return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   Reader reviews of American Gods

Read what people think about American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and write your own review.

American Gods

American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
Hardcover: Jun 2001,
480 pages.
Paperback: Apr 2002,
608 pages.

Publication information
Author Information
Critics' Opinion:   
Readers' Rating:  
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book
Page 1 of 1 There are currently 4 reviews
for American Gods
Select your view:
Order Reviews by:
Click Here To Write Your Own Review
Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Steven Richardson
Half-assed book.
American Gods starts off when the main character, Shadow, gets out of jail to receive news that his wife has passed away. He meets an enigmatic figure named Wednesday, who asks Shadow to work for him. (Run errands with him.) Through most of the book, Wednesday has the both of them run errands for no good reason, conversations during which are about nothing. Neil Gaiman describes things, but fails to make a story out of them. Following every item/person introduced, (eg. “The man was holding a mallet.”) Gaiman insists on describing it/them in excruciating detail. (eg.”It was shaped like a tree without roots, with an honest smile in its handle, etc.”) This is nonsensical and is used as a diversion from the lack of substance in this book. Another example of this is the side stories in-between the chapters. They have no bearing on the story (Though they have “America” in the title, so apparently that makes them related.) and give the reader more crap to sift through.

He is funny at times, but I am here to read a book; not listen to a comedian. There are many points that the book fails to resolve. . In the Acknowledgments section at the back of the book, you get the general idea that Gaiman has no expertise in writing fiction. He notes that the ideas for this book were taken from consulting friends, doctors, and even Terry Pratchett! “Terry helped me unlock a knotty plot point for me on the train to Gothenburg.” Uh….

I’ll end the review with some media outlets RAVING about this book. It has to be seen to be believed.

“IMMENSELY REWARDING…
Suffused with…powerful imagery and deftly-painted characters…A finely-crafted novel of weight and criticism, and first rate storytelling. “
-The moron at Cleveland Plain Dealer.


“THIS NOVEL DISTILLS THE ESSENCE OF AMERICA…
Gaiman’s books don’t fit a comfortable niche like horror or fantasy, though American Gods contains elements of both, as well as aspects of a thriller, a road trip, and vignettes of Midwestern life, all elegantly tied together in an adventure that uses myths to define what makes America.”
-The jack-off at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer


I actually believed this next quote prior to reading.
“IF JACK KEROUAC HAD WRITTEN LORD OF THE RINGS, IT MIGHT HAVE RESEMBLED NEIL GAIMAN’S NEW NOVEL.”
-Orlando Sentinel


And the only one worth it’s salt,
“WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF J.R.R. TOLKIEN OBTAINED A CONCUSSION AND TRIED TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT AMERICA? PROBABLY SOMETHING LIKE THIS BOOK.”
-Me

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by aQuaira Bandouk
Gaiman became te storyteller that showed possibilities throught his early novels and stories, and being a direct sibling to the Sandmand collection has demonstrated, once again, that fiction is no more than a point of view over religion and belief. With Masterhand he wrote and exhilarating tale of Gods, old and New, of mortals and immortals that takes us back to the beginning of human life and divine belief.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Taylor Yarbrough
This was a exelent book. It had everything possible that makes a good book. I think Neil needs to make some more books like this to make all his fans happy. I can't wait til I get Caroline!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Damien Roche
This is the first book in ages that I couldnt put down.Just as you think you know where this book is heading - it changes direction. Such a compliceted story told in a way every one can understand. Have already highly recommended this book to the friends I have of whom I know would appreciate it.

  1

Lists of books with similar themes


Read-Alikes


Other books by Neil Gaiman
Buy This Book:

Become a Member
Click Here
Editor's Choice
  •  May 20 
  •  May 18 
  •  May 16 
Fever
Mary Beth Keane

Fever Jacket

A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
The Woman Upstairs
Claire Messud

The Woman Upstairs Jacket

The riveting confession of a woman awakened, transformed, and betrayed by passion and desire for a world beyond her own.
How to Create the Perfect Wife
Wendy Moore

How to Create the Perfect Wife Jacket

Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on... read more
The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Half the Sky
Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
2. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Anna Quindlen
3. Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo
4. Eagle Strike
Anthony Horowitz
5. K Blows Top
Peter Carlson
More...
Book Club Recommendations
The Gods of Gotham
by Lyndsay Faye
Paperback (Mar/13)
Forgotten Country
by Catherine Chung
Paperback (Mar/13)
Philida
by André Brink
Paperback (Feb/13)
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
Hardback (Jun/12)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
The Laws of Gravity
by Liz Rosenberg
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
A Dual Inheritance
by Joanna Hershon
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing (May 16 2013)
In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Which of these Summer movies based on books would you like to see? (Info on each movie here)
The Great Gatsby
Epic
Man of Steel
World War Z
The Lone Ranger
The Wolverine
R.I.P.D.
Percy Jackson
Paranoia
The Mortal Instruments
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
Bring Up the Bodies

Online Book Club
More about
Five Days
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
The Pigeon Pie Mystery


Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I I M B T Give T T R"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us