Ananzi Boys

Ananzi Boys is probably my favorite Gaiman book, right off that bat.

I wasn't too familiar with African storytelling, I knew a little of Anazi beforehand but the book seemed well researched.

The "casual" magic in the book is what made it so entertaining. How simple things some how had power and would stick like old Mr. Nancy's nicknames for that Goofy Dog or Fat Charlie, how easy it was for Spider to lie to everyone. Little things that are clearly unnatural but wouldn't be called supernatural by the bystander. I think this is a clear mark of Contemporary Fantasy. To try to work magic into our world without making is shocking .

Fat Charlie and Spider have two opposite personalities. Fat Charlie is careful, concerned, a little soft. While Spider is careless, adventurous, and mischievous. I do like that among the brothers Gaiman didn't decide to to the good twin/evil twin thing. While the boys are very different I wouldn't call Fat Charlie good, he's just a regular man. And I wouldn't call Spider evil though he's done some awful things in the past. (The thing about Tricksters in myth is they aren't evil, they don't particularly have ill will they're still nuisances and you don't really feel bad if something happens to them.) Their distinct personality are seemingly explained when the old woman in florida (i forgot her name right now) tells Fat Charlie that he and Spider used to be one. But he was such a problem child that she used magic to essentially rip the trickster out of him.

What's really fun is that Fat Charlie and Spider seem to switch personalities when Spider steals Fat Charlie's fiance and Fat Charlie becomes more interested in the policewoman.

Anyway in the end Spider proves that he does have a soft side, and he isn't so careless while Fat Charlie shows off his own cunning trickster personality. It's funny these two boys were essentially half a person. But when they met instead fusing our whatever they stayed separate but became fuller character with more dimension to their original personalities.

Very cool read, i'd recommend it to a lot of people