Anansi Boys

Neil Gaiman's new book, Anansi Boys, deals with the children of the spider trickster god of African legend. It's a fantastic read about family, mistaken identity, and becoming the person you outght to become. It's also really funny.

Two interesting coincidences happened to me while I was reading the book. First, a spider took up residence in my front doorway, completely filling the top two feet of space with its web. Each morning and each evening, I'd forget and walk through its web. Every afternoon and overnight, the spider would rebuild it. Finally, I caught on and ducked underneath as I passed through. Last night, I watched as it bundled a fly into a cocoon for later consumption. Another spider has moved in outside the backdoor. (If I disappear, someone should come expecting me to be trapped in one of these webs.)

Second, as I'm reading the book at the bus stop, a guy comes up to me and says, "Say, aren't you Neil Gaiman?"

Other than being a caucasian adult male, Mr. Gaiman and I look not very much alike. Even so, I was happy enough to autograph his copy: "Very best wishes, and sweet dreams, Neil."