Anasi Boys

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" is a joyride for anyone who has been fascinated by age old folk tales, magic and wacky humor.
The book starts with Anansi, the trickster Spider-god, dying all of a sudden in his regular night club. His estranged son, Charles "Fat Charlie" Nancy, lives across the pond in London burbs and gets the news when he tries to locate his father to invite him, on the behest of this fiance, for his impending marriage. Fat Charlie likes a normal life with a 9-to-5 job, a few extra inches around his waist and not an ounce of magic or trickery about him. Heartbroken, somewhat to his own surprise, Fat Charlie, comes down to the US for his father's funeral.
At the funeral, he realizes that his father was a God (of sorts) and that he has a long lost brother, Spider. A brother who inherited Anansi's magical legacy and Godhood. In order to make up for lost time, Fat Charlie invites Spider to come and visit him. Spider turns up and singlehandedly almost destroys Fat Charlie's career and love life. What's more, Spider refused to get out of his un-magical brother's simple life. Desperate to get rid of his seemingly evil brother, Fat Charlie ends up making a deal to evict him with forces that are way behind his comprehension. The deal proves to be very expensive for Charlie.
The book is magical mostly because of the protagonist's journey from, er, Muggledom to that of a demi-God. It is, in its roots, a coming-of-age novel. Gaiman's clever prose and subtle yet wacky humor makes this a fun, fast read.
Highly recommended.