Anansi Boys

NEILGAIMAN

ANANSI BOYS

 

YOU KNOW HOW IT IS. YOU PICK UP A BOOK, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated a book to someone else and not to you.

Not this time.

Because we haven’t yet met/have only a glancing acquaintance/are just crazy about each other/ haven’t seen each other in much too long/are in some way related/will never meet, but will, I trust, despite that, always think fondly of each other….

This one’s for you.

With you know what, and you probably know why.

NOTE: the author would like to take this opportunity to tip his hat respectfully to the ghosts of Zora Neale Hurston, Thorne Smith, P. G.Wodehouse, and Frederick “Tex” Avery.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

ONE

WHICH IS MOSTLY ABOUT NAMES AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

CHAPTER

TWO

WHICH IS MOSTLY ABOUT THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN AFTER FUNERALS

CHAPTER

THREE

IN WHICH THERE IS A FAMILY REUNION

CHAPTER

FOUR

WHICH CONCLUDES WITH AN EVENING OF WINE, WOMEN AND SONG

CHAPTER

FIVE

IN WHICH WE EXAMINE THE MANY CONSEQUENCES OF THE MORNING AFTER

CHAPTER

SIX

IN WHICH FAT CHARLIE FAILS TO GET HOME, EVEN BY TAXI

CHAPTER

SEVEN

IN WHICH FAT CHARLIE GOES A LONG WAY

CHAPTER

EIGHT

IN WHICH A POT OF COFFEE COMES IN PARTICULARLY USEFUL

CHAPTER

NINE

IN WHICH FAT CHARLIE ANSWERS THE DOOR AND SPIDER ENCOUNTERS FLAMINGOS

CHAPTER

TEN

IN WHICH FAT CHARLIE SEES THE WORLD AND MAEVE LIVINGSTONE IS DISSATISFIED

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

IN WHICH ROSIE LEARNS TO SAY NO TO STRANGERS AND FAT CHARLIE ACQUIRES A LIME

CHAPTER

TWELVE

IN WHICH FAT CHARLIE DOES SEVERAL THINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

WHICH PROVES TO BE UNLUCKY FOR SOME

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

WHICH COMES TO SEVERAL CONCLUSIONS

Acknowledgments

THE ADVENTURES OF SPIDER

HOW DARE YOU?

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?

About the Author

Other Books by Neil Gaiman

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

CHAPTER

ONE

WHICH IS

MOSTLY

ABOUT NAMES

AND

FAMILY

RELATIONSHIPS

IT BEGINS, AS MOST THINGS BEGIN, WITH A SONG.

In the beginning, after all, were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world.

They were sung.

The great beasts were sung into existence, after the Singer had done with the planets and the hills and the trees and the oceans and the lesser beasts. The cliffs that bound existence were sung, and the hunting grounds, and the dark.

Songs remain. They last. The right song can turn an emperor into a laughingstock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and the people in it are dust and dreams and gone. That’s the power of songs.

There are other things you can do with songs. They do not only make worlds or recreate existence. Fat Charlie Nancy’s father, for example, was simply using them to have what he hoped and expected would be a marvelous night out.

Before Fat Charlie’s father had come into the bar, the barman had been of the opinion that the whole karaoke evening was going to be an utter bust; but then the little old man had sashayed into the room, walked past the table of several blonde women with the fresh sunburns and smiles of tourists, who were sitting by the little makeshift stage in the corner. He had tipped his hat to them, for he wore a hat, a spotless green fedora, and lemon-yellow gloves, and then he walked over to their table. They giggled.

“Are you enjoyin’ yourselves, ladies?” he asked.

They continued to giggle and told him they were having a good time, thank you, and that they were here on vacation. He said to them, it gets better, just you wait.

He was older than they were, much, much older, but he was charm itself, like something from a bygone age when fine manners and courtly gestures were worth something. The barman relaxed. With someone like this in the bar, it was going to be a good evening.