Anansi Boys

Did you notice the moment in the text when the narrator switched from “Fat Charlie” to “Charlie”? Why do you think Gaiman picked this scene to suddenly change Fat Charlie’s name?

Fat Charlie and Spider begin as foils of each other but slowly become more similar and whole. What are some examples of moments where Fat Charlie becomes more like Spider, and vice versa?

The novel discusses the threat of Tiger taking back the world’s stories. What do you think would happen to everyday people if he reclaimed them for himself?

Grahame Coats begins the novel as a dishonest businessman and ends the novel as something much darker. At what moment do you think he crossed his “point of no return” and secured his fate for good?

Why do you think Rosie’s mother was so opposed to her marriage to Fat Charlie? What were her motivations in trying to keep the two of them apart?

Within the novel and the smaller stories told inside it, the animal deities go through recurring cycles of life, death, and rebirth. What can this story teach us about living and mortality?

Rosie and Daisy both have missions in life to “Do Good.” How are they similar in their approach to their goals, and how do they differ?

When Mrs. Dunwiddy and the other women perform a ritual to send Fat Charlie to another plane of reality, they do so without the proper tools or ingredients. What can their magic tell us about the power of intention and will?