First published in 2001 American Gods became an instant classic?an intellectual and artistic
benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction Neil Gaiman. Now
discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this tenth anniversary edition. Newly
updated and expanded with the author's preferred text this commemorative volume is a true
celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one the only Neil Gaiman. A storm is coming . . .
Locked behind bars for three years Shadow did his time quietly waiting for the magic day when
he could return to Eagle Point Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring
all he wanted was to be with Laura the wife he deeply loved and start a new life. But just
days before his release Laura and Shadow's best friend are killed in an accident. With his
life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger
he meets on the way home an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and
rogue Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself. Life as Wednesday's
bodyguard driver and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever
imagined?it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a
host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the
way Shadow will learn that the past never dies that everyone including his beloved Laura
harbors secrets and that dreams totems legends and myths are more real than we know.
Ultimately he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is
brewing?an epic war for the very soul of America?and that he is standing squarely in its path.
Relevant and prescient American Gods has been lauded for its brilliant synthesis of ?mystery
satire sex horror and poetic prose? (Michael Dirda Washington Post Book World) and as a
modern phantasmagoria that ?distills the essence of America? (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It
is quite simply an outstanding work of literary imagination that will endure for generations.
