Writing on Reading: Anansi Boys

I recently read Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman says it is a "funny, scary, romantic comedy, thriller about Gods and the Supernatural and the power of stories and so on. I guess it's about how to survive families".

I say, "Wow, this was excellent! I highly recommend it." The prose, characterizations and plot are excellent.

Very briefly, Anansi Boys is the story of Fat Charlie (who isn't actually fat) a timid accountant living in London, whose wedding preparations are interrupted by his father's death in Florida. At the funeral, Fat Charlie learns he has a hitherto unknown brother AND his father was an incarnation of the West African spider god, Anansi. Antics ensue. :)

Interestingly, Gaiman withdrew Anansi Boys from consideration for the Hugo Award. He said in August 2006, "I suppose partly I did it because I have three Hugos already, and I felt it was better to get more names on the ballot that weren't mine, and partly because I think I feel more comfortable when the things of mine that get Hugo nominations are marginally closer to SF than to pure fantasy, but mostly because when they told me Anansi Boys was nominated it just felt right to say no thank you, this time. Obviously I'm grateful to everyone who voted for it, and happy for the other awards that it's won and is nominated for, but on this one, well, it just felt right to say no. So I did."

Wow!