Com base em uma comparação rápida, a grande maioria das mudanças parece ser estética, acrescentando diálogo interno, esclarecendo a personalidade e os sentimentos de vários personagens. As adições mais longas têm pouco mais que um parágrafo e parecem ter pouca influência no enredo geral.
Por exemplo, no primeiro capítulo, temos a adição de
“Damn right. Gallows humor. Best kind there is—bang, the worst has happened. You get a few days for it to sink in, then you’re riding the cart on your way to do the dance on nothing.”
remoção de
even when you’ve been taken off the board...
Shadow foi originalmente deixado com
two quarters, a penny, and a nickel
Adição de
She [Laura] got kind of mad at me when I was arrested.
Adição de
“You’ll be back. I can see it in your eyes. You’re a fuckup, Shadow. Now, if I had my way, none of you assholes would ever get out. We’d drop you in the hole and forget you.”
Oubliettes, thought Shadow, and he said nothing. It was a survival thing: he didn’t answer back, didn’t say anything about job security for prison guards, debate the nature of repentance, rehabilitation, or rates of recidivism. He didn’t say anything funny or clever, and, to be on the safe side, when he was talking to a prison official, whenever possible, he didn’t say anything at all. Speak when you’re spoken to. Do your own time. Get out. Get home. Have a long hot bath. Tell Laura you love her. Rebuild a life.
adição de
The warden said this with no joy, as if he were intoning a death sentence..
adição de
Shadow showed her his driver’s license. Then he assured her that no one had given him a bomb to take onto the plane, and she, in return, gave him a printed boarding pass. Then he passed through the metal detector while his bag went through the X-ray machine.
adição de
The people had the glazed, beaten look you only see in airports and prisons. If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.
adição de
Then he explained his problem to the gate attendant (calmly, quietly, politely) and she sent him to a passenger assistance desk, where Shadow explained that he was on his way home after a long absence and his wife had just been killed in a road accident, and that it was vitally important that he went home now. He said nothing about prison.
adição de
to the Budget car rental desk, the only one open,
Etc.
No que diz respeito às grandes alterações, a única coisa de qualquer nota parece ser um apêndice de 800 palavras no qual uma Sombra fictícia (mais uma ficcional do que a do resto do livro, obviamente ) encontra Jesus e discute a natureza da adoração.
Além disso, há pouco mais que uma entrevista de 1000 palavras com o autor, onde ele responde (brevemente) perguntas como " Qual é o seu truque favorito em moedas? " e " Você gostou de inventar os truques nos deuses americanos? ".