Rating: 
Summary: Moore can't even recommend it!
Review: I had never heard of Christopher Moore until a recent trip to the bookstore where I saw The Stupidest Angel. Obviously the title caught my eye but my college student mentality keeps me from buying new books all the time so I went to my local library and found Bloodsucking Fiends instead, to get a taste of Moore's writing before I spent some of my hard earned money.
I loved the beginning of the book. It was fun and witty and a great look at city life. The crazy people on the bus were very familiar. But then I hit a typo in chapter 23 and was on edge. And unfortunately the story didn't make up for it. The plot fell apart and the character development stopped completely. The ending is just...blah.
Then I found out Christopher Moore likes to hear from his readers (BSFiends@aol.com) so I emailed him my feelings about the book and asked him if I should read a different novel of his. He replied right away saying I'd "be better off moving on to another author"!!!
He doesn't even have enough faith in his own writing to recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Quick and totally hilarious...
Review: "Bloodsucking Fiends" is totally unlike anything I have ever read. I have quite a few vampire books, but this one was completely original. It tells the tale of a woman named Jody who is attacked one night and wakes later only to discover that she has been made into a vampire. Deciding that she needs a human servant to help her and take care of her during daylight, she gets together with a young melodramatic wanna-be writer named Tommy. Together the two of them are involved in some wildly hilarious situations.
I dont read many male authors, so this was new for me and quite a treat. Christopher Moores writing style is unbelievably clever and funny. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Cute vampire comedy
Review: A vampire comedy about Jody, a woman who was recently made a vampire against her will. She has no clue what vampires are suppose to do in her situation but she figures she needs someone to do her bidding during the day. So she picks up Tommy, a gullible[]aspiring writer. Things are going as well as can be expected with Jody and Tommy until the vampire that turned her decides to screw with their heads.This book was pretty darn amusing and full of offbeat humor. I loved the oddball characters and quirky situations littered through out the book. I wasn't overly interested in the plot but that didn't really matter much. This is the only Christopher Moore book I've read but I'll most likely be reading more. If you like wacky humor with a little horror and romance then you should try this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Truly Unique Love Story With Bite
Review: After being attacked the night before, Jody wakes up beneath a dumpster. Her hand is burned and, surprsingly, she finds herself endowed with incredible strength and the ability to sense people's auras which leads her to the grim discovery that she is now a vampire. Determined to find out who did this to her and why, she seeks out the help of a lonely young writer named C. Thomas Flood, newly arrived to San Francisco and trying to fend off the charms of his new Chinese roommates. Together, Flood and his new love Jody scour the city to find the root of her problems before more bodies start to pile up.
From start to finish, I could not put this book down even while I was laughing out loud. Strong, funny characters; a biting (no pun) wit; and an incredible story with great pacing make this one incredible read. Author Christopher Moore re-works the traditional vampire story with a wonderful twist of two people falling in love and trying to understand how they fit into the world. All that you know about vampires is put to the test, examined, re-examined and re-worked into a very readable and enjoyable tale.
Rating:
Summary: SWF seeks romantic nights; idle (very idle) days
Review: Charmingly naive young man meets, falls in love with, and then finds it's not easy living with a gorgeous vampire. Improvisation is called for in the form of window shades, freeazer chest, and ... snapping turtles??? Angered and menacing vampire gent adds another level of challenge. Wow! This energetically hilarious story passed the ultimate test: my wife became suspicious when she heard me laughing out loud (something I do every 25,000 books or so). Then she read it and understood. Christopher Moore deliversfast-paced supernatual hijinks, with a peppering of pinpoint jabs at the inanity of modern urban living. The dialog must be among the wittiest of any American author today. It's one thing to chuckle over a funny quote; a real treat to laugh anew when deadpan rejoinders add a whole new twist to the humor. Add a host of imaginative complications, and the reader had better hang on for this wild jaunt. Like Moore's other novels (_Coyote Blue_ Practical Demonkeeping_) the satire is decidedly upbeat. He manages to let the redemptive qualities of his characters sneak through all the farcical shenanigans. As a result, you'll cheer for these night-shift kids as they stumble all over themselves (and a few bodies) to find true happiness. A book easily finished before sunrise!
Rating:
Summary: bloodsucking funny
Review: Christopher Moore is absolutely brilliant, many of us already know this. That being said, this is by far the best of his books I've read. I picked it up with a little bit of "I don't like vampire books much" bias. WRONG. I read the first 20 pages and then didn't stop until I finished it. When you sit down to read this book, make sure you have nothing planned for the next few hours, because you WILL NOT be able to put it down.
Moore takes us into a world of vampires, love and humor in a way that no other author could ever dream of. You will laugh out loud and actually develop feelings for the characters in this book. You will love some of them, and despise others.
Bloodsucking Fiends was a relatively quick and simple read, yet one of my new favorite books. I will recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: My turtles are not on dlugs!
Review: I first read (and purchased) this book soon after its release and loved it. I had read Coyote Blue and thus thought I knew what to expect from Mr. Moore. This book exceeded my expectations. The situations are riotous, the plotting quick and tight, and the one-liners that can be borrowed from this book are without number. From the proper use of Reddi-Whip ("Can up!") to the "Ski Boat" to the Emperor's "Safety first!" this book has become an integral part of my personal mythos. And although I can't say I have ever "skidded the buzzard," the ski boat works just great.
Rating:
Summary: Bowling for turkeys!
Review: I have read several books by Christopher Moore and enjoyed every one of them. I am currently in a "vampire/romance" stage and was very pleasantly surprised to find that one of my favourite authors has dipped his toe into this genre. And has done a fun job of it, also. This book isn't quite as "funny" as it might be, mostly due to Moore's looking a bit deeper into his people's lives and loves than some reviews might indicate. Some of this is pure slapstick, and there is definite romance/sex, but also some sadness, loss, and regret. The surface fun is great, the concept is current, but go a bit deeper and the understanding he gives to his characters lives and stresses is compassionate and very rewarding. All the characters are enjoyable, the situations are unique and fun, and the ending is well done, encouraging and reasonable (although you may never go shopping at Safeway without a flash-back or two...especially at Thanksgiving!) I am going to try to sneak another review in here...it will be well worth it to also read Christopher Moore's book LAMB. A truly wonderful twist on a very well-known story!
Rating:
Summary: Let The Laugh Riot Begin!
Review: I truly can't recall the last time I laughed out loud while reading a book. Smirking, groaning, eye-rolling...these yes. Laughing, no. Until I opened up Bloodsucking Fiends. A supernatural novel with plot, love, action and humor rolled up into a superb tight little package. The Plot: Our lead female of the story, Jody, gets changed to a vampire within the first chapter. In her struggles to get supplies and a new apartment, she finds Tommy Flood, a night-shift worker who turns into her new gopher and her new roomie. In the middle of all of this, we have Tommy's story of trying to start over, Jody and Tommy's budding relationship, Jody's struggle with trying to destroy the vampire who created her before he destroys her, and uh... oh yeah...Turkey Bowling. This is a wonderful supernatural story that isn't completely out there. It's a solid read for fantasy/sci-fi people, run-of-the-mill fiction readers, or anybody in need of a good laugh. The characters are strong, the dialogue is brilliant, and the monkey wrenches thrown in along the way (murders pointing to Jody, a dead body in Tommy's freezer) keep you glued to the pages. Cons: I can't really come up with any other than those who might be prudish at a few minor sex scenes or some drainage of blood. But then again, I would imagine those people would turn away from a book with the title Bloodsucking Fiends. The Verdict: An immediate favorite. I enjoyed this so much that I'm adding it to my Love It list. When I'm running into another room every 10 minutes to share a great passage with my husband, it's a good book. When I can't put it down for such an extended period of time that my vision gets blurry when I'm done, it's a good book. Trust me. You'll like this book so much you'll be wanting to give somebody a hickey. Along with this book, I recommend THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez, another wacky impulse Amazon buy that I greatly enjoyed!
Rating:
Summary: Moore leaves you wanting more!
Review: I've greatly enjoyed getting to know Christopher Moore. Someone, he alluded me until around the summer of 2004, so I'm madly working on catching up. What I've enjoyed about all his books is not only the totally insane, off-kilter hilarity of his outrageously conceived plots, but the rich characters. So often "humor" novels spend more time with strange plot machinations and forget to develop rounded characters one cares about. Christopher Moore "gets" that problem and he works hard to make his characters memorable and even "believable" within their alternate worlds. Some of his books are funnier than others (LUST LIZARD OF MELANCHOLY COVE made me laugh out loud more than others), but they all have a core of humanity that is recognizable to those of us who don't live in supernatural worlds.
I've also appreciated that Moore doesn't have an obvious axe to grind. Again, in many humorous stories, the author is often satirizing something for a political or social purpose. This is okay, but it often saps the humor from the story. Sometimes it's great just to kick back and laugh for no good reason. Christopher Moore delivers that.
BLOODSUCKING FIENDS has great characters and a delightfully silly plot, involving modern day vampires and the men who love them. For me personally, it wasn't quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the others I've read, but don't let this dissuade you. It is a book to make you smile and feel good. Moore has a deep-down faith in humanity that shines through even his most hapless characters. People get themselves into pickles by following their basest urges...they get themselves out of them by acting ethically or even bravely.
You don't need to be a vampire or horror-genre fan to enjoy the book. It isn't written to scare you or even make you break a sweat. It's not gory. It's just fun. Pure fun. And the characters are rich enough to make you care a bit.
Moore will never win a Nobel prize, but there's also no one out there quite like him. I recommend all his books to adult readers.
|
