Americans love American Gods
Selena and I recently finished reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. You can find it rated and updated on Selena or my GoodReads page, if you are part of that social network (or if you want to be, please join and befriend).
What I found most interesting about this book was not the spot-on accurate detail with which Gaimen described the different landmarks of Midwest Americana, nor the complex interweaving of the myth and lore of the different gods into the fictional characters he created for each. No, what I found most interested is how popular reading this book made me.
Four times, while reading Niel Gaiman’s American Gods, complete strangers started a conversation with me praising the book - twice on a Metro, once in a coffee shop and once during jury duty. Each of the four people approached me with exuberance, excited about the book I was reading and for me reading it. Each of the four went on to suggest another Niel Gaiman book I should read when I am done.
This has never come about from reading a book before. At our book club, I told this story and a single friend joked that she is going to carry American Gods around all the time, or put whatever she is reading in the American Gods dustjacket, to see how that boosts her chances.

















