A Dirty Job

it'd been a few years since i'd read a christopher moore book, and i knew i was ready for his absurd, heart-warming, over-the-top brand of comedy-horror, and i got everything i could have hoped for with a dirty job. here's the first sentence: "charlie asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below." timid charlie asher of course winds up a merchant of death, like santa's elves, only for death. together with a few other merchants he meets, his infant daughter, sister, his employees at his thrift store, a cop, two hellhounds, and a mysterious tibetan mystic, charlie must figure out why darkness is descending upon san francisco. hilarious, wise, exciting, and filled with enough dark imagery to be perceived of as a cry for help, moore nonetheless manages to create a stirring romance and morbid journey to self-recovery. highly recommended.

I read it first and then gave it to him to read when we went camping. I kept trying to get video of the jumping fish, the pelicans on the lake, the peace and quiet with chirping birds,... but no. What I got was constantly interrupted by my husband bursting out in cackling laughter, followed, of course, by me asking "what part was that?" because, of course, I had to know. Then he'd read it out loud and cackle some more. ANNOYING!!!!!

Update: Upon re-reading this one, I've realized that Christopher has supplanted Terry Pratchett as the best one of three authors whose work I can re-read and enjoy even more the second time round. Neil Gaiman is the third. I'd recently re-read the stupidest angel and reviewed it as his funniest. Dirty Job surpassed Angel in funny. About those one star reviews: at least one was badly written by a wanna-be alpha male with Dunning-Kruger. He probably wears a MAGA hat and hates women cuz they universally despise him.Mahalo, dude, for giving me some non-stop laughter to help me forget these dark times we're in.not in the butt not in the butt not in the buttThe one star reviews were an interesting read. It reminded me of Frank Zappa's album "Have I Offended Anyone," in which Zappa manages to offend just about everyone.I wasn't offended. Matter of fact, I thought Moore comes across in Dirty Job as more compassionate and thoughtful than his usual style displays. And, having now read three other Moore novels, I was impressed with his ability to create such diverse plots and characters. The plot of this one is even more complex and innovative than the other Moore novels I've yet read.. Those are some nasty ass death gods!

Birth and death collide, that's basically how the novel begins. Soon after the wife of protagonist Charlie Asher (note the last name) gives birth to baby girl Sophie, she dies. And Charlie, the owner of a San Francisco thrift shop (note the symbolism of a thrift shop), becomes a Death recruit. How does he know this? First, there is that big black guy standing by his dying wife's bedside at the hospital, wearing a light green suit and bearing the name of Fresh Mint. Noone sees him but Charlie. Nurses attribute this vision to grief and fatigue. But when the Book of Death is mailed to him soon after, to be followed by names that appear on his notepad, he knows something is cooking. The names correspond to souls to be retrieved by Charlie before demons living in the San Francisco sewers take hold of them. Let me say here that if you like Tom Robbins and Boris Vian, you will love Christopher Moore. Here, Moore blends humor, surrealism, fantasy, and mythology without forgetting to develop plot and characters. Charlie, his employees, his lesbian sister who enjoys wearing her brother's suits; his daughter Sophie, the Russian and Chinese neighbors who babysit Sophie, Fresh Mint, Alvin and Mohamed the gigantic dogs, The Emperor (Frisco's hobo in chief?), are all colorful personages that the reader learns to like. Even the outrageous fourteen inch eyeless creatures built out of animal body parts and craniums, ambulating in theatrical costumes, harboring souls until these find a more permanent body, even these end up being cute and attaching, if you open your mind and let Moore carry you into his universe. Mind you, the universe of A Dirty Job is death. The theme of the whole novel is death. And the fact that Moore can make you laugh, scratch your head, raise an eyebrow, think, and go to the next page, and then the next, in this eccentric salad of hilarity and gravity, while never letting go of his main theme, is art, is a tour de force.

A really interesting idea, ruined. Tells you nothing of the dying or the bereaved, just the Charlie character, who is supposedly funny but actually isn't. The story meanders through very little and gets more and more preposterous the further you read, with a final hundred pages that are just laughable. The dialogue is supposedly witty, pithy and funny when really it just reads like a poor sit-com. A really poor sit-com.There is more than a whiff of the atrocious Pratchett about this, and any author who seeks to emulate him is not for me.

I loved this book. It was inventive, clever, laugh-out-loud witty, and well told. The main trick to comic noir fantasy is to create a fully believable world that the reader can inhabit despite its oddities. Moore does an excellent job of this, placing the reader in the geography of San Francisco, the world of Charlie Asher and the `death merchants', and the underworld of the Morrigan. The contextualisation concerning beta-males and soul collecting is nicely woven into the narrative. The characterisation, in particular, was very nicely done with each character well-penned, distinct and fully fleshed out. The plot is well developed and engaging, tugging the reader relentlessly along, although the timing element was sometimes a little clunky in the transitions as the story jumped forward a year or more at a time. The mark of a really good book is that you're disappointed when it ends. I was quite miffed when I turned the last page of A Dirty Job - the story had come to its natural end, but I was definitely left wanting more. The book is already on its way to my nephew, who I know will love it, and Moore's other books are firmly on my radar.

First book I read of Moore was the gospel according to Biff and in this style, it's hard to top. 'A dirty job' whilst not as accomplished is still excellent, managing to be a bit scary sometimes whilst keeping its bonkers side going. It's cleverly of together plot and the characters, whilst of course a bit strange, are convincing enough to keep the story going. Going to read more of Moore's books,that's for sure.

Moore has a touch of Terry Pratchett and this can be likeable. He writes great characters and funny moments. However sometimes he writes a bit slowly and this is the case with dirty Job. I enjoyed his analysis that all human progress was not down to brave and assertive alpha males but their less endowed but cleverer cousins beta man. The concept of a junk store man discovering he has to pass on items of junk because they are special and at the same time prevent the items falling into the hands of the dark ones who live underground, is entertaining. But the idea of many agents of death not being organised, and in fact specifically forbidden t do so did not hold water. All in all a fine read but Moore has done better.

I enjoyed this book was polished off quite quickly for me and on to the second story in a moment. Only thing that bothered me is the beta male paragraphs I think the word was over used but didn't detract that much from my enjoyment.