I finished reading You Suck (2007) by Christopher Moore. Since my past book reviews have been criticized for using hyperbole such as, "I liked it", I will borrow from a professional:
"All [his] books exhibit the same marvelous virtues. Engaging, deftly limned protagonists whose human failings are always offset by surprising moral depths, heroes and villains alike. Zippy, jet-propelled plots whose parts are intricately connected and whose endings offer genuine surprises. Bright, clean, witty dialogue. Juicy descriptions, similes and metaphors in the hyperbolic mode. Vivid physical settings and cultural milieus, meticulously reported from first-hand experience....And - finally but essentially - ingenious fantasy elements that are integral with the other components of the books, engines of action, not just add-ons." - Washington Post Book World
I've read several Christopher Moore books. You Suck is a sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends (1995). Both are about recently turned vampires, but in a funny, I-could-see-myself-as-a-vampire kind of way. You Suck picks up exactly where Bloodsucking Fiends ends, the exact same scene. Most of the characters are very young (late teens to early twenties), so I related most the the giant shaved cat. For vampire books they are very funny, romantic and surprisingly optimistic.
If you are considering reading a Christopher Moore book, and you should, you should read Lamb (2002). It's the story of Jesus, the missing years, as told by his best friend Biff. It really is Moore's best book. I've heard that it is read in some religious study courses. Apparently, when it first came out some Christians were offended by it, but it is actually very respectful of Jesus Christ, if you worry about the sort of thing. Fluke (2003) is his LOL funniest.
- Kathryn
