Customer Reviews

Coyote Blue

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Christopher Moore's novels have an underlying theme to them. They are vehicles that poke fun at various "legends" of the paranormal-vampires (Bloodsucking Fiends), Godzilla (Lust Lizzard) and so on-while concomitantly poking fun at the "California Lifestyle" of type-a personalities espousing New Age psychobabble.

In Coyote Blue the legendary figure being skewered is Trickster, an ancient Native American god know generally for bollixing up the works in whatever situation he inserts himself. The "works" targeted by Trickster here is the life of Sam Hunter, the Southern California makeover of the former reservation baby known as Samson Hunts Alone of the Crow reservation in Montana.

The plot involves Sam's involvement/Tricksters interference with Calliope, a classic, comic version of the hippie child of hippie syndrome so common in LA, the setting for this farcical tale.

The book continues in the vein of Moore's works in general--looping, fantastic flights of fancy, complex yet entertaining plots, and frequent wise guy humor that leaves the reader laughing out loud.

This book differs from his other efforts only in that the story line is more controlled and more thoroughly constructed than is usual. It gives the book the feel of an actual, complete novel in the traditional sense.

However, one does not read Moore to experience novelistic integrity-one reads Moore to laugh one's head off. This novel, like all his others, scores a bull's-eye on that score.

If what you are looking for is a lot of laughs and a rollicking good time, Moore is your guy and this book will satisfy those cravings in droves.

Amazon.com has been recommending Coyote Blue to me for some time now, presumably due to my generally high ratings for Tom Robbins. This book is sort of a Robbins-Lite. We've got an enjoyable puree of natural and supernatural, without Robbins' mastery of the metaphor. Now, Moore's writing is clever and funny, but Robbins' makes me smile at least once per page.

In Coyote Blue we get a man facing up to his past (at the insistence of an ancient Native American god) and falling in real love for the first time. The best bits were the Native American myths told from a 20th Century point of view. The worst bits came at the end of the book. I won't give it away, but I will say that it's too much deus ex machina, even for a book about gods. Everything up to that point had made sense in its own way, but this was too much.

I will read more Moore, but I won't expect brilliance - just fun.

Before I encountered this book, I thought I already knew all about Coyote, the trickster god of the Native Americans. He's the one who sticks out his foot and trips you once you've hit your stride. He's the one who turns up the heat in your comfort zone until he blasts you out. Moore puts a spin on him, however, that gave me a lot of fresh material to think about. There is something in this book that will appeal to everyone--satire, humor galore, love of all sorts, Las Vegas, bikers, a traveling miracle salesman, a Crow shaman who wonders himself if his visions are in fact now actually the D.T.'s--and last but not least, Sam Hunter (nee Samson Hunts Alone)who thought he'd already found himself until Coyote came along. In a rut? Read this book. You'll find yourself looking forward to having your world turned upside down.

If you are already a fan and need a Moore "fix," this novel will keep you thoroughly occupied with its wacky charm, its light-hearted approach to cosmic issues, and its skewed, but respectful, treatment of Native American life and traditions. Coming after Practical Demonkeeping, his debut novel, it has many of the elements for which Moore has become so (justly) popular with his later novels, though its plot and characters are not as fully developed, and the book is not as outrageous or crazily funny as those.

Sam Hunter, the main character, is a 35-year-old California insurance salesman, a Crow Indian whose real name is Sam Hunts Alone. Having attacked a policeman as a teen, Sam became a fugitive from the Crow Agency, and now, twenty years later, leads a totally predictable, boring life--that is, until Old Man Coyote (the trickster), Sam's spiritual helper, arrives, bringing "chaos--the new order in his life."

A beautiful woman, her biker-druggie-ex-lover, and an assortment of wackos, stir up the action, as Sam tries to figure out who he really is and, with Coyote's "help," learn what he is capable of. Lots of wild action and some potentially hilarious scenes are reined in, a bit, by Moore's focus on Sam's Indian traditions and why they are, or should be, important to him, a subject serious enough to curtail the uninhibited flights of craziness that we now expect from Moore. This is fun, but it's a somewhat more thoughtful novel, overall, than the outrageous, campy stories for which Moore is now famous. Mary Whipple

Lemme see, if you haven't caught the Christopher Moore bug, how can I convey what these books are like to you? Let's start by saying that Christopher Moore is the funniest writer out on the North American continent (I might have to cede Europe to Terry Pratchett). His plots remind me of Carl Hiaassen: typically they fall in the "regular guy caught up in a chaotic comedic fiasco not of his own divising" genre. Like Hiaassen, his loopy minor characters are half the fun - there's never a dull moment in a Moore book.

In "Coyote Blue," for example, an insurance agent with a shadowy past (he is a Crow Indian who grew up on the rez and left there as a fugitive) comes face-to-face with his past in the form of Coyote, the randy trickster character of Native legends, who shows up in the novel (variously)as a sometimes-visible Native dude, a sometimes wolf, and anything else he might become to cause the hero Samson Hunts Alone as much trouble as possible. In a matter of minutes, Samson loses his job when Coyote loves up a potential client, his condo when Coyote (in his wolf form) nibbles on a neighbor's pet, etc.

Also typical of Moore, Sam eventually comes to realize the error of his ways and abandons his pretenses, returning to his more modest roots. In the meantime, the chapters roll on like a series of riots. Throw in lots of comic and amusingly raunchy sexual encounters and you have classic Moore.

I don't think this is his best work - I'd save that praise for "Lamb," the funniest novel in human history. But if you develop a taste for Moore, you're going to want to read this one too.

Christopher Moore is my favorite author and this is probably his best work. "Coyote Blue" on the surface is an excellent suspense and love story. But as you peel back the layers upon layers, you find deeper meaning. The Trickster is alive and well and easily recognized in many people we know and Mr. Moore made this harsh reality visible and funny. How can you not love a book with magic, faith restored, life renewed, true love conquering all, and a coyote humping a white leather sofa. <G> It has it all! The storytelling is done by the master and the humor is unrelenting as the trickster weaves his tale. A must read book! I really did laugh out loud through most of it and cried at least once. I just can't say enough about this book. Except, if you read it, you will thank me! I loved every carefully chosen word. Erma Arthur, Reading Forum Assistant, MS

This book has all the ingredients for a dynamite book - endearing and interesting characters, funny scenarios and dialogue and a fast and engaging story line that leads up to a larger than life Act III. Unfortunately, when all the parts are added together the sum doesn't amount to much more than a pleasent smile.

Moore fans will be happy to know that the book is populated with his trademark wry comedic genius in addition to a variety of left-of-center characters. Fans will also appreciate the light and quirky story that details the trials and tribulations of a man as he comes to terms with a past that he has long denied.

But Moore fans will arguably agree (that an oxymoron?) that Coyote Blue is by far not his best effort. It is weak in it's ability to develop an attachment to the characters and to provide a plausibly unrealistic plot into which a reader could sink his/her teeth.

Coyote Blue is by no means a bad book - its a fun, fast read. It's good clean fun with a handful of smart laughs and unusual characters, but in the end it's just that its not a book that totally satisfies. Moore fans will read and enjoy. Moore neophites will wonder what all the talk is about.

Christopher Moore has a knack for combining humor, horror and heart in varying but always synergistic proportions. In this, what I consider his best book, the humor and heart tend to dominate. You'll learn about modern Native American life, get a peek into the secrets of the insurance industry, and remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time. Sam Hunter, an insurance salesman running away from a horrible but justified crime he committed in his youth, is chased down by Coyote, a common Native American folklore figure. He seems to ruin Sam's life, but the plot twists and turns several times before the big finish. Moore takes a few swipes at bikers, druggies, and Southern California in general before it's all over. You'll laugh out loud, alright, but you may wipe a few tears away too.

I bought this because some people compared it to Tom Robbin's great books which are intelligent and thought-provoking and hilarious. Not even close. Lots of the parts that are supposed to be funny seem very tortured and unoriginal. The best parts are about Native American spirituality. I could live without the characters. I don't dislike this book but I am disappointed because it didn't live up to some of the reviews I read from other readers. Thought I should warn the rest of you Tom Robbins fans.

Christopher Moore has carved out his own little niche in the fictional world with his brand of humorously supernatural stories. In Bloodsucking Fiends, he wrote about the logistical difficulties of being a vampire. In Practical Demonkeeping, he dealt with devils and djinns. Now, in Coyote Blue, he involves Indian gods (with a touch of Egyptian mythology for good measure).

Coyote Blue follows Sam Hunter, a successful Santa Barbara insurance salesman in his mid-thirties. What no one knows is he was once Samson Hunts Alone, a Crow Indian who fled the reservation twenty years earlier after throwing a brutally corrupt cop off of a dam. Now, Sam finds his good life suddenly turned upside down: he has major problems at both work and home, but on the plus side, he has fallen for attractive single mother Calliope Kincaid, who in turn has fallen for him.

The cause of all this chaos? Sam's spirit guide Old Man Coyote, an Indian trickster god who alternates between being helpful and harmful. Although at first rather elusive, Old Man Coyote does eventually manifest himself fully to Sam, who finds having such a deity as a sort of guardian angel is more of a hindrance than a benefit. Their uneasy alliance is put to the test when Calliope goes after her child's father, a drug-dealing biker who took the kid with him on a trip to Vegas and points beyond.

Of the three Moore books I have read, this is probably the weakest, maybe because this is one of early works and he may still be honing his craft. The story's biggest problem is probably the middle when the focus gets away from Sam and shifts to Old Man Coyote, who is all power and little wisdom. But even weak Moore is fun to read, so although it rates a low four stars, it is definitely a cut above three-star material. This may not be the best Moore book to be introduced to him with, but it will not really disappoint either.