Annotated Bibliography

Hill, Mark, "Neil Gaiman's American Gods: An Outsider's Critique of American Culture" (2005).
University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. Paper 282.
Mark hills thesis in his critical essay is that Neil Gaiman has a good vantage point as a british
author to critique American Culture. One of hills major points about American Gods is that it
serves as an outsiders views on American culture, landscape, and ideology. Hill also says
American gods serves as an examination of American character as it evaluates American myths
and beliefs. The main purpose of Mark hills critical essay is that he wishes asses Neil Gaiman's
understanding of what it means to be an American.
Barnett, David. "A Book for the Beach: American Gods by Neil Gaiman." The Guardian. N.p.,
29 July 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
This positive review of American Gods was written by David Barnett from the guardian. Barnett
says that American Gods keeps readers attached to reality but also keeps them on their toes as
something frightening and unknowable approaches. Barnett also talks about how American Gods
was one of Gaiman's first proper novels before he was a household name. Barnett then goes on
about how, in American Gods, old gods came to America from other countries and now have to
fight the new gods of technology. Another thing Barnett mentions is how American Gods feels
more raw compared to some of Gaiman's other writings.
Gaiman, Neil. "Neil Gaiman: Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and
Daydreaming." The Guardian. N.p., 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
This article is an edited version of a lecture Neil Gaiman gave on the importance of libraries.
Neil Gaiman states early in this article that libraries are important because reading fiction is one
of the most important things a person can do. Another important thing Gaiman states is that he is
very biased in this matter because he is an author and reader. One of Gaimans major points for
the importance of reading is that there is a correlation between illiterate children and amount of
children that grow up and go to prison. Another major point was that reading drives people to
learn new words and think new thoughts. Overall Neil Gaimans point was to encourage ways for
children to be literate so they can grow up to be successful.
"Odin." Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Dec. 2015
Odin is the ruler of the Aesir Norse deities. Myths involving Odin usually revolve around the
creation and destruction of the world. Odin is said to originate from early germanic myths.
Odins old english name is Wodens-day which is where we get the name for the fourth day of
the week, Wednesday, and the reason why in American Gods Odin is called Mr.Wednesday.
Blomqvist, Rut. "The Road Of Our Senses: Search For Personal Meaning And The Limitations
Of Myth In Neil Gaiman's American Gods." Mythlore 30.3/4 (2012): 5-26. Literary Reference
Center Plus.

In this article Rut Blomqvist talks about how, in American Gods, Neil Gaiman lets his
protagonist, shadow, experience a mythical culture. Blomqvist states how Shadow can be seen as
a realist element in a story that is very symbolic. Another major point that Blomqvist makes is
how Shadow is a solution to the problem between right and wrong in the books America.