Summary
American Gods starts off with a man, Shadow, being released from prison. He is expecting to return to his wife and a job his friend Robbie will provide him with. However, upon his release the warden informs Shadow that his wife, Laura, and Robbie died in a car accident, and as he finds out later, while Laura was giving Robbie oral sex. On his way to Laura's funeral Shadow is approached by the mysterious stranger, Mr. Wednesday, who offers him a job being his bodyguard and errand boy, Shadow accepts.
After Laura's funeral Shadow performs a bank robbery with Mr. Wednesday and convinces an elderly, Eastern European man named Czernoberg to join Mr. Wednesday, by beating him checkers but essentially promising his death. Once they have the proper funds, Mr. Wednesday is revealed to be a god, one who has stopped being worshipped and has no power, and is threatened along with many other old gods, by the new gods of America. Throughout the rest of the story Mr. Wednesday and Shadow go across America collecting gods for their cause, until Mr. Wednesday is killed by the new gods. Then, the battle between the old and new gods takes place about a month later, but the whole war is a ruse for Mr. Wednesday, who is really the Norse god Odin, to gain power for the deaths of so many gods in his name. Shadow then finds out, and stops the war before it begins by telling the gods what he knows. After he stops the war, Shadow goes back to Czernoberg, who spares his life, and then proceeds to live a peaceful rest of his life.
After Laura's funeral Shadow performs a bank robbery with Mr. Wednesday and convinces an elderly, Eastern European man named Czernoberg to join Mr. Wednesday, by beating him checkers but essentially promising his death. Once they have the proper funds, Mr. Wednesday is revealed to be a god, one who has stopped being worshipped and has no power, and is threatened along with many other old gods, by the new gods of America. Throughout the rest of the story Mr. Wednesday and Shadow go across America collecting gods for their cause, until Mr. Wednesday is killed by the new gods. Then, the battle between the old and new gods takes place about a month later, but the whole war is a ruse for Mr. Wednesday, who is really the Norse god Odin, to gain power for the deaths of so many gods in his name. Shadow then finds out, and stops the war before it begins by telling the gods what he knows. After he stops the war, Shadow goes back to Czernoberg, who spares his life, and then proceeds to live a peaceful rest of his life.