Christopher Moore
I have to say that I love Christopher Moore's books with a passion. My friend Y bought me a copy of Bloodsucking Fiends (a masterpiece of vampiric comedy) and I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever read (maybe surpassed by David Sedaris's me Talk Pretty One Day). But Bloodsucking Fiends was just the beginning. Then came Practical Demonkeeping...Island of the Sequined Love Nun...The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove...
And then I read Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I don't want to say that this book changed my life, but in a way, it did. It confirmed for me that religion is about loving and caring for other people and that friendship is a gift to be treasured. Biff is an idiot, but he loves his friend Josh (also known as Yeshua, also known as the Son of God) with all his heart and would do anything for him. When Biff first meets Josh, he's reanimating lizards in Nazareth-and they soon become fast friends. Josh has known almost from birth that he was special and it has set him apart from other children, but Biff makes it clear right away that Josh is NOT alone, as Josh believes himself to be. His father may be the Almighty, but Biff is with him on Earth, following him wherever he chooses to go-and they get into some bizarre predicaments. This story really is heartwarming, in the most hilarious way imaginable. It's gross-the humor can revolve around any bodily function you can think of and often revolves around sex. It is also laugh-out-loud funny and is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure to read. As Biff says in the beginning, you think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't. I finished this book on my lunch hour at work, lent to a friend and did not see it again for a year. By the time I got it back, the cover was almost torn off and it was definitely worse for the wear but it's still my only copy-I can't quite bring myself to replace it.
Which brings me to his latest book You Suck, the sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends. In this book, Flood and Jody try to live their lives as vampires, while the vampire who made Jody pursues them, while Flood's grocery store buddies pick up a blue hooker in Vegas and give her all their money, while the cops chase after them to make sure they've left town like they said they would, while their minion (Abby Normal) tries to help them. This book is also hilarious (Abby's diary is the best part) but Jody and Flood's story is quite touching-she enjoys being a vampire. As a woman who has been pushed around a lot in her life, she likes being a predator and having the power, while Flood doesn't. He hates having to drink blood to survive, he can't deal with the lack of daylight and is just not a very good vampire, while Abby glories in her role as minion. If you like Christopher Moore, you'll love this book.
And speaking of books I love, I watched the movie of Possession with my friend D last weekend. I admit that I bought the DVD (it was cheap!) and I did want to see the movie of one of my favorite books. I couldn't believe I was sitting there watching a chick flick with her (I think I'd have rather watched Hellboy or The Terminator again but I couldn't do that to a guest that hates science fiction), but that's okay. And so was the movie. Aaron Eckhart was fine as Roland (although I don't see why they had to make him American) and Gwyneth Paltrow was fine as Maud, but I give props to Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle as Ash and LaMotte-those two had the real heat, while Aaron and Gwyneth...it was kind of hard to tell what was going on with them. While the book made it perfectly clear that they fell in love and Roland becomes a poet instead of a scholar, in the movie, they just kind of looked at each other longingly-and then the movie ended. It was kind of frustrating-but I would recommend it to anyone who likes a romantic movie. Don't watch it hoping that the poetry from the book will be in it (it isn't) or thinking that various sub-plots will be in it(they've all been cut). If you take it on it's own terms, it's okay-and some parts are quite good. Just don't think it will be like the book, because it isn't.
And then I read Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I don't want to say that this book changed my life, but in a way, it did. It confirmed for me that religion is about loving and caring for other people and that friendship is a gift to be treasured. Biff is an idiot, but he loves his friend Josh (also known as Yeshua, also known as the Son of God) with all his heart and would do anything for him. When Biff first meets Josh, he's reanimating lizards in Nazareth-and they soon become fast friends. Josh has known almost from birth that he was special and it has set him apart from other children, but Biff makes it clear right away that Josh is NOT alone, as Josh believes himself to be. His father may be the Almighty, but Biff is with him on Earth, following him wherever he chooses to go-and they get into some bizarre predicaments. This story really is heartwarming, in the most hilarious way imaginable. It's gross-the humor can revolve around any bodily function you can think of and often revolves around sex. It is also laugh-out-loud funny and is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure to read. As Biff says in the beginning, you think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't. I finished this book on my lunch hour at work, lent to a friend and did not see it again for a year. By the time I got it back, the cover was almost torn off and it was definitely worse for the wear but it's still my only copy-I can't quite bring myself to replace it.
Which brings me to his latest book You Suck, the sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends. In this book, Flood and Jody try to live their lives as vampires, while the vampire who made Jody pursues them, while Flood's grocery store buddies pick up a blue hooker in Vegas and give her all their money, while the cops chase after them to make sure they've left town like they said they would, while their minion (Abby Normal) tries to help them. This book is also hilarious (Abby's diary is the best part) but Jody and Flood's story is quite touching-she enjoys being a vampire. As a woman who has been pushed around a lot in her life, she likes being a predator and having the power, while Flood doesn't. He hates having to drink blood to survive, he can't deal with the lack of daylight and is just not a very good vampire, while Abby glories in her role as minion. If you like Christopher Moore, you'll love this book.
And speaking of books I love, I watched the movie of Possession with my friend D last weekend. I admit that I bought the DVD (it was cheap!) and I did want to see the movie of one of my favorite books. I couldn't believe I was sitting there watching a chick flick with her (I think I'd have rather watched Hellboy or The Terminator again but I couldn't do that to a guest that hates science fiction), but that's okay. And so was the movie. Aaron Eckhart was fine as Roland (although I don't see why they had to make him American) and Gwyneth Paltrow was fine as Maud, but I give props to Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle as Ash and LaMotte-those two had the real heat, while Aaron and Gwyneth...it was kind of hard to tell what was going on with them. While the book made it perfectly clear that they fell in love and Roland becomes a poet instead of a scholar, in the movie, they just kind of looked at each other longingly-and then the movie ended. It was kind of frustrating-but I would recommend it to anyone who likes a romantic movie. Don't watch it hoping that the poetry from the book will be in it (it isn't) or thinking that various sub-plots will be in it(they've all been cut). If you take it on it's own terms, it's okay-and some parts are quite good. Just don't think it will be like the book, because it isn't.
posted by SHbookworm at 12:33 PM
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