Talk:American Gods

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Would it be possible for someone to write up a list of mythologies Gaiman references?

Contents 1 Media Distribution of Book 2 Shadow as Baldur 3 citeneeded 4 Balder Moon 5 The guy no one remembers

[edit] Media Distribution of Book

It says that the book was only done in hardcover and softcover print format, yet I have the audio book on CD, can someone find a reference online and update the article? Thanks. 71.225.125.176 15:45, 23 January 2007 (UTC) --Stexe

[edit] Shadow as Baldur

Rewrote this after a review of the edit history here. I believe that if "Shadow is alluded to be Balder" is included in the article, then it should also be included that Gaiman himself said that Shadow's real name is Baldur Moon, although he has not (and doubtless, given his love of keeping the mysteries of this story intact, never will) said that Shadow is Baldur. Is there a reason I'm not able to find in the various edit histories for why this little fact was removed from the article? I want to open it for discussion before I add it back in, especially since I'm having some trouble finding a cite for Gaiman's statement about Shadow's real name. RaCha'ar 20:59, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

I removed Paul Bunyan from the "for instance" of folk heroes line, because this character is specifically mentioned as NOT being a folk hero; rather he is an artificial construct for marketing. Myrrander 08:02, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Question. Where did Delirium appear? I don't remember her in the book. JethroElfman 17:34, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

She's the girl with crazy hair and a dog (Barnabas) in the park when Shadow and Wednesday meet with Easter, if I remember rightly. Don't have the book on me or I'd give a page cite... -RaCha'ar 17:48, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I see her there on page 306 of my paperback, thanks. JethroElfman 04:46, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Isn't that a bit far fetched? OK, the vague description might suit Delirium, but it could just as well be an illustration of everyday San Francisco life and its drifters. Having a homeless person of any age and gender be accompanied by a dog is an established combination, after all.

Not at all. It's not at all unusual for Gaiman to self-reference in that way. However, some searching has turned up that Gaiman's only comment on the subject of whether that really was Delirium or not is that he doesn't know, and the conclusion that it is in fact has largely been among his fans, never confirmed. So I'm going to remove it as unsourced original research, although I certainly personally think that Gaiman works in several references to his past works. -RaCha'ar 22:07, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'll agree that it's a return to previous themes, but would argue that the parallels between the Sandman and the American Gods / Anansi Boys universes are largely constructed by the community. See the rather different characterizations of several key figures such as Bast and Odin in 'Seasons of Mist', for example. Thanks for removing the paragraph.

[edit] citeneeded

I have never before heard the assertion that Stardust and Sandman are intended to be part of the same world as American Gods and Anansi Boys. I'm going to leave this tagged with citeneeded but if the user who added it or someone else doesn't point to some proof for this I'm going to remove it as original research. -RaCha'ar 00:02, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Removed after more than a week of waiting with the IP going on to no further activity on WP. Feel free to re-add if you can find some assertion from Gaiman that this is true. -RaCha'ar 22:10, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Balder Moon

I have issues with the character being referred to as Balder "Shadow" Moon in this article. I understand that the character article is at Balder Moon (which I also have some problems with); however, Shadow is never referred to as Balder in this book. It's only from comments made in interviews by Gaiman, and later Monarch of the Glen, that we know that this is Shadow's real name. I'm having trouble figuring out how to point this out while still linking to the character's real name; any help? -RaCha'ar 15:50, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The guy no one remembers

The guy who no one remembers, who tells a waiter about her futere, anyone who know who this is? Is it ever explained?

It's emphatically not explained. Lots of fan speculation, but Gaiman has not and likely never will say who it is. -RaCha'ar 23:07, 6 February 2007 (UTC)