Author: Neil GaimanPublisher/Year: William Morrow, 2006
Synopsis: 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.
What Others Have To Say
Washington Post
"Gaiman's storytelling instincts are as remarkable and assured as Anansi's own."
PopMatters
"...Anansi Boys is more of a family tale, about the things we do to the poor souls who happen, through no fault of their own, to share our DNA, that glides along through the characters' lives, and the danger rarely moves beyond the question of whether Fat Charlie will get his life back together."
The Independent
"Bad things happen - natural deaths of parents, murder most foul, attacks by supernatural entities, rifts among families - but are swiftly followed by the prose equivalent of a nice cup of tea."
The New York Times
"The tales of Anansi outwitting his foes leave you feeling you've eaten something heavy and sugary. There's an Uncle Remus folksiness to the stories that sends the airy blitheness of the farce plummeting down to earth."
Boston Globe
"But the continuity of story (and song, as Mr. Nancy knew; and myth, as Charlie's odyssey confirms) has a primal priority, beautifully articulated in the novel's complex denouement. Wrongs are righted. Heroes prove their worth. "
No comments:
Post a Comment