Book #13: Practical Demonkeeping

Our book club choice for March was Christopher Moore's Practical Demonkeeping. I had never read any of Moore's books before this one, but I had always heard that his writing style is similar to the late, great Kurt Vonnegut's. That's why I bought Derrick one of Moore's books as a gift. He has been hooked every since, and now I think I might be, too.

This bizarre novel takes place in Pine Cove, which is a fictional city set up by Moore that shows up time and time again in his books. (Practical Demonkeeping is its first appearance.) Pine Cove is full of strange characters, but the strangest are certainly Travis and Catch -- drifters who roll in to town and stir up a whole mess of trouble. Catch is a demon, hence the title of the book, and Travis is his "keeper," I guess you could say. A tiny man named Gian Hen Gian shows up in Pine Cove around the same time as Travis and Catch, and as it turns out, he and Catch have quite a long history. A long, loooong, long history. Several centuries' worth. Some of the good, unassuming folks of Pine Cove find themselves with quite a task -- sending Catch back to Hell before he eats them all.

Yeah, the plot's a bit odd, but as I said to the book club, I was pretty impressed that Moore managed to keep it from getting too zany. It's Moore, it's supposed to be, uh, off-beat, shall we say? But he walks a wonderfully fine line between intriguing and just dumb. There are a great many characters introduced in this book, some of them major, some of them only appearing for a chapter or two, but each one is special. The characterization of the people of Pine Cove was one of my favorite things about the book. I can see why Moore returns to the city in his books... If I had crafted a town full of all those interestingly weird people, I'd want to talk about it as much as possible, too.

 Moore is known for his humor, and I certainly found myself laughing out loud several times. I wish there was a way I could describe his style, but I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression. How about I just say, "Go read a Christopher Moore book!" and be done with it?

4/5 Stars

Read from March 1, 2011 to March 7, 2011

--C

Book #6: When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Geez, I love David Sedaris. This is the third of his books that I have read, and although it isn't my favorite, it was thoroughly enjoyable. For those of you not familiar with David's work, he is a humorist and author who is often heard as a contributor on National Public Radio. His books are collections of autobiographical essays which, according to the author himself, are "true enough." He is originally from North Carolina, but currently lives in France with his partner, artist Hugh Hamrick. A lot of his essays are about growing up in the South and the challenges of international travel. Me Talk Pretty One Day, my favorite of David's books, documents his attempts to learn French. Hilarious.

The bulk of When You Are Engulfed in Flames deals with David's decision to stop smoking after decades of smoking more than a pack a day. Of course, there are a lot of other subjects that come up, such as my personal favorite excerpt from any David Sedaris work that I have read so far -- his account of using a horrible contraption known as the Stadium Pal, a external catheter marketed to sports fans who are too caught up in the game to go to the restroom. As luck would have it, David happened to do a reading of this particular story on an episode of David Letterman.



I love hearing David read his material, which is actually what he's become known for, whether on Letterman or NPR or in person on his book tours. He also records the audio versions of all of his books himself. I would like to go back and buy all his books in audio version, because hearing David read the ridiculous activities of his life adds a lot to the humor.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames is classic Sedaris -- funny, honest, and quirky. I laughed out loud more times than I can count. It was a quick read -- only took about a week, which is exactly what I needed after it took ten forevers to read my last book. It's definitely worth the read, though, especially if you're looking for something to pick up for a few minutes at a time. The problem is that you won't want to put it down after a few minutes. I found myself saying, "just one more essay" every time I thought I reached a good stopping point. I recommend this or any other David Sedaris book, but more than that, I recommend picking up/downloading the audio version and listening to an essay or two on your way to the grocery store. You'll look at life a little more sarcastically... Not that I needed any help with that.

Read March 29, 2010 to April 6, 2010

4/5 stars

-- C

P.S. Still no review of Pygmy, Derrick? Slacker.