Noir: A Novel

This is a great read if you like history, humor and a silly twist. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Fun!

I ordered this book by mistake and am glad to discover another readable author. I had been looking for crime fiction by the author Christopher G Moore. I was so excited to find this noir themed book that I did not notice this author is another Christopher Moore without the G. Big difference. The G author includes humor as relief from painful events. This author includes humor and then smothers it in outlandish situations, zany behavior and, for an eye-rolling I-will-top-everyone-else, a deus ex machina sci fi ending. Redeeming features: the women are at least as smart and active as the men, the racist humor befits those times, and the story offers a reasonable facsimile of the actual streets of San Francisco. I looked forward to reading the sequel called Razzmatazz.

If you aren’t already a fan of Christopher Moore you will be after reading this book. Laugh out loud funny, characters you want to hang out with, whip cracking dialogue and just a touch of absurd science fiction to keep it all real.

One learns many interesting new things in a Christopher Moore novel. I never knew what the Cantonese word "gwai lo"means. Next time I hear one of our local inscrutable chinamen utter it at me, I'll know he is calling me a white devil. And that brings us to the Thing about this novel: I don't even have to look at the one star reviews to know the self-appointed P.C. (political correctness) cops will dondemn it. For historical accuracy. We haoles can't say "Chinamen" any more than we can utter the N-word.I also learned that snake piss is boner medicine for Chinamen. I liked Petey the snake and was gratified that he got that man in black on the neck like that. When are the movers and shakers at Bohemian Grove gonna let you in the club, Chris? You really could make the cut, you know. The likes of Jimmy Buffett and Sasha Shulgin (a chemist who had a license to invent new designer psychedelics, which escaped his lab, of course, and ferally have turned on millions, moi included) are members. Writing about his times with "the owlers," Shulgin indicated that he was their go-to guy for certain exotic "condiments." A side note about Bohemian Grove: Nixon was invited to one encampment as a guest and later called it "the gayest thing I ever attended."This is a fun read all the way through. The plotting is complex and grabs the reader often by the lapels; the character development turns these people real. I grew to like them, like you would your own pals. The horrible kid, Lone, Moo Shoes, uncle Ho, the cheese, Sal (a douche bag), and of course our protagonist good guy bartender, Sammy. I'm not sure about his last name, as it kept changing throughout the read.One of Moore's best. Dude. You better already be tapping that keyboard on the next one, chop chop! Don't leave us jonesing for the next novel while you kick back. Maybe stay away from Hawaii. People here really do get Polynesian paralysis and are left on Hawaiian time. Oh, and thanks for the tour of San Fran. I only got the one real life tour by a friend who lives there.

My love for Christopher Moore runs deep. Ever since I first stumbled across Lamb at my local bookstore, I’ve been a loud and loyal fan. I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen which book to read first (Lamb, obviously), which to real last (Ironically, his first, Practical Demon Keeping. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it, so perhaps my poor memory has been doing PDK a disservice); which features his best quotes (“Blessed are the Dumbfucks”) and which feature the best reoccurring character (Pocket). So it hurts giving Noir only 3 stars (really, 2.5, but I rounded up for loyalty).I was very excited going into this book. In fact I pre-ordered it as soon as pre-order became an option. Noir has all the trappings of novels I usually devour in a few sittings. First of all, noir; I’m a sucker for inky noir, extra pulp. Secondly, the promise of sci-fi in the form of Roswell, 1947.April 17th and my beautiful new Moore finally arrives. The cover. Oh, that cover! I love it. This is going to be good, I think, as I steal a quick sniff of the open spine. The first chapter is great. Murder by a serpent of unusual size! Everything I’m reading is great. The names... Sammy “Two-Shoes” Tiffen... Stilton, aka the Cheese... Two-Shoes with his lame foot is setting us up for some first rate comedy noir. But then suddenly I realize the perspective has changed. From first-person through Sammy’s eye, we shift to some third-person, seemingly, omniscient narrator. It was the beginning of the next chapter so I think, okay, from chapter to chapter expect the perspective to change. I can work with that. Until suddenly it wasn’t; the narration style starts shifting within the same chapter. Maybe I’m easily confused. Either way, I didn’t like it. A few chapters later this unnamed narrator is kind enough to tell us we don’t need to worry over his identity, he’s no one of any importance, but he knows things. He’s just here to fill in what Sammy cannot. Okay, trust in Moore, he doesn’t usually steer me wrong. In the final third or so, Mr. Mysterious Narrator throws the reader a bone by revealing his identity, which I really liked... until it serves no purpose at all. And that seems to be a common thread throughout Noir. A lot of what happens doesn’t really matter. These random plot points don’t play into the larger story beyond granting Christopher Moore a few more pages and an easy way to wrap things up.A lot of people didn’t care for the turn the last third of the book takes. I personally enjoyed it and wished Moore would have done a better job weaving that sci-fi angle into Noir’s backdrop.Also, was Christopher Moore paid by the fog metaphor? I get that good noir, especially noir set in San Fransisco, is thick with fog, however; to loosely quote Niles from Frasier, Moore began mixing metaphors like a Cuisinart. Some of them were enjoyable, though. I would include a few favorites, but I’ve leant my copy to a fellow Moore Nerd.I touched on this earlier, but perhaps what bothers me the most is the way loose ends are tied up with Sammy needing to do nothing. Again, some felt like filler, a way to flesh out a perhaps incomplete idea. I’m thinking specifically of the Pookie O’Hare sub-plot; a despicable character treated even more despicably by Sammy and his crew.If you’re new to Moore, I wouldn’t recommend starting with Noir.

Love it!

Muy divertida!Me he reído a carcajadas con algunas situaciones y diálogos, en especial a partir de la segunda parte de la historia, donde el Noir empieza a mezclarse con una situación propia del área 54, en ese estilo tan habitual de Christopher Moore y que tanto nos gusta a sus lectores.Ojalá estuviese traducida al español, porque se la recomendaría a mucha gente.En inglés sigue siendo muy divertida, aunque seguro que alguna referencia o broma me he perdido, porque a menudo los personajes hablan con giros propios de las novelas y películas de cine negro de los años 40. Aún así, la recomiendo a cualquiera a quien le guste este escritor y tenga un nivel medio-alto de lectura en inglés.

Ce livre commence très bien. Un bon polar avec des éclairs très drôles, tordants même. Puis cette fibre humoristique se dilue et l'histoire devient absurde. J'ai décroché avant la fin.

Noir sì veramente un noir ma anche umor è un romanzo che consiglio anche a chi non piacciono i gialli e a chi piace il surreale non si può raccontare la trama in una recensione specialmente malfatta come la mia è impossibile leggetelo leggetelo comunque unica pecca non esistono altri libri di Moore tradotti in italiano dato che non conosco l'inglese

Sprachlich vermutlich Moores bestes Buch bislang. Noir ist ein Feuerwerk genial witziger Dialoge und aberwitzigen Ideen. Dieses Buch ist es definitiv wert, im Original gelesen zu werden. (Andererseits ist es dank Dialekten auch recht schwierig im Original zu lesen.)Das Buch hat alles, was eine Geschichte haben muss, damit sie ihrem Titel Noir gerecht wird. Düstere Straßen, gefährliche Frauen, einen verwegenen Helden und viel Action. Dennoch... So ganz schwarz ist das Buch nicht. Im Gegenteil. So sehr habe ich mich selten bei einem Buch amüsiert. Der schräge Humor mag nicht jedermanns Sache sein, aber in dem Punkt weiß man, auf was man sich einlässt, wenn man Moores Bücher kennt.Neben den abstrusen Situationen sind aber auch die Charaktere liebenswürdig durchgeknallt. Jede Nebenfigur wird für sich zu einem Highlight.Die Geschichte selbst spielt 1947 in San Francisco. Nachkriegszeit, Segregation und Ufo-Sichtungen über Roswell... Es wird kaum einer anzweifeln können, dass ein Christopher Moore zu diesem Ort und dieser Zeit eine "vernünftige" Geschichte stricken kann. Aber für mich lebte das Buch viel mehr von der Sprache und den Figuren.