Brittany Christmas

UWRT 1103
Professor Brown
December 1, 2015
Annotated Bibliography for American Gods
Barnett, David. "A Book for the Beach: American Gods by Neil Gaiman." A Book for the
Beach (2014): n. pag. Print.
In this article A Book for the Beach by David Barnett only a few things are
discussed. This article was a positive review of Gaimans novel and they
compared his writing to renown author Stephen King. The author respected and
enjoyed Gaimans unique storyline and his senses of mystery and horror. Along
with sharing his thoughts on the novel, Barnett also gave a quick summary of the
novel for those who havent read it yet.
This article showed another persons view on the novel. Riding someone
else interpretation and likes of the book compared to my own ideas was
interesting. It gave the opportunity to see what was similar and what ideas we
differed on. I do wish Barnett would have done a more detailed critique, it was all
very simple and did not give too much on his personal opinion. But, overall it was
a good review and discussed the book well.

Gaiman, Neil. "Archives." Neil Gaiman. Harper Collins Publishers, 2001. Web. 01 Dec.
2015.
This source is an archived compilation of journal type entries that the Neil
Gaiman,the author of American Gods, wrote during the book writing process and
release. If you go through the archives to the first one labeled February 2001
and read through all the 2001 archive articles you will find updates Gaiman wrote
while making the book. Some of the articles also touch on his other works, but
mostly it just describes his process and the things he had to do.
I found it all very interesting that Gaiman kept almost a journal while writing
and releasing his work. It gives an insight to his opinions on his own novel and it
helps me understand the novel more. I do wonder why he didnt include how he
came up with any of his ideas. I think that would have been very interesting to
add. But overall, seeing the authors personal thoughts was very interesting.

American Gods: Missed Opportunities. The Juggler. N.p., 14 May 2010. Web. 10 Dec.
2015.
In the forum post American Gods: Missed Opportunities a critical review is
given. The writer didnt necessarily say he hated the novel, but he did say that
Gaiman did not take as many chances and expand as much as he should have.
The writer of the review said There are tons of great ideas, any one of which

could develop into a fantastic novel in its own right, but not a single one gets
fleshed out enough to carry the whole book. The book had great ideas and great
points, but they were written poorly and executed mediocrely according to the
writer.
I do agree that a lot of aspects could have been made better by expanding
more. But, unlike the critic I think the novel is still really amazing as is. Maybe I
liked it because I am uninformed on the culture and nature of the gods and if I
had a better grasp of those things the book would put me off. But, I believe the
masses dont know details about pagan gods and such. But, overall reading
someone else completely differing opinion was really interesting and gave me a
new insight to the novel.

"Odin." Norse Mythology for Smart People. Dan McCoy, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
In the article Odin written by Dan McCoy the god Odin, who is featured as
a main character in the novel American Gods, it discusses the origins of the
mythic god. The article hits a lot of key points about the god. It describes Odin as
being a war god along as a poetry god. He has aspects of both in non traditional
ways. Odin is also described as a trickster and can be known to cause sorts of
trouble and help outlaws, etc. It also discusses Odins relationship to the dead
and how he relates more to that than to war.

This article was very helpful in understanding the character Wednesday/

Odin. It explained more about who the god is and what he is known for. I am still
curious how one can be a war god and a poetry god and also relate to death so
deeply. This article gave me mostly a clear understanding of the god Odin.

"The Reading Agency." Neil Gaiman Delivers Our Second Annual Lecture. The Reading
Agency, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
This article and video features Neil Gaiman and his work with different
education- related organizations. The video is a speech Neil Gaiman gave in
2013 in regard to The Reading Agency. Gaiman discusses the importance of
reading and how it impacts children and even adults. He also discusses that
reading should be fun and not forced and he touched on the significance of
libraries.
I agree with Gaiman and his thoughts on the importance of reading. Personally,
novels and reading have impacted my life in big ways and I am sure that is true for
many. His speech was very interesting to hear and it is good to know that amazing
authors support childrens literacy so much. The video and article doesnt touch on his
actual work with The Reading Agency though. And I feel that knowing about his specific
work with the organization could help make his point. But, overall it was a inspiring
speech and I agree whole-heartedly with him.