American Gods

American Gods is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow. It is Gaiman's fourth prose novel, preceded by Good Omens (a collaboration with Terry Pratchett), Neverwhere, and Stardust. Several of the themes touched upon in the book were previously glimpsed in The Sandman graphic novels.

The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States. A special 10th Anniversary edition, with the "author's preferred text", which includes an additional 12,000 words was published by William Morrow in June 2011. The text is identical to the signed and numbered limited edition that was released by Hill House Publishers in 2003. This version of the text has also been in print from Headline, Gaiman's publisher in the UK since 2005. The 10th Anniversary edition marks the first time the author's preferred text has been available in wide release outside the UK. He also did a very extensive sold-out book tour celebrating the 10th Anniversary and promoting this book in 2011.

There are two audio versions of the book, the first one an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, released in 2001 and a full cast version of the 10th Anniversary edition with the author's preferred text including the 12,000 additional words, released in 2011. Both were produced and published by Harper Audio. The full cast audio project also was announced on Neil Gaiman's blog with a contest in which people could submit audio auditions and the winner would get an all expense paid trip to NYC to record a part for the audio book.