The Anansi Boys

The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman takes the legend of Anansi the Spider and updates it. This is about Anansi's two sons Fat Charlie and Spider who grew up in south Florida only to be parted by an angry neighbor that sends Spider away. If you didn't grow up with Anansi tales or read them to your children, you should read about him.

This story is about separated brothers reunited in modern London. But is it also a giant Anansi story with Animal totems living in the cliffs at The Beginning of the World. It is a well crafted story that I couldn't put down and enjoyed to the end. It illustrates how Life is just the tale we tell, and a gifted storyteller can make that tale so much more meaningful. It also shows how the world of our mind is meshed so closely with the world of our perceptions, how Spirit and Flesh, Sacred and Profane dance together to the sound of Song.