Anansi Boys MP3 CD

Gaiman has succeeded in writing one of the least likeable protagonists in the world in Anansi Boys. There are no redeemable qualities about Fat Charlie, and after hearing about how much of a loser he was for 200 pages I returned this book to the library. The other characters aren't much better: the wife who does pretty much nothing except be charmed by the handsome men, and Charlie's brother who has no negative qualities at all.

A cool sort-of follow-up or prequel to American Gods, which I really enjoyed. It was a fast and easy read. Some of the fantasy stuff was a little "off" for me, but I found the story and the characters and their relationships interesting. It was fun, and it triggered a need to go back to American Gods and refresh myself about the Anansi appearance in that book.

ANANSI BOYS

Neil Gaiman has created a wonderful tale about Gods. One may begin to think that this will become a staple of Mr. Gaimans writing when considering his previous book `American Gods'. Anansi Boys is not to be mistaken for the much darker novel previously mentioned. This book is light, witty and tame in comparison.

The guest who wouldn't leave, the mischievous brother who causes what else; mischief, the embarrassing but lovable father, the nosey cruel neighbor, these real life situations add to color this story. I found myself nodding and smiling at poor Fat Charlie's dilemma.

The crux of the story is the story. Anansi the spider God stole all the stories from tiger and made them his own. Tiger wants the stories back and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

This is truly a terrific tale.

4 1/2 STAR RATING.

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite fantasy writers, and ANANSI BOYS didn't disappoint me. This is a very entertaining novel.

ANANSI BOYS is a very funny and original story about a man named Fat Charlie, who suddenly learns that he is the son of the trickster God Anansi. Fat Charlie also discovers that he has a long lost brother name Spider, who has decided to re-enter his life and turn it upside down.

Gaiman has a lovely writing style that incorporates a lot of gentle, whimsical humor. It's hard to describe, but it makes his novels a pleasure to read. This is a comic novel, so many of the characters border on caricature, but Gaiman does a good job of making them human and believable for the most part.

I wouldn't say ANANSI BOYS is a great Gaiman novel -- I think NEVERWHERE, STARDUST, AND CORALINE are better works -- but it's a very good one and I had a lot fun reading it. Highly recommended for fans of comedic fantasy.

Rather an adult version of Neil Gaiman's book. As always, his books are great. I would rate this book No.2 among his books with Stardust as no.1 so far for me although I'm now starting to read his neverwhere which is really supposed to be great.