Shadow is an ex-convict who is released from prison two days early when his wife Laura is killed in a car accident. Shadow is devastated by her death, and is distraught to learn that she died alongside his best … See more

Mortals
• Shadow Moon – an ex-convict who becomes the reluctant bodyguard and errand boy of Mr. Wednesday (Odin). See more

The novel's dedication reads "for absent friends – Kathy Acker and Roger Zelazny and all points in between".
The Discworld novel Small Gods explores a similar origin of deities (thoughtform). While Gaiman says that he did not read the book by See more

While Gaiman was writing American Gods, his publishers set up a promotional web site featuring a weblog in which Gaiman described the day-to-day process of writing, revising, publishing, and promoting the novel. After the novel was published, the website evolved … See more

The book won the 2002 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, SFX and Bram Stoker Awards, all for Best Novel, and likewise received nominations for the 2001 BSFA Award, as well as the 2002 World Fantasy, International Horror Guild and Mythopoeic, and See more

The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States.
A special tenth anniversary edition, which includes the "author's preferred text" and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by … See more

Comics
Dark Horse Comics publishes a series of comic books based on the novel. The comic books were co written by Gaiman and P. Craig Russell. With art by Russell and Scott Hampton, among others. See more