Anansi Boys

Author:  Neil Gaiman

Year:  09/19/2005

Publisher:  Harper Audio

Narrator:  Lenny Henry

Audible Synopsis:

God is dead. Meet the kids.

When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed, before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.

Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun, just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself.

Returning to the territory he so brilliantly explored in his masterful New York Times best seller American Gods, the incomparable Neil Gaiman offers up a work of dazzling ingenuity, a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth that is at once startling, terrifying, exhilarating, and fiercely funny, a true wonder of a novel that confirms Stephen King's glowing assessment of the author as "a treasure house of story, and we are lucky to have him."

I really loved this book.  It didn't have the epic-ness of American Gods but it was wasn't quite the same type of tale either. It was much more humorous and narrow in scope. At first I wasn't too sure how I was going to like the story but Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller. Combine that with Lenny Henry's perfect narration, and I was drawn in and hooked. I laughed out loud during this book.  Shed a tear or two. Neil Gaiman is the type of writer that I aspire to be. If you want good storytelling, pick up any of his books. This is a good place to start.