Let's all pray the American Gods

8) Background books

On the Rez

A book about the Oglala Sioux on Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the porrest places in America (at least at the time Neil Gaiman put together his bibliography), and about SuAnne Big Crow, a basketball player. 

Confederates in the Attic: Despatches from the Unfinished Civil War

Neil Gaiman bought and tried to read it in preparation for American Gods, but couldn’t get into it... It took him two whole years to get into it again, as he was writing American Gods, and he devoured it. 

The Forbidden Zone

Neil Gaiman first read a chapter of this book while doing online research about slaughterhouses. Despite the book being out of print, he managed to obtain a copy from a New Mexico bookstore - and this book ended up shaping and informing American Gods in many ways, both direct and indirect. Neil Gaiman is really sad that it is out of print ; and he points out that he has been a fan of the author, Michael Lesy, ever since another one of his books, “Wisconsin Death Trip”, about painting a darker and disturbing picture of the Wisconsin in frontier times. Wisconsin Death Trip is in fact another one of the books that influenced American Gods: some anecdotes and attitudes from this book ended up being present in the Lakeside parts of the novel. 

The Day of the Dead and other reflections

(Of its actual title, The Day of the Dead and other mortal reflections)

Neil Gaiman considers the author one of his favorite essayist alongside David Quammen - and it is from this book that Neil Gaiman “got” Coatlicue. 

Stranger from a Distant Shore: A History of Asian Americans 

Neil Gaiman used this book to research a lot of stuff that “never worked its way into American Gods”, but that will maybe appear in another book. At least, this is what he writes in the bibliography, but since we are all American Gods fan of modern days, we now know what he referred to in the bibliography: the “Somewhere in America” deleted section about a kitsune ending up in a Japanese internment camp of WWII America. 

9) African heritage

As Neil Gaiman says, these are the books he used concerning Mr. Nancy, and “the tale of the twins” (Wututu and Agasu).

A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore + A Treasury of African Folklore, by Harold Courlander

The African Slave Trade, by Basil Davidson

The Slave Trade: The Story of African Slave Trade, 1440-1870

(Of its actual name, “The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade)

Neil Gaiman precises that he took a lot from this book, written by Hugh Thomas, alongside Bullwhip Days (see below) - but he also admitted that he had to downplay what actually happened historically when writing “American Gods” because he didn’t want to turn his scenes into an “atricity exhibition”.

Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember - An Oral History

In Neil Gaiman’s words, “Urgent, human narratives and utterly heartbreaking”, as this book is a collection of the testimonies of the last surviving Americans who had been slave, collected in the mid-1930s.

Voodoo in New Orleans

Neil Gaiman explains that this book does not manage to convey the actual feel of the New Orlenas Voodoo, but it is an excellent book when it comes to the history of the “various Maries Laveau or Marie Laveaux”. However, if someone wants a better book by Robert Tallant, they should check Gumbo Yaya (see below)

Gumbo Yaya

Neil Gaiman was offered this book as a gift by Nancy Collins, and he realized he did need it a lot. It is an excellent book covering the folk beliefs, magic and folklore of New Orleans and Louisiana. 

Voodoo in Haiti

5) Fairy books

When it comes to fairies, Neil Gaiman only has one book to recommend:

A Dictionary of Fairies

Neil Gaiman recommends this book to anyone who wants to know more about the events talked about in the Essie Tregowan part of the novel. He also points it out as a good companion to his other novel, “Stardust”. “Wonderful tales and characters abound”, in his opinion, although he finds it a bit frustrating that it does not contain all the entries it refers one to.

6) Cryptids book (+ informative books)

Cryptozoology A to Z

Neil Gaiman thought this book to be “great fun” - even though he points out that for his novel he used the more mythical incarnation of the thunderbirds, rather than the ones depicted in this book. 

Lies my Teacher Told Me  + Lies Across America, by James W. Loewen

2) America by the road

Here is a handful of books talking about... let’s say “America by the road”.

Roadside America (1986, Jack Barth, Dough Kirby, Ken Smith and Mike Wilkins)

The New Roadside America (1992, Mike Wilkins, Ken Smith, Doug Kirby)

About these books, Neil Gaiman precises that there is more content in the revised edition, but that the essays of the first edition are longer and it feels less crammed. The second edition has 80 more pages to its account, while the first edition rather presents color photos. He also insists that the books are less fun than the website corresponding to them, (www.roadsideamerica.com) which holds a lot more surprises and wonders. (I haven’t checked if the website is still up)

America Bizarro ; in Neil Gaiman’s own words “strange festivals, state by state”

3) General mythology books

In Neil Gaiman’s own words, “some handy books that may be of use to the casual reader”

Who’s Who in Non-Classical Mythology

Neil Gaiman thought of this book as “genuinely useful”, and it is where he discovered the Slavonic myths (and where his fascination for it started out)

A Dictionary of World Mythology

According to Neil Gaiman, “not unuseful even though it has nothing on the Slavonic myths”. 

Encyclopedia of Gods

Neil Gaiman barely used it, says it basically recycles a lot of things you can find elsewhere, and it has some glaring mistakes, such as describing Sleipnir as “winged”. But, he still included it in the bibliography because it has entries on some deities that other books tend to skip over, such as Coatlicue.

Myths and Legends of All Nations