Anansi Tales

Fat Charlie Nancy wasn't too fond of his dad, whom he hadn't kept in touch with very well. Probably because most of his memories of the man involve Mr. Nancy embarrassing Charlie. And giving him the name "Fat Charlie," which has stuck even though he hasn't been overweight for 20 years. But when Mr. Nancy dies of a heart attack on a karaoke stage, Charlie begins to see his dad in a whole new light. He learns that his dad was actually Anansi, the trickster god. Suddenly a brother Charlie never knew about shows up and his life starts to fall apart.

I just finished listening to Anansi Boys, the latest book by my favorite storyteller, Neil Gaiman. It's a fun tale of a sympathetic character and traditional myth in the modern world. This probably comes as no surprise, but I highly recommend it. It was a good one to listen to, too; the main character is a Black Englishman and to read it they found . . . a Black Englishman, Lenny Henry, who not only does Charlie well, but also his American brother and a host of Caribbean and African voices/accents.

That recommendation shared, even though all of the reviews I have seen compare this favorably to American Gods, I think I have to disagree. This one is tighter and more evenly paced, but I prefer American Gods exactly because of its sprawling . . . American-ness. I especially enjoyed Gaiman's perspective on the States as someone who has adopted the country and culture. I appreciated it through fresh eyes. It's a longer, more convoluted journey with many detours, but American Gods remains my favorite Neil Gaiman book.

One other note for my D&D group: a number of the descriptions of Charlie's father and brother describe well what I have in mind when role-playing Degolar. I can't go back and look them up right now since all I have is the CD audio, but when my turn comes for the book I'll share them with you.