Coyote Blue

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Summary: They'll stare because you'll laugh out loud!
Review: This is the funniest book I've read since McMurtry's "Cadillac Jack" -- it took me by surprise again and again. It will make that boring bus ride to work a joy, although they'll all stare because you'll be laughing out loud

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Summary: How do you pass up a book that has a coyote humpin' a couch?
Review: You don't. (Then again you could and miss out on a brave, quick, sensual, hilarious read. But then that would be your problem.

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Summary: A little sloppy, but still great fun
Review: Moore and Neil Gaiman have helped inspire a new category on my bookshelves: modern spiritual angst fiction. Moore in particular is not afraid to tackle everything from Buddhism to memes. COYOTE BLUE features the Native American trickster god Coyote as a starring character, and plenty of Coyote stories are sprinkled throughout, told in Moore's humorous, satirical style, of course. The trickster leads a Crow Indian who is on the lam from the law on a chase after the most interesting woman he's ever met and her baby son, who were kidnapped by the father and his motorcycle gang -- which leads him right back to his reservation where the cops are still looking for him. (They get to meet Anubis, Coyote's brother, and go to the Underworld along the way -- how's that for comparative religions?) I thought this was one of Moore's finer offerings, right up there with LAMB, even if it does get a little sloppy toward the end.

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Summary: Fast and Fantastic
Review: A friend lent me this book, insisting that I would love it. He was right. From the spurious pronunciation guide at the beginning to the chapter titles ("Chapter 15 - Like God's Own Chocolate, I'd Lick Her Shadows Off a Hot Sidewalk"), every word of it felt exactly right. I paused for a moment, once, to admire a particularly effective bit of alliteration, but I was having too much fun just reading to stop and mull things over for very long. Seeing religious themes expressed with such irony, obscenity, and outright humor shocks you into paying attention. Coyote Blue hit me in just the right place at just the right time, and I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed my first reading of just about any other book.

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Summary: A truly funny book, and a bit more
Review: Coyote Blue is the first novel of Christopher Moore's I have read, and it is easy to see why he is so popular. The whole book is a crazy, zany, wild ride for the reader and main character alike, and ultimately reaches a higher quality that transcends the goofiness. Moore presents a completely hilarious character, the Crow god Coyote. Coyote and a number of Crow legends (I have no idea how historically accurate they might be) are always invoked in significant ways in the story, however, and force thoughtfulness and serious consideration on the reader. In other words, I was laughing as much as I ever have with a book, while at the same time mulling over some serious issues about life in general. Coyote Blue is a wonderful book!

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Summary: Clive Barker meets Kurt Vonnegut
Review: After reading all of Vonnegut's books, and all of Barker's books I was fortunate enough to discover Christopher Moore. While "Lamb" (which I highly recommend) was much more a work of satire, "Coyote Blue" is a comic adventure of absurd fantasy. The book does have some glaring continuity omissions (notably, how one could live under an alias for 20 years and still have a nice car, credit cards and a townhouse is not explained). It's probably best just to ignore this and enjoy the book. Coyote Blue certainly has some laugh out loud moments, and is peppered with clever puns, some I missed then caught it while I was on the next page. Very exciting, if totally absurd, plot development. I like this guy's writing and I'm sure I'll read all his current published offerings soon enough. I'm working on it...

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Blending modern and ancient forklore in the Blender of Comedy, C. Moore has scored another hit against the modern world's belief in it's on sanity. Outrageously funny satire in the style of Douglas Adams and backhanded social commentary.