American Gods Book Club Questions
Welcome to the Buddy Book Club – we have a light-hearted comedic podcast that covers a variety of books. American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a fantasy/mythology novel. Reading this book feels like taking LSD on a road trip across America.
We did a full breakdown of American Gods on our podcast episode. We chatted about P vs V consumption, go to orders at a diner, the sniff test, angel lust and ultimately if we’re actually smart enough to read/understand everything that went on in this epic book. So check it out if you’re interested.
Our book club questions try to be a little more outside the box/comedic than your typical book club questions – hopefully you enjoy them.
Book Club Discussion Questions – American Gods by Neil Gaiman
-> Did you catch the reference to ‘angel lust’? Also known as the ‘death erection‘ or ‘terminal erection’. Turns out this is something that actually happens, is this the most disturbing fact about dying?
I feel like if this happened to me I would die again from embarrassment…
-> There was a lot going on in this book, did you feel like you were following the plot lines and all the different characters or were you like us and felt a little overwhelmed?
It felt like Gaiman was flexing his muscles a bit, showing all the research he had done.
-> We at the Buddy Book Club love a good diner, and this book featured a number of diner scenes. What is your go to order at a diner?
Eggs over easy, hash browns well done, toast, bacon, diner coffee. Or whatever the ‘All-Star Special’ is for the diner. Easy peazy.
-> Shadow just accepts everything without questions. Wednesday tells him everything about his life on the plane and Shadow’s jus accepts it all. Is Shadow too even-keeled or trauma-dead inside?
I guess since everyone around him is so crazy you need to have at least one person who is a bit more even-keeled.
-> Shadow mentions that he loves baths. As Cosmo Kramer once said, ‘I’m sitting there in a tepid pool of my own filth’. Are you a bath person? What do you rank higher a private bath or a public hot tub?
Tough choice but I think I’m going hot tub, if I’m just looking to get clean I’ll take a shower.
-> What was your favorite storyline in the book? For us it was the small-town Lakeside storyline.
Wish the book focused more on this aspect as I felt a bit more grounded and I was more invested during this part.
-> What did you think of the length of this book? I for one think I would rank this book a lot higher had it been about half the length. We’re you okay with the length or wish Gaiman was a bit more aggressive whilst editing?
A 20 hour audiobook needs to feel like 10 hours, this one felt like 40.
-> There was a 2017 TV show based on this book, did you like the casting? Who would you cast for these characters?
Check out our Make it a Movie Blogs.
