ISBN: 0755305078
It begins, as most things begin, with a song
Fat Charlie is fat, but the nickname has stuck. It is his father’s fault, if Fat Charlie’s dad calls something by a nickname, then that nickname sticks. Fat Charlie’s dad, you see, is Anansi, the god. And he is dead. At the funeral Fat Charlie learns he has a brother, Spider, and that if ever he wants to see his brother he just has to tell a spider.
You can see that trouble is on its way.
This is a really enjoyable book, set in the same general ‘verse as Gaiman’s American Gods, but very different in style and tone. This is more of a comedy, albeit with flashes of darkness. Not a hugly laugh out loud comedy, but an amusing one, that’ll keep you entertained.
As usual with Gaiman there are some wonderful images and passages. Our first meeting with the bird lady. The descriptions of Graham Coats. And Fat Charlie’s life being upset by an unwanted guest
He climbed into the bath.
He made a whimpering noise.
He climbed out of the bath.
He turned off the taps.
He wrapped a towel around his midriff and opened the bathroom door. “No hot water,” he said, much, much too calmly.
Go on, you know you want to read it.
I liked it. In fact I just read it to my wife and actually liked it more the second time. He says he wrote it in the tradition of several other writers, one being P.G. Wodehouse, and I can see this. I really like that type of comedy and I really liked the odd love stories in this one as well.
Speaking of American Gods, have you read the short story about Shadow called 'Monarch of the Glen'? Its in the Legends II anthology and is most likely available for reading online somewhere. It is a short tale of Shadow set after the events of AG and reading it recently felt really cool, returning to that world was fun.
Carl I skimmed part of that short story. I keep meaning to buy Legends II, I have the first one somewhere.
I've never read Wodehouse, so can't compare, but it was a great, odd, book