Anansi Boys

Written by:
Neil Gaiman
Narrated by:
Lenny Henry

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
110
Narrator
26
Release Date
September 2005
Duration
10 hours 7 minutes
Summary
Soon to be a streaming series!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, a tale playful, profound, and rife with mayhem and mischief―one of ten classic Gaiman works repackaged with elegant original watercolor art by acclaimed artist Henry Sene Yee

When Fat Charlie’s dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie “Fat Charlie.” Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can’t shake that name, one of the many embarrassing “gifts” his father bestowed—before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie’s life. Because Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the stranger who appears on Charlie’s doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

Neil Gaiman journeys deep into myth to brings us a tale playful, profound, and rife with mayhem and mischief—an audacious and inspired story of family, luck, deceit, and an unusual legacy that illuminates the divine in our humanity. Not to mention a lime.

“Awesomely inventive.… When you take the free-fall plunge into a Neil Gaiman book, anything can happen and anything invariably does.” —Entertainment Weekly
Reviews
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Desmond Burgess

I wish there was a part two this. You find yourself falling in love with characters and trying to depict what they look like. The amazing story of Anansi lives!

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Damon P.

Loved the book, the narrator was very good, story was enjoyable and typical Gaiman. I have Been a fan Since reading American Gods. I would highly recommend this book.

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Mathew Bevins

Perfect narration! love this book just such fun stories

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Doreen B

Simply amazing! I absolutely adored this book.. The characters were so fully developed and entertaining. What a wonderful world Neil Gaiman created, I was so enthralled, I really hated to stop listening. Narration was delightful, just perfect!!!!

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Mary H.

SIR LENWORTH HENRY (aka Lenny Henry) reading Anansi Boys was the FIRST audiobook I ever heard. Lenny has become my GOLD STANDARD for how a book can and should be narrated. I have listened to this story at least 10 times... maybe more. BEST story every.

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Sandra B

Lenny Henry was amazing. I hope to find more titles read by him, I wish there were more books by Gaimen read by him. I loved the story and loved the narration. 5 stars!

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John C

"Anansi Boys" was a deeply enjoyable novel made even better by Lenny Henry's masterful use of dialect and tone to capture the different characters represented. Unlike some other audiobooks where I found the pacing or diction a bit wanting, Mr. Henry kept the flow fast where it needed to be and kept plenty of pauses and inflection to help keep things focused. In particular, I never had to guess what character was speaking or whether there was a shift from narrator to anecdotal quote to character lines. In terms of content, this was more narrow in scope and major figures than "American Gods" (which I also loved), but I found it generally more uplifting and satisfying. That's not to say there isn't plenty of drama and tension; at times, I hated having to pause and delay gratification of finding out how one or another character was going to get out of some sort of crazy mess. But in the end, it just felt good. A side and somewhat more personal note: Though heavily rooted in the rich Afro-Caribbean mythology that Gaiman has drawn on to form this branch of his gods horror/adventure fantasy and blending some very vivid imagery and poetry, this is ultimately a tale about families and, in particular, about Father/Son/Sibling relationships. Having recently lost a father that was at times inspirational, highly embarrassing and almost always extremely difficult to deal with or understand, I found the interactions and feelings explored between Anansi, Spider and Charlie to be incredibly poignant and relatable. In this, above all, Gaiman really knocked this one out of the park for me.

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brittany b

omg yes! now i want to re-listen to american gods again

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Erica Pelta Feldman

This app is great. The books/readers are high quality, and the selection of books available is excellent--I just listened to "Anansi Boys," the sequel to Neil Gaiman's classic "American Gods" (an absolute must-read if you haven't already!). I checked the major mp3 audiobook vendor sites (Amazon, iTunes, Audible, etc), and to my surprise, none of them had "Anansi Boys"--I was close to giving up when I finally found it here, in perfect quality to boot!! I'm pretty sure that Simply Audiobooks has a selection that rivals any other site/app (at least for fiction/novels--that's all I've searched for so far), and the books seem generally to be less expensive than they are on rival sites (a boon for anyone on a tighter budget, like me--I'm a grad student living on a small stipend). Anyway, based on my excellent experience so far, I'd highly recommend Simply Audiobooks to anyone! I wish *I* had found it sooner! My one peeve is that since the app is designed for smartphones and tablets, I'm not sure how to sync it with my computer (Macbook Air, OS X El Capitan, version 10.11.4). Is that even possible? I don't have (or want) an iPad or any kind of tablet. If I could sync my Simply Audiobooks purchases between my phone and computer, that would be perfect. But that's a minor quibble (and tablets seem to be taking over the world anyway, so I'm probably just a Luddite). This app is fantastic, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone!! Thanks for this awesome source of mp3 fiction and novels (that's all I've used it for yet)--they are absolute lifesavers when you have boring chores to do ;)

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Brian Dias

Definitely recommend it, off in a light hearted manner but gains some depth as it progresses.

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Doc

As good, if not better than American Gods! This narrator was born to read this novel. I am blown away by how gradual the pull was. before I realized it, I was completely engrossed in this book, and kept listening beyong my commute!!! Very impresive...

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Dewey Stevens

I'm already a Gaiman fan, and this story doesn't disappoint. Lenny Henry is brilliant, I only wish I could find more stories that he's narrated. Unfortunately I think this is it.

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Denise

Exellent voices, fab story if you are a Gaimen fan...

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Anonymous

I've never written a review, but I just had to on this book. It was so fun to listen to, great narrator/performer! And the imagery described by the author was fantastic.

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Eleanor Holt

I am always on the lookout for a good story along with the ability to laugh. Neil Gaiman has delivered both with this book. This is one I've read and listened to again and again and still have yet to be weary of it.

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Jason C

Overall a really fun listen with interesting characters that are brought to life by Lenny Henry. Well done...

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Anonymous

This book made me a huge Neil Gaiman fan. I had read American Gods and been impressed with the detail however I never really got into the charecters like I did with Anansi Boys. There was the perfect blend of action horror and comedy for my taste. If it wasn't an audiobook I would say it is a real page turner. the narrator was excellant and the story was superb. Get this book and enjoy!!

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Scott Sherman

I had a great time listening to this book. The reading is excellent, with the different voices adding to the characterization. The plot is interesting and had me wanting to keep listening. And of course, Neil Gaiman's story is wonderful.

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Sabrina Lightfoot

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I never knew which way the plot was going to take me next. What an imagination this author has! Loved it!

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