Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys (2005) Neil Gaiman

Couldn’t decide upon a new-to-me book to read, so I went to my fall back position: a reread of a favorite.

This is a follow-up of sorts to American Gods. It’s a follow-up only because it’s set in the same world, and contains Aunt Nancy/Anansi.

But the story isn’t about Anansi. It about his son Fat Charlie.

If you think your parents are embarrassing, imagine having Anansi as a father. Anansi the trickster, the trouble-maker.

(H)e took a handful of mixed nuts from the bowl on the table and began to toss them into his mouth, chomping down on them as if each nut was a twenty-year-old indignity that could never be erased.

I have much sympathy for Fat Charlie, because this is EXACTLY how I feel:

If something that even looked like it might be embarrassing was about to happen on his television screen Fat Charlie would leap up and turn it off. If that was not possible, say if other people were present, he could leave the room on some pretext ad wait until the moment of embarrassment was sure to be over.

I have done that. I hate movies and shows where the humor comes from embarrassment. Hate them. So how could I not be empathetic to Fat Charlie?

In his dreams, Fat Charlie was himself, only clumsier.

Yeah, that too. Which makes Fat Charlie’s brother, Spider, even harder to take:

His brother looked like Fat Charlie wished he looked in his mind.

Of course, there are characters besides Charlie and Spider. There is Fat Charlie’s boss, Grahame Coats.

It wasn’t that people liked Grahame Cats, or that they trusted him. Even the people he represented thought he was a weasel. But they believed that he was their weasel, and in that they were wrong.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up someone I have to deal with in a regular basis.

But don’t worry, things get better for Fat Charlie. It’s just they have to get really really worse before they get better.

This was just the escape I was looking for, and it was just as good as I remembered.
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by HarperCollins

 
 

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