You Suck. That's how Christopher Moore's sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends is named -- and that's how it starts. Those who know Christopher Moore know that he isn't gentle or overly careful when it comes to his choice of words. He plays with them and is not afraid of spicing things up a bit with slang and rude expressions.
Fulfilling his readers' wishes, Mr. Moore wrote a sequel to his first vampire story about a redhead named Jody, who lives in San Francisco, and isn't leading a very interesting life. Well, at least not until she is changed into a vampire. Bloodsucking Fiends deals with her growing accustom to the fact that she's half dead and with her relationship to a young writer wannabe named Tommy. You Suck brings some twists and turns as Tommy is himself turned into a vampire. Now both Jody and Tommy have the same schedule and can enjoy each other much more, but there is a problem with who will run the day errands or have the day shift. Both of them, even as strong creatures, cannot go out in the sun, because, yep you got it, they would burn to death. But the problem is that most of the stuff they need to take care of must be taken care of during the daylight hours.
For example, it is a little tricky to find a new apartment in the night. The newly transformed Tommy decides that he will find a minion who will work for them. And he gets lucky and meets a very eccentric and dark teenager named Abby. Abby Normal, which isn't a real name by the way, is into dark, mystic, and freaky stuff, and she gladly agrees to take the place of a minion.
To make the whole story more twisted, there is an old vampire character, a crazy homeless person who claims he's the Governor of San Francisco, and Tommy's drug addicted ex-workers, and many others who just add to the complete disorder.
Moore is poking fun at different stereotypes, but his work is not what we would call a satire. We all know at least one person who is like Jody before she turns into a vampire or someone who could be Abby's twin. And how many times did we hear about someone coming from the Midwest and trying to succeed in California like Tommy does? What Moore does so well is take these characters to the extreme and come up with very amusing plots. It seems that his mind is going 100 miles an hour. The product is a very funny, relaxing read that one would reach for in a time of needed diversion. Few contemporary authors are as wonderfully and consistently bizarre and entertaining as Moore. His offbeat work makes him an "uncategorizable" contemporary author.
I very much enjoyed this book. Just the name and cover art made it instantly clear that this book could be a fun read. I became a fan of Christopher Moore after reading his novel Dirty Job, and since then I’m hooked. You Suck is great, but if I would have to recommend only one of his books, it would be Lamb. But let's stop here and let the reader begin to explore.
HarperCollins Publishers (2007)
www.chrismoore.com
www.harpercollins.com
Fulfilling his readers' wishes, Mr. Moore wrote a sequel to his first vampire story about a redhead named Jody, who lives in San Francisco, and isn't leading a very interesting life. Well, at least not until she is changed into a vampire. Bloodsucking Fiends deals with her growing accustom to the fact that she's half dead and with her relationship to a young writer wannabe named Tommy. You Suck brings some twists and turns as Tommy is himself turned into a vampire. Now both Jody and Tommy have the same schedule and can enjoy each other much more, but there is a problem with who will run the day errands or have the day shift. Both of them, even as strong creatures, cannot go out in the sun, because, yep you got it, they would burn to death. But the problem is that most of the stuff they need to take care of must be taken care of during the daylight hours.
For example, it is a little tricky to find a new apartment in the night. The newly transformed Tommy decides that he will find a minion who will work for them. And he gets lucky and meets a very eccentric and dark teenager named Abby. Abby Normal, which isn't a real name by the way, is into dark, mystic, and freaky stuff, and she gladly agrees to take the place of a minion.
To make the whole story more twisted, there is an old vampire character, a crazy homeless person who claims he's the Governor of San Francisco, and Tommy's drug addicted ex-workers, and many others who just add to the complete disorder.
Moore is poking fun at different stereotypes, but his work is not what we would call a satire. We all know at least one person who is like Jody before she turns into a vampire or someone who could be Abby's twin. And how many times did we hear about someone coming from the Midwest and trying to succeed in California like Tommy does? What Moore does so well is take these characters to the extreme and come up with very amusing plots. It seems that his mind is going 100 miles an hour. The product is a very funny, relaxing read that one would reach for in a time of needed diversion. Few contemporary authors are as wonderfully and consistently bizarre and entertaining as Moore. His offbeat work makes him an "uncategorizable" contemporary author.
I very much enjoyed this book. Just the name and cover art made it instantly clear that this book could be a fun read. I became a fan of Christopher Moore after reading his novel Dirty Job, and since then I’m hooked. You Suck is great, but if I would have to recommend only one of his books, it would be Lamb. But let's stop here and let the reader begin to explore.
HarperCollins Publishers (2007)
www.chrismoore.com
www.harpercollins.com
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