American Gods

1927 Pages·2001·3.01 MB·English

by  Neil Gaiman

ALSO BY NEIL GAIMAN
Stardust
Smoke and Mirrors
Neverwhere
Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett)

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copyright owners of material reproduced in this book.
Omissions brought to our attention will be corrected in
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following for granting permission to use their material in this
book:
Excerpt from “The Witch of Coos” from Two Witches from
The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery
Lathem, © 1951 by Robert Frost, copyright 1923, 1969 by
Henry Holt and Co. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt
and Company, LLC.
“Tango Till They’re Sore” by Tom Waits. Copyright © 1985
by JALMA Music.Used by Permission. All rights reserved.
“Old Friends” Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Copyright © 1981 Rilting Music, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Used by Permission. warner bros. publications u.s. inc.,
Miami, FL 33014.
“In the Dark with You” by Greg Brown. Copyright © 1985
by Hacklebarney Music/ASCAP. Used by Permission. All
rights reserved.
The lines from “in just-.” Copyright 1923, 1951, © 1991 by
the Trustees for the E.E. Cummings Trust. Copyright ©
1976 by George James Firmage, from Complete Poems
1904-1962 by E.E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage.
Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.
“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” by Bennie Benjamin, Sol
Marcus and Gloria Caldwell. © 1964 Bennie Benjamin
Music Inc. © Renewed, assigned to WB Music Corp.,
Bennie Benjamin Music, Inc. and Chris-N-Jen Music. All
rights o/b/o Bennie Benjamin Music Inc. administered by
Chappell & Co. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS U.S. INC., Miami,
FL 33014.
Excerpt from “The Second Coming” reprinted with the
permission of Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.,
from The Poems of W.B. Yeats: A New Edition, edited by
Richard J. Finneran. Copyright © 1924 by Macmillan
Publishing Company; copyright renewed © 1952 by Bertha
Georgie Yeats.
AMERICAN GODS. Copyright © 2001 by Neil Gaiman. All
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ON THE ROAD TO AMERICAN GODS: SELECTED
PASSAGES FROM NEIL GAIMAN’S ONLINE
JOURNAL © 2001 by Neil Gaiman.
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MS Reader edition v 1. June 2001 ISBN 0-06-001061-4
Print edition first published in 2001 HarperCollins Publishers
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Caveat, and Warning for Travelers
This is a work of fiction, not a guidebook.
While the geography of the United States of
America in this tale is not entirely imaginary
—many of the landmarks in this book can be
visited, paths can be followed, ways can be
mapped—I have taken liberties. Fewer
liberties than you might imagine, but liberties
nonetheless.
Permission has neither been asked nor given
for the use of real places in this story when
they appear, I expect that the owners of Rock
City or the House on the Rock, and the
hunters who own the motel in the center of
America, are as perplexed as anyone would
be to find their properties in here.
I have obscured the location of several of the
places in this book: the town of Lakeside, for
example, and the farm with the ash tree an
hour south of Blacksburg. You may look for
them if you wish. You might even find them.
Furthermore, it goes without saying that all
of the people, living, dead, and otherwise in
this story are fictional or used in a fictional
context. Only the gods are real.