Practical Demonkeeping | Christopher Moore | "A prune in a Carmen Miranda costume"

Practical Demonkeeping | Christopher Moore | No More Cookie Monster For You!

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Practical Demonkee...

	Practical Demonkeeping Christopher Moore, 2004 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 112 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Christopher Moore's demonically seductive storylines and zany, addictive brand of humor have earned him comparisons to Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Buckley, Douglas Adams, and other comic virtuosos. He's given us lovelorn vampires, marooned love goddesses, and addled sea beasts. Now discover his ingenious debut novel, in which we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. the good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "road" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor facade of Pine cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, Neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose...

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"A prune in a Carmen Miranda costume"

This book isn't exactly laugh-out-loud funny. Too many people are devoured by the demon for it to be tongue-in-cheek...unless it's the demon's cheek and our tongue we're talking about here. However, "Practical Demonkeeping" is witty, shading into heavy irony. It is blackly humorous as in the scene where the demon coughed, "...and a red spiked heel shot out of his mouth and bounced off the windshield, spattering the glass with hellish spit."

You might guess that the red high heel once belonged to a woman, but it's not that kind of novel. As a matter of fact it belonged to a motel night clerk named Billy Winston who was a transvestite from the waist down (the parts that the motel customers can't see below the counter). Most of Moore's characters have some redeeming characteristics, even the scum-bag drug dealers and pool sharks, and I was really sorry when the demon ate Billy.

Even the demon whose name is Catch has his likeable moments--usually when he's reading Cookie Monster comic books and in between snacks. He also has a sense of humor, the kind of humor you'd expect from a cat toying with its next meal.

Some of the book's real humor comes from a second supernatural creature, the King of the Djinn who has been chasing after Catch ever since the glory days of King Solomon--except for a few thousand year time-out in a lead jar at the bottom of the sea. He expresses himself in phrases such as, "By Aladdin's lamplit scrotum," and "Tell us where the Seal of Solomon is hidden or we will have your genitals in a nine-speed reverse action blender." The true hero of "Practical Demonkeeping," owner of Pine Cove, California's bait, tackle, and fine wines shop thinks the King of the Djinn looks like "a prune in a Carmen Miranda costume." Nevertheless, this unlikely pair teams up to do a bit of demon-hunting.

Wickedly funny. That's the term I'm searching for. This book with its winos, pagans, wrinkled-prune Djinn, and hungry demon is wickedly funny.

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No More Cookie Monster For You!

Christopher Moore's first book Practical Demonkeeping isn't exactly like his new stuff like Lamb, Fluke, or You Suck!, but it is an excellent book in my opinion. This book takes you to one of Mr. Moore's favorite places to take you, Pine Cove. The story is similar to Bloodsucking Fiends and A Dirty Job considering how it is very supernatural. The story starts off with The Breeze getting eaten which puts his friend Robert in trouble with the police. The culprit of the crme against The Breeze is Catch who is forced to follow around Travis who gets romantically involved with Robert's wife. While this is happening Augustus Brine encounters Gian Hen Gian king of the djinn, and Augustus is told to find and stop Catch. This book is great and if you haven't read it then you should read it very soon.

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What is so practical about keeping demons?

Christopher Moore's Practical Demonkeeping

This novel was a surprisingly quick read, it is short and although not action packed, it manages to keep your attention from beginning to end. The writing style is very casual and humorous, slightly vulgar but not so much as to gain an "R" rating or to turn off the casual reader. There are drugs, but they are not glorified, there is sex, but it is not explicit and there is profanity, but it is not overwhelming.

The story itself is simple enough, one man (Travis) is cursed with being the "Master" of a Demon by the name of Catch, who is not entirely under his control and tends to eat people when he so chooses. Augustus Brine, the small town owner of a bait, tackle, and fine wine shop is suddenly visited by the king of the Djinn who charges him with finding the Demonkeeper and sending Catch back to where ever it is that the Demon naturally inhabits. The story follows not only Travis and Augustus, but also most of the small town of Pine Cove. Although this is a short book, you will find yourself introduced to more characters than seems possible, and wonder how on Earth this litany of characters will intertwine and affect the story by the end of it all. In this Moore does a fantastic job of never spending too much time on the characters that go nowhere, and managing to include everyone in the ending.

As I stated before, this is a quick and easy read, my only complaint is that in order to get to the resolution, Moore does break down into a long and over involved exposition by one of the characters (Travis) that I felt could have been either broken up better through the story, or told a bit more naturally. In the end the resolution makes the story work and certainly doesn't let the reader down. The journey is a fun one and you have the opportunity to meet several very real characters along the way. No one is perfect, and no one is truly evil. In all it is a very human experience told through a very supernatural tale.

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Imagine Carl Hiaasen or Bill Fitzhugh Writing Horror/Supernatural Novels and You've Got Christopher Moore!

This is a very enjoyable mild horror adventure that once finished will have you looking for everything else Christopher Moore has ever published. This is his first novel and too be honest there are probably a few too many characters constantly popping up between chapters for very short scenes, that at times you do have to think who was this character again. This is the only reason I dropped my rating a star but we have to remember this was Moore's first book and more importantly Practical Demonkeeping is still a very interesting and unique good book!

The small Californian town of Pine Cove has had an interesting history but nothing can prepare the surreal eccentric townsfolk for two visitors that are about to separately arrive who are older than the town itself. One named Catch is accompanied by another named Travis who is also older than he looks by about 70 years. The looks of Catch aren't too important as the only time the townfolk are likely to see this ancient reptilian demon is when he is in eating mode and then they don't want to as they are likely to be on the menu. His reluctant travel companion has a plan to rid himself of his murderous demon and the answer lies within Pine Cove. Meanwhile a frustrated policeman is trying to find a man named Breeze to save his career but only Catch and Travis know where he is. A deadbeat husband is trying to get taken back, a hippie feminist wishes for an earth spirit to help her with her goals, a frustrated with life store owner is about to meet a stranger who's a Djinn with a score to settle since the days of King Solomon and will make his life a lot more exciting. Throw in a heap of other eccentric townsfolk and you've got one hell of a read!

If you like the surreal eccentric character novels also check out the authors Bill Fitzhugh (Pest Control's a great place to start), Carl Hiassen (Stormy Weather's as good as any other), Dave Barry (Tricky Business) and Max Barry (Syrup).

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Jumps around a lot; a fun read

If you remember Pulp Fiction or Playing by Heart for jumping between any of several plot lines and wondering how they relate, this story isn't quite that intense, but you get the idea. There are a lot of characters and you feel invested in all of them by the story's end... even the bad guy. This book wasn't as funny as Lamb, which is really great, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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