Gaiman is definitely one of my favorite authors and I can't wait for the television series. Some of you here might be unfamiliar with his incredible plethora of work,may vaguely know him from his 2000 Bram Stoker Award winning graphic novel The Sandman. Gaiman's graphic novel/comic experience also includes:
"All of the things that I loved about America that just seemed weird went into 'American Gods,' " he laughed. "I was fascinated by the way people coming to America tried to become 'American.' The idea of using old gods as a way of talking about what people bring with them when they come to America was a really fun one."
Gaiman recalled one particular discovery he made upon moving to the Midwest that was a prime example of the sort of local norms that informed "American Gods."
"There were weird little things like people driving cars out onto the ice in the winter on frozen lakes and then taking bets on when they'd go through the ice when the snow melted," he explained. "Little things like that, where I would turn around and go, 'Does anyone else here think this is weird?' And everyone else would go, 'Nope, This is how it is.'
"[When] I moved to America, I thought that I knew what America was," he said. "I'd been writing stories set in America for seven to eight years, I'd been coming to America for visits, and more importantly, I grew up watching American television and reading American books. And then I moved to America and found it was really weird, in ways that nobody had told me."
With the 10 year anniversary of "American Gods" approaching Gaiman has re-released a new edition with all new expanded content. Gaiman is also hard at work on the upcoming HBO television series based on the novel. Gaiman is attached to write and executive-produce the series with Tom Hanks' Playtone production studio developing the adaptation. Renowned cinematographer Robert Richardson
(Inglourious Basterds, Shutter Island, Casino)is attached to co-write the pilot with Gaiman.
Gaiman had the following to say concerning the television show and a sequel to the novel:
"The overall plan right now is that the first season would essentially be the first book, with a few interesting divergences," Gaiman said of the television series. "You don't want people who've read the book to be able to go, 'I know everything that's going to be happening here.' [They will] know a lot more than anybody who's starting from here, but we will do things that will surprise [them] too."
With Gaiman indicating that the first season of the television series will encompass "the first book," it was only natural to ask about his plans for an "American Gods" sequel.
"I've been [planning] to do a second 'American Gods' book since the first 'American Gods' book," he laughed. "What I basically have right now is a boxful of stuff. Things go into it. I always knew there was going to be more story.
"The first book was very much about the grifters and the lowlifes, and you don't really get to see much of the new gods and you don't really get a sense of those gods who are doing incredibly well in America," he said. "In the second book, I definitely want to go into both of those things."
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