American Gods -- Suntup Press -- Classic Edition -- Quick Review

American Gods is a novel I have not yet read, but look forward to doing so! My favorite of Neil Gaiman's works by far is Stardust, so I look forward to seeing if this one also ends up being "a keeper". Story and politics aside, this is an absolutely exquisite edition!

->This is massive! 842 pages. At 6¾" x 9⅝" it certainly is functional and readable, although, again, it is THICK!
-> Printed Letterpress! to some this may not matter, to myself, this is vital. The bite is certainly noticeable, but it's closer to what is called a "kiss" than a full bite. The reason being the thickness of the paper. The Munken Print paper is absolutely high-quality, but it's not as thick as some other Suntup Press editions, and for clear reasons. Were it thicker, it would need to be two volumes similar to the Numbered Edition, and that would add hundreds to the cost. This edition is meant to be affordable, and at $295, for what you are getting, this is an absolutely fabulous deal.
->The illustrations by Yoann Lossel are stunning -- in fact, they look very much to be in the vein of works from the Golden Age of Illustration -- Maxfield Parrish, Jessie Willcox Smith, etc. The illustrations all have some gold foil, which is really striking, and a bit challenging to photograph.
->SIGNED by Neil Gaiman -- I'm a sucker for the author's signature, so it's wonderful that this is included in the affordable Classic Edition! It is of course also signed by the artist.
->Superb slipcase. It's not only functional, it's rather pleasing to the eye as well. The book also includes an illustrated dust jacket. Myself, I do not care for dust jackets, but no denying it's very well done.

And now, a few pictures --











I'm personally surprised there are some copies of the Classic Edition left, but there are! I know there were not that many left before the counter was removed, so if you are on the fence, you may want to take the plunge and order. I'm just grateful that Suntup is not only producing letterpress works of this caliber, but also making them affordable.

That first illustration looks like a take on Hopper's Nighthawks.

>2 LT79:

All the illustrations take inspiration from famous works of art. Lossel's process was totally fascinating. There's an article about it here: https://suntup.press/news/american-gods-a-journey-into-illustration/

>3 SF-72: I appreciate the effort that's gone into this. I've always avoided Gaiman as he seems so ubiquitous. But there's clearly a lot a thought that's gone into this book. I'm familiar with many of the artist's influences but not Beksiński, so I'll be looking into his work. Thanks.

I have problems with Gaiman, but they are really just my own issues. I respect his storytelling and imagination. This is one stunning book. I've not been buying many letterpress books, so am rather uneductated, but this seems to me to be quite a good buy. I do also own their version of The Magus, but I bought that in spite of the illustrations as it is one of my favorite books and there were no other versions published that met my "fine press" criteria (think Folio).

>5 Cardboard_killer: I might be wrong on this but I don't think Suntup illustrations typically translate well to an English audience. But I can appreciate the work that's gone into this particular edition and also recent Gormenghast.

>3 SF-72: Thanks for that! I recognized Arnold Böcklin's "Isle of the Dead" homage as shown in the second illustration above.

>5 Cardboard_killer: It really is stunning. I should also mention this edition also includes two sequel novellas, "Black Dog" and "The Monarch of the Glen". For the price, you are getting a truly fabulous deal.

I should have been clear--I have the book in my possession, so my comments were not about the pictures, but the book itself.

>8 Cardboard_killer: Nice :)
I'll get to reading it soonish, my backlog keeps increasing in size...