just starting to get going, took a turn for the weird. Then from there, it turned into some African tribal tall tall, (at least I think it was African legends he was basi...more

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Dec 10, 2010 PurplyCookie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythic-fiction, book-series, fantasy, fave-author

"Stories are webs, interconnected strand to strand, and you follow each story to the center, because the center is the end. Each person is a strand of story."

"Fat Charlie" Nancy leads a life of comfortable workaholism in London, with a stressful agent job he doesn't like much, and a pleasant fiancée, Rosie. When Charlie learns of the death of his estranged father in Florida, he attends the funeral and learns two facts that turn his well-ordered existence upside-down: that his father was a human...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Dark Recesses added it

ANANSI BOYS by Neil Gaiman
Review by Nickolas Cook

For those familiar with Gaiman's past work, like me, you've probably come to appreciate his intelligent humor, story telling élan, and philosophical bent on the human condition. With "Anansi Boys" he again proves all of those qualities and more.
'Fat' Charlie Nancy is the disgruntled son of the forgotten African god, Anansi (we met him in Gaiman's masterpiece to date, "American Gods"), a mischievous spider deity, who stole all of the stories of cr...more ANANSI BOYS by Neil Gaiman
Review by Nickolas Cook

For those familiar with Gaiman's past work, like me, you've probably come to appreciate his intelligent humor, story telling élan, and philosophical bent on the human condition. With "Anansi Boys" he again proves all of those qualities and more.
'Fat' Charlie Nancy is the disgruntled son of the forgotten African god, Anansi (we met him in Gaiman's masterpiece to date, "American Gods"), a mischievous spider deity, who stole all of the stories of creation from Tiger, the dark and violent god of blood and death. 'Fat' Charlie receives news that his father has passed away and rushes from England to Florida to find his father was no mere human. And as if that's not bad enough to ruin his day, he also discovers he's got a lost brother called Spider. Given the incantation to draw his brother to him by a trio of old hags, much like MacBeth's cackling witches, he gets more than he bargained for when his impishly suave brother appears and begins to steal his life, his career, and his fiancé right out from under him.
Gaiman does mythology like no other author, dragging us from one world to the next in search of honor and love, making the cosmic drama of gods more human. But what he does even better is examine familial love and commitment to a calling higher than one's self. For 'Fat' Charlie soon finds that he can't ignore his heritage anymore than he can his brother. He is part of the pantheon, whether he fancies it or not, and, after a bargain made in angry frustration, must battle to save his bloodline from eternal death.
Gaiman's prose is top notch, fast paced, edited to the essentials, with enough descriptive passages to make the story blossom in full, but not enough to stifle the pace. There are some rather out of place scenes with the spirit of a murdered woman that tend to dishevel the almost perfect fairytale quality of the story, but given that all's well that end's well, it can be forgiven.
"Anansi Boys" doesn't have anywhere near the broad canvas feel of "American Gods" and the extraordinary "Neverwhere", but fits nicely along side his "Stardust". It's a fun read, full of humor and great characters, but his fans may miss that mythical cosmic sense that some of his other fiction has provided.

--Nickolas Cook
(less)

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Sep 10, 2008 Marc rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really had no idea what to expect from this book when a certain friend of mine loaned it to me. Reading the synopsis on the back, I thought, "This is going to be REALLY weird reading." And it was. But it was also a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Fat Charlie is a very dull person, who works in a dead-end job and has very little life. He is engaged to a girl who doesn't love him, but who stays with him because he's safe. His greatest goal in life is to avoid embarrassment, and that m...more

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Feb 09, 2008 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, gaiman, top-shelf

When I started in on this book, I knew there were a few things I could expect from Neil Gaiman - insight, clever twists on literary assumptions, a good perspective on the nature of our reality. What I didn't expect was to spend most of the book laughing out loud and disturbing the people around me.

Seriously, there were some times when teachers in the rooms next to the staff room had to explain to students that no, Chris is not eavesdropping and laughing at you, he just has a really funny book. I...more When I started in on this book, I knew there were a few things I could expect from Neil Gaiman - insight, clever twists on literary assumptions, a good perspective on the nature of our reality. What I didn't expect was to spend most of the book laughing out loud and disturbing the people around me.

Seriously, there were some times when teachers in the rooms next to the staff room had to explain to students that no, Chris is not eavesdropping and laughing at you, he just has a really funny book. I can only hope they believed them. Either way, I'm sure Anansi would be very happy to know it.

The book was, of course, wonderful. While by no means a sequel to American Gods, it inhabits the same universe. It follows the unfortunately nicknamed Fat Charlie, whose life has been ruined by his father's death across the Atlantic. Fat Charlie wasn't his real name, of course, only a nickname given to him by his father. But his father gave names that stuck like gum to the underside of a school desk, and no matter where he went, Charlie Nancy inevitably became Fat Charlie.

The reason for this phenomenon, of course, is that Fat Charlie's father is a god. He is Anansi, the Spider, a trickster god who managed to steal all the stories from Tiger back when humanity was young, and who managed to trick, deceive, swindle and humiliate nearly every other god there ever was. He was good at it, and nothing he wanted that he couldn't get.

Fat Charlie was, very probably, a disappointment. Where his father was debonair, Fat Charlie was a klutz. Where his father could command the respect of men and women, Fat Charlie was a doormat. Where his father was the embodiment of confidence, Fat Charlie was a crumbly mess. I suppose it's normal, really, being the child of a god, and not really his fault, even if he didn't know it until his father was dead.

He didn't know about his brother, either. And when Spider comes into the picture, everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. Think The Odd Couple, except that Oscar Madison has divine powers and absolutely no sense of consequence.

This is a funny, funny book that reminds me in places of Dave Barry, though that might be a side effect of the Florida settings. There's also a few footnote jokes, so I suspect that Neil has been hanging out with Terry Pratchett recently. Despite the laugh-out-loud general tone of the book, there's a lot of Meaning to be found as well - the meaning of story and song, of family, and why you should always be nice to spiders. And birds. Definitely be nice to birds.(less)

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Jul 30, 2008 Dini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Dini by: Jakarta's Bookworms

Shelves: fiction, lendable

"Stories are webs, interconnected, strand to strand, and you follow each story to the centre, because the centre is the end. Each person is a strand of story."

Neil Gaiman skillfully weaves the strands to make an amusing tale of two sons of the trickster spider-god, Anansi. Fat Charlie, who's actually only fat briefly during childhood, lives a normal if not boring life for twenty-something years without knowing the true identity of his estranged father. Only after his father's death does he learn...more

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Jan 12, 2008 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: once-upon-a-time, sci-fi-fantasy, locus-awards, britlit

Okay, I just have to say this — Neil Gaiman is too fun for words. *grin* Anansi Boys is quite simply the funnest book I’ve read since I don’t know when. You know you’re into the pages of something truly wonderful when the book makes you laugh out loud – as you read – all alone — in your third-floor dusty garret. I’m sure my flatmate thinks I’ve quite lost my mind. Suffice it to say that Gaiman really knows how to spin a great story, or in this case maybe I should say “web.” Anansi Boys walks a v...more Okay, I just have to say this — Neil Gaiman is too fun for words. *grin* Anansi Boys is quite simply the funnest book I’ve read since I don’t know when. You know you’re into the pages of something truly wonderful when the book makes you laugh out loud – as you read – all alone — in your third-floor dusty garret. I’m sure my flatmate thinks I’ve quite lost my mind. Suffice it to say that Gaiman really knows how to spin a great story, or in this case maybe I should say “web.” Anansi Boys walks a very fine line between horrors too horrible to contemplate and a comic irreverence that has you gasping and giggling in turns. Mr. Gaiman, you have a very twisted sense of humour….and I love it. After American Gods, and now this – yes, I am definitely a certifiable Gaiman-aholic.

* * * * *

Anansi Boys is what a really good read is all about. It’s the kind of book that should be read in a huge overstuffed extra comfy armchair with a pitcher of something wet & wonderful and a big bowl of popcorn at your elbow. And don’t plan to get up for a good long while, because Gaiman knows how to keep you turning the pages. Don’t worry…. Neil won’t mind if you get the pages mucky with spilled lemonade, salt, and buttery fingerprints. He just wants to know that you had a good time. And I did. I did indeed.

There were lots of favourite quotes and passages throughout, but my favouritest favourite line didn’t appear until the very last page of the novel:

“Mermaids sigh better than anyone.” [p. 451]

I think I must be a mermaid. Ask my friend J who once called my sighs “patentable.”

And….here’s another sign of a really good writer….My second favourite quote comes from the Gaiman interview tucked into
the back of the book:

“I think all geniuses – or the ones that I’ve run into – tend to have a faintly tenuous relationship with the real world, because so much is going on on the inside. They may be geniuses but they often need someone to walk around holding the string. They’re sort of balloons, bobbing around.”

*sigh*……(((grin)))(less)

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Sep 09, 2007 Lisa Fischbach rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2007, read-and-released

What a great read! I have enjoyed all of the books I have read by Gaiman but this one in particular, I found exceptional. His style reminds me a bit of Christopher Moore with his subtle tongue in cheek humor. This story is about a "God" who dies and unbeknownst to his son Charlie, leaves him a portion of his godly powers. Charlie is a plain man with a bland life and no aspirations. He is getting married to a equally bland and uninteresting woman. This is how he comes to find out his father has d...more

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“Each person who ever was or is or will be has a song. It isn't a song that anybody else wrote. It has its own melody, it has its own words. Very few people get to sing their song. Most of us fear that we cannot do it justice with our voices, or that our words are too foolish or too honest, or too odd. So people live their song instead.” — 915 people liked it

“Everybody going to be dead one day, just give them time.” — 359 people liked it

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