The Bryant Park Project Book Club on NPR talked about Neil Gaiman’s “Anansi Boys
” the other day (link to audio below). Anansi Boys is the tale of “Fat Charlie,” the “mundane” son of a charismatic old n’er-do-well who is also the African trickster god Anansi. When Charlie’s father dies, he is thrust into a world of spirits and powers that he wants nothing to do with, and discovers that he has a twin brother – a brother with all the charm and powers of their late father.
I read Anansi Boys a while ago – being a Neil Gaiman novel, it was on the shelves at the local comic book store with the Justice League and Iron Man for weeks after it was first published, so I could hardly miss it.
As the discussion says, Gaiman succeeds at a twofold task – capturing the magical world of Anansi and his fellow powers, but also the normal world of Fat Charlie – his sibling rivalry and relationships.
Anansi Boys is a sort of sequel to American Gods – there is no definitive statement I can find that this is the same Anansi that features in Shadow’s adventures (especially as he is dead throughout the book, except in flashbacks) – but he is very similar in personality.
NPR – Bryant Park Project Book Club [via neilgaiman.com] – Beware, spoilers abound in the discussion posts.
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