I read this a little while ago and loved it =] so I thought I'd post here. I know there is at least one other Gaiman fan around here!
American Gods is set in America (obv) from the point of view of a guy called Shadow. He was convicted for bank robbery and is set to be released from jail just as the story starts. He is released a few days early due to the death of his wife in a car accident that also killed his best friend. Lost and numbed by the death of his beloved wife, Laura, he becomes involved with the enigmatic and weirdly all-knowing Mr Wednesday, who hires him to be his body-guard and general helper as he travels around America visiting his friends and colleagues.
This book isn't just an ordinary story about America, it's intertwined with mythology and religion. It contains a lot of philosophical ideas about the nature of Gods and modern society. It is revealed that many of the gods of myth - such as Odin, Anubis and Czernobog - are living in America, in the form of normal people, surviving in a world that hardly even remembers them.
What made is so wonderful was that these characters are all wonderfully cynical and Shadow himself is so messed up by his wife's death that he's become almost uncaring and unquestioning. The descriptions of the places and the people are brilliantly real.
I'd suggest anyone to read it =] especially if you enjoy philosophy and big thoughts, as well as great human characters mixed with mythology and the fantastic.
