Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie was a lonely child who's mother, left at a young age and was mentally abused by his father. For instance, his father told him that there was a law stating on "Presidents' Day", you dressed up as your favorite president. As gullable as Charlie was, he went to school dressed as a president and was bullied by the other kids. Of course when he got home, his father laughed because there was no such thing as "Presidents' Day". I thought this to be a very cruel trick and created a living hell for Charlie in his childhood. Charlie resented his father for all his mean tricks and grew away from him. Only did Fat Charlie have to see his father again when his fiancee, Rosie, makes Charlie invite his dad to the wedding. When he phoned up an old neighbor, Mrs. Higgler to invite her and get his dads number, he discovered his father has just passed.

Charlie flew to Florida and attended his funeral, meaning burying his dad, literaly. Mrs. Higgler met Charlie at the funeral and later announced Charlie's father was an Anansi God and the brother he never knew about. "Anansi was said to be a spider. He used to get himself into trouble and he used to get himself out of trouble."(Gaiman, Neil,pg 42). She said that if Charlie ever needed his brother, all he had to do was tell a spider. I thought it sounded like a crazy idea, talking to a spider to send a message, but sure enough, Spider, his brother, shows up on his door step. The day after they met, Spider took Charlie out drinking and singing in memory of their father. The next morning, Charlie woke up to another girl, Daisy, and had a painful hangover. Lucky for Charlie, they never slept together. But Rosies mother came later, when Daisy was still there, to talk to Charlie about wedding invitations. Charlie lied that Daisy was his cousin and would be invited to the wedding. What a close call!

So far the book has caught my attention and is keeping it well. There are alot of different scenes of Charlie's life in this book, and plenty of details to remember. It is a little confusing to remember everything that has happened so far and to piece it together but I tried to keep it short and simple.