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| Anansi Boys: A Novel (Alex Awards (Awards)) | 
 enlarge | Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $7.27
You Save: $19.68 (73%)
New (7) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $4.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  183 reviews
Sales Rank: 468343
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.6 x 1.3
ASIN: B000FIHZB4
Publication Date: September 20, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Dreadful October 5, 2005
10 out of 26 found this review helpful
In a huge departure from his last novel, Gaiman writes a book about the son of a minor god.
Unlike the rest of the reviewers and critics here, I remember when Gaiman was good--Neverwhere, Sandman, etc., but with the exception of Coraline (which was perfect) everything he's produced in the past few years has been crap. American Gods was long-winded and boring, but at least it had a plot. This book has nothing.
Boring characters (Rosie, for God's sake! Fat Charlie! Spider! What inspired names!), a meandering plot, a complete lack of suspense or mystery, and no investment whatsoever in the story makes this among Gaiman's worse efforts. I can't figure out why he wrote this book--if you read Neverwhere or Coraline you can see the time and effort, the craft, the imagination in the characters. There are characters to fall in love with in those books. Everything here is made of cardboard.
Gaiman is not a bad writer, even if he has lost his touch, so there are funny bits in the book. I saw him at a signing and he read the Anansi story about tiger and Anansi's grandmother, and he did a very good job. That's one of the good parts in the book, and there are some funny bits of dialogue, but overall it's a three hour read and if you're honest with yourself by the end of it you'll wish you hadn't bothered.
 Good, but not Gaiman's best May 10, 2006
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
The problem with reading Neil Gaiman books is that he has awfully big shoes to fill - namely, his own. I'm a squealing fangirl for Sandman, and I loved Neverwhere and American Gods, but was totally underwhelmed with Stardust and Coraline. Somewhere in the middle of those two emotions comes Anansi Boys.
For the first, oh, fifty to sixty percent, I felt like Anasi Boys was going to be a big letdown. Then somewhere along the line, I didn't want to stop reading. It wasn't that I loved it all of a sudden, but I really wanted to find out what happened next.
I have the feeling that if this book weren't written by Neil Gaiman, I'd have loved it a lot more. As it is - I enjoyed it, but I am still a bit disappointed. I think something about the characterization was just not deep enough to win my heart. And it's a shame, because I could see the shining pinnacle of story that this book wanted to be, but it just didn't reach it. It was like the skinny kid who is trying so darned hard to ring the bell at the carnival with a big hammer, but just can't get the oomph behind it.
 Some stories are better heard than read August 26, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I have a comment on the CD version because, frankly, it was much more magical and interesting than the written work by itself. Anansi stories were made to tell around a fire at night, or out on the trail to pass the time, or, ever so quietly, while casting in a line to fish.
They are stories for people who do things, not just read things.
You can't read "Evil-doers beware!" and not think it's all a bit silly. But when you hear it around the fire, and thrill to the sound in your own blood, it doesn't sound silly at all. THAT's the power of stories told instead of read.
More importantly, Lenny Henry's voice captures every character as a unique creation. At first, the island accents are a little hard to follow, but then you get into the spirit of the thing. I know Lenny Henry as a comedian. I think the best comedians are observers and Henry has clearly observed a lot.
I enjoyed Mrs. Higler and Graham Coates the best, I suppose. Mrs. Higler is the voice of every well-meaning-but-meddling old woman who ever lived. Graham Coates is a fat weasel of a man who wants to be a big man. We've all met their type before. Lenny Henry takes us into their hearts with just a little bit of pacing and a fake accent or two.
Truthfully, though, I liked the stories BEHIND the stories, the original African tales worked into the novel, most of all. I played them for the toughest audience in the world-- my five-year old son. My son listened to the Anansi stories with a smile on his face that could outshine the sun. At the end of the tar-baby story he laughed and asked for more.
(Unfortunately, some of the book is a little too intense for young kids. So, I'm probably going to spend a fortune on e-bay to find some tapes Lenny Henry made of Mother Goose Tales. If they're half as good as Gaiman's & Henry's tale, it'll be worth it.)
I saw that a lot of people didn't like the book and all of those reviews compared this book unfavorably with American Gods. I suppose that's so. American Gods is a dark ride through the landscape and the psyche. It's magic at it's most threatening. A tale of terrors long-forgotten. A tiger tale. And those have their place.
If that's the only type of tale you like -- then neither this book nor this recording are for you.
But if there's a little "flexibility" in how you view the world. . . if you like to hear someone new tell an old story. . . if you think Br'er Rabbit and Bugs Bunny are zen philosophers in disguise. . . .
Well, then, this might be the best story you've ever heard.
Tiddly on Gaiman December 7, 2005
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is the story of how Fat Charlie got his chutzpah back and how Spider got Rosie. "Anansi Boys" is sweeter than its predecessor, "American Gods" but there are still a few razor blades hidden in the sticky buns.
Readers who don't like fantasy because of the overworked magician/dragon theme should read "Anansi Boys" anyway--just call it a work of magical reality. Yes, there is a dragon in the book, but only for the few sentences it takes to evolve into a glorious joke.
Neil Gaiman is like that. You can never predict what's going to show up on the next page. Each of his books is unique.
However, if you did read "American Gods," Fat Charlie is the son of funniest, dapperest bowler- hat-cocked-over-one-eye, seducer-of-women characters in the book. It is like being the son of a god with a Dave Barry sense of humor, and having your father pick you up after school in the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. You are totally embarrassed in front of all of your friends. Even though you grow up, move far, far away, and acquire a cool British accent, your life is still a series of unintended pratfalls.
Until your father dies, that is.
Then you discover a brother you never knew, who seduces your fiancee, takes over your apartment, alienates your boss, and ultimately gets you arrested. And your readers? They set you aside and fall in love with your brother. He seduced them the minute he walked into your life.
What can you do except call a curse down upon your brother's head, even if turns out to be your head too?
Reading Neil Gaiman's books is like getting tiddly on champagne: no hangover, just regret when the last bubble has been drunk.
DIsappointing March 17, 2006
8 out of 15 found this review helpful
Haven't read all his books, but this one was a big let down from Neverwhere. Everything seemed to fit together too neatly. Explanations for events weren't believable or were non-existant. I would have given it only one star, but it was just interesting enough to read through to the end. Don't buy it, borow it from the library - if you must. Personally, I suggest skipping it altogether.
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