Enjoyed this Gaiman novel quite a bit. But not as much as 'American Gods', which I felt had more mystery and suspense. Both books have the same concept. You have a regular guy as your main character who discovers he's related to god-like beings. The novels revolve around those revelations and how the main characters adjust to their new founds 'roots'.In Anansi Boys, Charlie discovers his father is actually the spider god - Anansi. Anansi who is a trickster, and whom all the other animal gods have found themselves as the butt of his devilish pranks from time to time. Anansi also owns all of the stories, due to weaving more creative upbeat yarns than Tiger, which creates conflict for Charlie further down the road. Anansi also enjoys singing and Karioke.
Alas! Anansi is no more. Charlie makes these discoveries after his father's funeral, at the home of some eldery old women still haunting Charlie's old neighborhood.
The crux of the story however is when they reveal to Charlie, that unbeknowst to him, he also has a brother - Spider, who apparently inheriated all of the Godlike genes of the family. Spider comes to pay his long lost brother a visit, and doesn't leave. Not only has Spider attached his monsterously large dream room to Charlie's closet for the long haul, but he's also stolen Charlie's fiance - Rosie (who can't tell the two apart).
It's a fun globel romp romp from there, as Charlie tries to put back the pieces of his former life.
One thing I liked about the ending <* spoiler alert - close your eyes! *> was that Charlie decided to remain his current self and not to merge back with Spider. Both 'Charlies' had grown in positive ways through the story and it was nice to see continue on in their separate ways.
Overall, I enjoyed the book.
Grade: B
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