Book Review - A Dirty Job

Christopher Moore's Website

A Dirty Job on Amazon

Well, last week I gave Christopher Moore’s Sacre Bleu a mediocre review—and rightfully so, considering it was slightly more of a history book, than fiction.  But I didn’t want to give up on Moore.  He has numerous reviews online pointing out how ridiculous and funny his books are, so I decided to jump right into another one of his titles.  And I’m happy to say, that “A Dirty Job” is as funny and ridiculous as you can get. 

 

When I look for a novel to devote precious free time too, I want to be engaged and distracted from real life as much as possible.  If you can do that and make me laugh, then you have something special.  Now, every time I read a book and there’s a humorous line or scene, I might smile or chuckle slightly, but there were scenes in “A Dirty Job” that had me laughing out loud.  Never before has that happened, so I have to commend Moore on a job well done.

 

Story:

The setting is San Francisco and a normal (Beta Male) guy named Charlie, who owns a secondhand store, is about to have his entire world turned upside down.  He’s the kind of guy who is happy going through life without any excitement and is content living out his existence peacefully.  But, when the love of his life has his child and then suddenly passes away, things get weird.  Really weird.  Giant ravens, dark shadows and glowing items start to appear, and Charlie has no idea what’s going on.  He tries to shrug everything off, thinking he’s losing his mind.  So with a new baby girl around, Sophie, a secondhand store to run, and the forces of darkness surrounding him, he tries to do what any Beta Male would do: nothing.  Except that doesn’t pan out too well in the long run.

 

Thoughts:

This book goes beyond absurd and punches bizarre right in the face.  If you like books to stay pretty grounded, then this is NOT the book for you.  And I’m not just talking about angel and demon stuff either.  You get sewer harpies (who seem to have the urge for sex), giant black dogs, squirrel people, outrageous settings; humor where it shouldn’t exist…the list goes on and on.  If you’re the type that doesn’t like foul language or has a problem with books/stories/movies that rip into stereotypes, then again—THIS IS NOT THE BOOK FOR YOU. 

 

Now, if you’re like me, and find humor in almost anything, and can handle a plot that continues to get more and more outlandish the further you read, than have at it.  You’ll love this book.  I initially thought: “Why hasn’t this been turned into a movie yet?”  And after about 10 or so chapters, I thought, “There’s no way anyone could make this into a movie.”

 

When you get about 1/3 through the story, you’ll think you have the whole thing figured out.  Wrong.  Major time goes by: sometimes months, sometimes years and still the plot rages on.  All I wanted to do was continue to turn the page to see what silliness will happen next, and I never was disappointed.

 

The characters, no matter how over-the-top stereotypical they are, are so likable, that you don’t want anything to happen to them.  And the main character Charlie is so nonchalant about even the weirdest things, that it makes the story completely unpredictable.

 

Moore pokes fun at every race/ethnic/religious background: Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Asian, Russian, African-American, etc.; there’s no road he won’t go down.  I firmly believe that life is too short to be pulling the politically correct crap, or labeling people with the “racist” card for telling jokes about how they view life.  So if you’re one of those people, do me a favor: get off your high-horse and swallow your stupidity, because you’re only wasting everyone’s (including mine) time.

 

Everything that Sacre Bleu wasn’t; is everything that “A Dirty Job” is.  This novel was exactly what I needed to laugh and forget the real-life problems going on—even if it was for just a little while.  I highly recommend picking this one up if you’re in need of a good laugh.

 

Since this novel was so much fun, I will be spending more time with Moore in the future…my only problem now is: which book do I start next?

 

4 1/2 out of 5 stars (all 4 ½ stars for being perfectly ridiculous—just the way I like it)