One of the things Gaiman does in American Gods -- and it is a book which does many things and does them well -- is fantasticate the Midwest. Gaiman is an English expatriate, now living in Minnesota. He is able to depict the American heartland with the knowledge of a resident and the perspective of an outsider. He takes places like Lookout Mountain, the House on the Rock, the Center of America and Cairo in Little Egypt and makes them part of the book's mythology. It is, to my knowledge, the first major work of fantasy to do this. In Gaiman's hands, the Midwest becomes a wellspring of stories, like John Crowley's Edgewood, Charles de Lint's Newford, Stephen King's Castle Rock and other key venues in the alternate North America invented by fantasy writers.

posted by Unknown @ 7:36 PM