THE STUPIDEST ANGEL

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The Stupidest Angel, Christopher Moore, William Morrow, 2004, 275 pp

I'm in a grinchy, grumbly, bah humbug mood today. Ordering Christmas presents on-line is easier than fighting through the mall, but it is hard enough to get the Christmas spirit in So Cal, so that doesn't help. It feels kind of stupid.

As did this book, read for one of my reading groups. At least it wasn't as stupid as the stupid Christmas mysteries we have read in years past. But it felt like reading a TV show. Since I don't watch TV anymore, I guess I shouldn't complain, but the guy humor did not make me laugh.

There are zombies in this "Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror." They are gross but not as scary as the characters in The Graveyard Book. As far as the other dysfunctional, heavy drinking, stupid characters go, my heart somehow never warmed.

Most of the readers in the group found it hilarious. Now I know the difference between Christopher Moore and Michael Moore. I could only recommend this "book" to people who are going to have a monumentally sucky Christmas in the hopes that it might cheer them up a little.


(The Stupidest Angel is available in hardcover and eBook by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore. To find it at your local indie store click on the cover image above.)

SACRE BLEU

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Sacre Bleu, Christopher Moore, William Morrow, 2012, 394 pp

Well! If reading novels can be a window into an author's mind, I confess that I don't understand Christopher Moore's mind. He has some obsessions I'm quite sure. The color blue, art, and penises were the three I recognized here.

I read this (and one other, The Stupidest Angel) because it was a reading group pick. A couple of those readers were annoyed by Moore's irreverence. But most of us, including me, were entertained. Because blue is my favorite color and because I love the Impressionists, Moore held my interest and the many pages flew by.

Painters in Paris in the 1890s. A Mysterious woman. The Colorman. Lots of whores, brothels, and syphillis. Van Gogh, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and more. Time travel and the supernatural. What a stew of ideas and imagination!

By the end, all of his threads and theories did not quite add up, but I didn't care. I had been shown a good time and now I'm curious to read more about the many artists who populated that period in Paris. I wanted to hop on a plane for the City of Light but more than that, wished I had a time machine to take me to the Paris of 1890.

(Sacre Bleu is available in various formats by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)