American Gods

My first time around with this novel was as an audiobook. This time I am reading it.

Someone whose taste in books I generally admire told me that he was unable to “get” into American Gods when he started reading it a couple of years ago. He abandoned it less than halfway through. In listening to this version of it, I tried to make sense of how someone could reject any work by Gaiman, let alone this one. Yes, there are some flat spots in the prose, and a lot of names to keep track of, but . . .
The premise of the book: what happens to the gods of immigrants when they come to America? What happens when old beliefs die? Whence come new beliefs? is just too good to resist.

A writer in Gaiman's position–a foreigner living in the States somewhat permanently–is uniquely suited to tell Americans a bit about themselves. Things that we just take as they are can be transformed, through the eyes of a semi-detached observer–into something compelling, magical, poetic. That is worth our knowing and reading.