Kusnetz, Ilyse, “New gods are up to learning old tricks”, Orlando Sentinel, 29 July 2001, F4
If Jack Kerouac had written The Lord of the Rings, it might have resembled Neil Gaiman’s new novel about new gods, old tricks and that classic American version of the hero’s quest: the road trip.
American Gods is the story of Shadow, a Herodotus-reading ex-con, and his adventures with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, as they attempt to prevent a gang of upstart New World deities from killing off their Old World counterparts. Adopting false identities, Shadow and Wednesday steer their way through a middle America of late-night diners, gas stations, roadside attractions and small towns with even smaller populations.
Their journey allows Gaiman, author of the fantasy novels Stardust and Neverwhere, to explore a tension between ancient and modern myth while ruminating about the nature of belief, and to lend a contemporary spin to the gods and legends of bygone times.
On the surface, Gaiman’s novel poses a basic question: What happens to Old World gods when their worshipers immigrate to the New World and begin to lose their connection to the past?
Shadow soon discovers the gods are living ordinary lives, eking out a pitifully reduced existence.
While on the road, he encounters the Russian winter-god Czernobog and his three sisters, and later Messrs. Jacquel and Ibis, proprietors of a funeral parlor (a fitting occupation for these former gods of the Egyptian underworld). The main plot is interspersed with Mr. Ibis’ poignant “stories,” remembrances of immigrants who came — voluntarily or otherwise — to America, still embracing their old ways of worship.
Mythology buffs will connect the dots early and realize that Mr. Wednesday is actually Odin, or Wotan, the one-eyed god of Norse mythology, after whom the day is named.
Shadow’s true origins are well, shadowy. His desire to save the future leads him into the past as he pieces together the tantalizing clues that will reveal his own identity in an endless cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Completing the wild bunch are Mr. Nancy, a figure from Caribbean mythology; Sweeney, a rebellious leprechaun; Laura, Shadow’s dead wife who has accidentally been brought back to life; and Hinzelmann, who lives in the idyllic town of Lakeside, where he holds the key to a sinister secret.
As well as offering his readers a fascinating trawl through lesser known pantheons, Gaiman, who is best known for his Sandman graphic-novel series, pokes fun at the shallow materiality of contemporary institutions. The goddess Media, for example, is a slick public relations woman who’s not above offering Shadow a lewd peek at Lucy Ricardo’s private parts during an I Love Lucy episode, while the god of computer technology is a pimply adolescent who smells like burnt circuitry.
The characters often have mythic or cartoonlike names, but personality quirks such as Shadow’s compulsive tendency to practice sleight-of-hand coin tricks, and Wednesday’s love of bad jokes, render them enjoyably three-dimensional. Gaiman’s eye for visual detail further animates the novel.
In the hands of a less experienced writer, the “old gods vs. new gods” scenario might dissolve into cliche, but there is more to this thoughtful fantasy-thriller than meets the eye. In a clever plot twist, we discover that Gaiman’s coin, like his protagonist’s, has been in the other hand all along. This misdirection guides a well- paced, action-packed narrative through subtler reflections about the enduring nature of chaos, and the tenuous status of our most modern beliefs.
Ilyse Kusnetz teaches writing and literature at Valencia Community College.
Puck | 
07 30th, 2001| 
