What happened, and why am I in this dumpster?
As a thread title on one of my favorite message boards devoted to books proclaims, "Christopher Moore is a genius." I reached back into the archives for Bloodsucking Fiends, and I confess that I concur with the assessment.
Jodi has a problem - she's woken up in a dumpster with a burned hand and slowly discovers that she's newly nocturnal with a bloodlust problem. She's a vampire, and while it's done wonders for her hair she's finding normal business hours to be rather inconvenient to her undead life. Enter C. Thomas Flood, a fresh-off-the-turnip-truck arrival in San Francisco, hoping to be a writer but spending his time night-managing/bowling with frozen turkeys at a local grocery store. Jodi spies the perfect new boyfriend (she's a serial monogamist) in Tommy, and Tommy sees, well, an attractive woman giving him the time of day for the first time ever. A perfect match? Mostly, but there's that small matter of Jodi's creator to deal with....
Moore's comic stylings are absolutely note-perfect - he's the absolute master of the unexpected bon mot and witty suckerpunch. I can't get enough of the way he sets up a joke so perfectly and then delivers it just exactly the right way to catch you slightly off-guard. He does nicely with his inversion of the usual formulae - the typical tough guys and giggly girls give way to slacker beta males and gals more than capable of fighting the forces of darkness (if not runs in their pantyhose). Even the bit characters get their moment in the sun - Tommy's five Chinese roommates all hoping to marry him to get their green cards pop up in typically endearing fashion.
I'll definitely be picking up the sequel (You Suck) and will continue to delve into his substantial backlist.
Jodi has a problem - she's woken up in a dumpster with a burned hand and slowly discovers that she's newly nocturnal with a bloodlust problem. She's a vampire, and while it's done wonders for her hair she's finding normal business hours to be rather inconvenient to her undead life. Enter C. Thomas Flood, a fresh-off-the-turnip-truck arrival in San Francisco, hoping to be a writer but spending his time night-managing/bowling with frozen turkeys at a local grocery store. Jodi spies the perfect new boyfriend (she's a serial monogamist) in Tommy, and Tommy sees, well, an attractive woman giving him the time of day for the first time ever. A perfect match? Mostly, but there's that small matter of Jodi's creator to deal with....
Moore's comic stylings are absolutely note-perfect - he's the absolute master of the unexpected bon mot and witty suckerpunch. I can't get enough of the way he sets up a joke so perfectly and then delivers it just exactly the right way to catch you slightly off-guard. He does nicely with his inversion of the usual formulae - the typical tough guys and giggly girls give way to slacker beta males and gals more than capable of fighting the forces of darkness (if not runs in their pantyhose). Even the bit characters get their moment in the sun - Tommy's five Chinese roommates all hoping to marry him to get their green cards pop up in typically endearing fashion.
I'll definitely be picking up the sequel (You Suck) and will continue to delve into his substantial backlist.
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