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Nikki
5.0 out of 5 stars It's Neil Gaiman. That's all you need to know. Read it.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2015
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Such an absolutely delightful tale this was. I fell in love with American Gods long after most of the book world had been telling me for years 'YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.' And they were right, of course. I should listen more. When I found out Anansi Boys was along a similar vein, I was so excited! Because for me, it's very difficult to find books that are exactly like this, with characters so flawed and complex, who screw up a lot, but are also brave and find themselves through the course of a magical fairy tale. That is exactly my very favorite kind of book, and I never knew it was until I discovered this author. This one is much less dense than American Gods, but not in a bad way. Less characters and intertwining plots, but I found that to be an advantage, as I very much liked who lived among these pages. I think that's really the core of what I like so much; so much life is given to everyone and everything. An entire world is unwrapped for you to explore, some of it dark and violent (he always has that) but also beautiful and always highlighting the resilience of the human spirit. And that is such a nice thing to celebrate.

Sometimes I will go a long time without reading something like this, and I'll read several sub-par books in a row, and then I'll remember that there is magic in the book world and I run to it.

Sometimes you just don't know how much you need to read Neil Gaiman until you read Neil Gaiman. You probably need to, and this is an excellent choice.
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Voicebox5
5.0 out of 5 stars Anansi Boys works its own special brand of magic
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2017
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I love almost all of Neil Gaiman's work, and Anansi Boys ranks perhaps second only to American Gods in my personal list of favorite Gaiman books. It is far more humorous than most of his other writing, and the character of Mr. Nancy is a welcome crossover from the American Gods novel. If you have never read Gaiman, this is actually a good one to start with. Comedic, with a bit of suspense and even a twinge of horror thrown in the mix. The main character is a sort of pathetic Everyman named Fat Charlie. And his "cool" brother Spider is the brother many silently curse having in the family. I don't like rehashing the plot in a review, but suffice to say when Spider shows up at Fat Charlie's doorstep, his life takes a turn for the supernatural. Weaving African mythology in with modern city life, Anansi Boys worked its own special brand of magic on me. It made for a wonderful airplane read, and subsequent readings have proven no less entertaining. Don't expect deep and complex. This takes itself far less seriously than American Gods. Anansi Boys is spry and jaunty, reveling in making mischief - much like the patriarch of the Anansi Boys himself. And like most of Gaiman's work, there is something more sinister lurking in the shadows. If you are quick enough, you might catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye.If not, that's okay. It will eventually catch you.
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Sy
4.0 out of 5 stars It's no American Gods. So what?
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2017
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So let's get the obvious out of the way. As many reviewers said, this is no "American Gods". There, I said it. Does that mean it's a bad book? Not even close. Because, get this, a book can not be American Gods and still be good. Imagine that!
The main difference with American Gods is that it's more fun and light hearted. Many passages made me smile, and some passages even made me laugh out loud. The humor is a bit English, so I guess it may be a hit or miss depending on your taste.
The story is centered around the African god Anansi, the storyteller and trickster. He's not an evil god, he just likes to liven up the situation, with varying degrees of success. In this book, Anansi is a charmer who likes to take the ladies for a dance, sing, and tell stories. His kid Charlie, like most kids, finds his dad terribly embarrassing, so he lives the opposite life: boring, predictable, safe. Until that is his father dies, and he learns he has a brother he knows nothing of. The brother is a lot like dad, and enters Charlie's life like a whirlwind, and opening the door to a supernatural dimension Charlie knew nothing about. And before you know it, both brothers' lives are turned upside down and... you'll have to read the book to know.
You don't need to know much about Anansi and African mythology beforehand, as the book explains enough of it, but I recommend it anyway. Mythology isn't just fun, the way people entertained themselves before books, TVs and cell phones. It's also a fascinating insight in human psychology. So take a few minutes of your time to read more about it, and the book will be even more fun to read.
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justme
4.0 out of 5 stars Darkly mesmerizing adult fantasy (Audio Edition)
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2017
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I bought the Kindle Edition of this intending to read it right away, but non-bookworm stuff came up. Then, the audio edition was an Audible Daily Deal, so I grabbed it. One night fairly recently, the internet was down, so I started the novel (Kindle Edition). I was immediately sucked right into the story. Mr. Gaiman has a talent for mixing the darkly surreal with humor that very few authors have that I love. A few days later, I decided to start on the audio edition, despite minor reservations, because I really like the narration that Mr. Gaiman did on _Coraline_ and _The Ocean at the End of the Lane_. My reservations were so unfounded because Lenny Henry narrated this so wonderfully. I think he really made each character--and each interaction between characters--shine. I know a lot of people are going to probably want to cyber-stone me for saying this, but I think I actually liked this book a bit more than _American Gods_ overall. Both are dark and surreal, but this one just seemed to have connections between the characters and the various threads of the story that felt more earthy and meaningful.
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paul ledford
4.0 out of 5 stars Suspend your need for normal
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2017
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The Anansi Boys is like a modern day trip in and out of Never Land. Just when you believe you know where you're going the story changes shape. Give it a shot .
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Top reviews from other countries

Philip Whiteland
5.0 out of 5 stars What a brilliant book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2018
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What a brilliant book! A sort of sequel to the mighty American Gods, this is much more lighthearted and curiously Wodehousian in parts. When the Spider God Anansi (possibly the most sympathetic character in American Gods) dies, his sons are left to sort things out. No problem for Spider, who seems to have inherited the God-like qualities but it's life-chamnging in every way for Fat Charlie. Funny, life-affirming and the baddies get what's coming to them. What more could you ask for? Mr. Gaiman is rapidly becoming my new favourite autho, filling the considerable void left by the late, great, Terry Pratchett's.
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WriterReader876
4.0 out of 5 stars Different take on a fantasy tale with twists
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2017
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Another great piece of modern mythology from a fantasy master. My only reservation with Gaiman is that this is yet another hapless hero who comes good, it's a repeated motif, but definitely a different angle - Afro-Caribbean mythology.
Gaiman has such humour, so evocative of Terry Pratchett, yet also never fails to endear us to his characters. In this one, the wise, yet mercurial Afro-Caribbean ladies who are the neighbours of his father who has (allegedly) passed away, are real gems.
I love the different setting of this story, the twists, the new ground explored. There is something unexpected and ancient about African origin stories. So yes, a good read if you want something different.
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Pamela Scott
4.0 out of 5 stars Original and crazy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2017
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Anansi Boys is a good read but not exactly what I was expecting.

I loved the premise of the book, discovering your wastrel of a father is a God and you have a brother you don’t remember who’s also a God. I thought this was original.

I loved reading about Charlie’s life when Spider invades it. There are some really funny moments when Spider swans in and just takes over, seducing Charlie’s fiancée, pretending to be Charlie at work and uncovering some dodgy going’s on and generally just getting in the way.
Charlie finds Spider threatening and wants him to go away. However, it’s at this point when things really get out of control. I really enjoyed the unexpected twists and turns. The book starts to get quite dark which I wasn’t expecting at all.
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Liam
5.0 out of 5 stars How the story of a god ends
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2016
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This is a beautiful book, I have become a big Neil Gaiman over the years and I particularity like the books based around gods.

This book follows "Fat Charlie" a man so less than ordinary people barely notice him, but when he has to travel back to America for the funeral of his absentee father he discovers his father may not be what he seemed and that there may be more to Charlie than meets the eye.

If you don't have time to read the book I recommend buying the Audiobook from Audible read by Lenny Henry who really brings the story and the characters to life.
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Paul Traynor
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh damn I finished it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2015
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It's a testimony to Mr Gaiman's novel how tired I feel today. I started reading this on Friday in the last couple of days of my holiday and I decided I couldn't actually stop reading it until I had read the last half of Anansi Boys in a final sitting on Sunday night which resulted in turning off the kindle at 4am on Monday. More worrying than reading fatigue, though, is what will fill the void now that I've finished it? I'll be downloading another of his books later and hope it's even a little bit as excellent as Anansi Boys.

I really enjoyed the character profiles; the author did a great job building the roles and relationships and I really felt that I knew something of each of them quite quickly, which made me care what happened to them. Nobody was there just as a vehicle for keeping the main characters and the story moving - everyone contributed, even the minor characters and they are all likeable (in their own way).

Minor gripes (and it's probably just me) would be the slightly cliched metaphysical background settings in the alternative dimension and I would have liked a bit more on the seeming mortality of the godly characters. But those things aside, it's a great story well told and I loved it.
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