Gaiman manages like no other to combine the modern world with that of the (ancient) Gods and leave you wanting more and more. You might know Gaiman from his book American Gods (also a series now), which was already an amazing book I could not put down. But Anansi Boys is just as good and contains more mythical background then American Gods does.
The Story: No Spoilers
So we start our story with Fat Charlie, living in London, who grew up with a rather unusual father: a man who loved to sing, never worked a day in his life and was always surrounded by the ladies. But though Fat Charlie was embarrassed by his father, he never realized that his dad was really the god Anansi and that he has a brother, both things he finds out after the death of his father.
From that moment Charlie ends up in a whirlwind of events, triggered by ending up too close to the Gods (they bring a lot of drama...) and Charlie will have to do things he never thought about before in order to make it out...
As we travel from London to Florida all the way to the Caribbean we encounter humans, birds, tigers and lots and lots of spiders...
Anansi
For those of you not familiar with the myth: Anansi is a god from West-African folklore that travelled to the Americans with the slave trade. Anansi, the story teller was known as the trickster god, the one that always manages to out-smart and trick the other gods. This of course, makes him loved by people, but not by his fellow deities. His most common form is that of a spider and you will meet many spiders in this book...
Neil Gaiman
What makes Gaiman such an amazing writer in my opinion is that he manages to integrate the real world of his novel with the world of the gods and he does so in a way that makes it incredibly fun to read, but also shows you a world that no longer exists. As a historian, I praise the research he does on his deities, but he goes much further then just looking up the facts because he actually manages to make them come to life for the reader!
Anyway, I really really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone! Have you been reading anything good lately?
Having worked in West Africa for some years, I am intrigued now! Good non spoiler. I do like anything that is bonkers, bizarre and brilliant as Hislop has written!