<p><strong>Updated and expanded with the author's preferred text</strong></p><p><strong>A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction Neil Gaiman</strong></p><p>First published in 2001, <em>American Gods</em> became an instant classic, lauded for its brilliant synthesis of "mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose" (<em>Washington Post</em>) and as a modern phantasmagoria that "distills the essence of America" (<em>Seattle Post-Intelligencer</em>). It is the story of Shadow--released from prison just days after his wife and best friend are killed in an accident--who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster Mr. Wednesday. So begins Shadow's dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. For beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing--an epic war for the very soul of America--and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.</p>