Customer Reviews

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I've been a big fan of Moore's work since "Coyote Blue." If "Lamb" is the first book of his you've picked up, you should know that while a wonderful read, it is a different kind of good from the rest of his body of work.

For any self proclaimed Grinches out there, this book is a hoot. Moore pokes shameless fun at the weird things people do around Christmas, from aggressive Salvation Army bell ringers to Xmas Present Amnesty.

At first, I was a bit put off by the returning cast of characters from previous books. Theo Crowe and his wife Molly Michon were in "The Lust Lizard of Meloncholy Cove," as were Theo's friend Gabe Fenton and his now ex, Valerie Riordan. The Mastersons and Mavis Sand were in "Lust Lizard" and "Practical Demonkeeping." Tucker Case and Roberto made it to Pine Cove from "Island of the Sequined Love Nun."

While the characters are familiar, years have passed since the last time we saw them, and life has moved on. This book isn't a sequel, it's a deliciously funny tale in a familiar setting.

Like all of Moore's books, relationships are at the center of the plot. No one wants to be lonely, not at Christmas, so just as quickly as people break up, they seek to pair off, if only through New Year's Day. Misunderstandings occur when Theo and Molly have their own O. Henry "Gift of the Magi" moment. Tucker Case, now divorced, is so desperate for compay he proceeds to successfully hit on a woman who has just defended herself to the death and doesn't know what to do with the corpse.

Unfortunatly, the corpse is dressed like Santa, and one little boy who wittnessed the murder is about to be visited by an Angel here to grant him a Christmas wish.

There are a lot of predictable places the story could go at that point. I thought I was braced for the right one. I won't give away the end, but I cheerfully admit I snorted strawberry-banana smoothie in shocked laughter. It took all my self control not to call people and read the last few chapters over the phone, just so someone would howl in laughter with me.

But that would be cruel.

Instead, I'm writng this reveiw, urging you to pick up this short, fast, fun read (only 275 pages on smallish paper). The buildup is fun, but where it goes is a laugh-out-loud, rib cracking good time. Believe me, this one is worth the price of a hardback.

Christopher Moore has written a Christmas book like no other. Bringing characters from several of his past novels together in Pine Cove, CA, the site of his first hilarious book of terror, "Practical Demonkeeping," he tells a story that will have you rolling on the floor with laughter. When a child who's just seen "Santa" killed meets up with the angel Raziel, last seen in "Lamb," who's been selected to perform a most-important Christmas Eve task, a series of misunderstandings culminate in a hilarious, horrific send-up of your favorite so-bad-they're-good horror movies.

Moore's twisted sense of humor shines in the odd pairings he cooks up -- the biologist Gabe and his dog, whose ruminations will have you laughing out loud; the pilot Tucker Case and the talking fruit bat he got as part of his divorce settlement; sheriff and former pot-head Theo Crowe and his wife, Molly Michon, the former scream queen who's gone off her meds and thinks she really is the warrior babe from her movies. The action starts on page one and doesn't let up until the final word on the last page. For devoted fans, this is a long-awaited delight. For those who've not yet experienced one of the Author Guy's hilarious terror trains, prepare to be hooked. There's always a surprise when you least expect it.

Whenever you read something by Christopher Moore, you enter a whole new world. In the case of The Stupidest Angel, the world you enter is familiar, if you have read Moore's previous books. Moore is reprising many of the most popular characters from the past in this Christmas-inspired satire of life in Pine Cove, a California coastal community, filled with "holiday quaintage" and "festive doom." Lena Marquez, divorced from Dale Pearson, an unmitigated boor, first appeared in The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, and becomes the subject of the major plot here when she inadvertently "kills" Dale, who is dressed as Santa. The local constable, Theophilus Crowe, also appeared in Lust Lizard..., and Tucker Case, who comes on the scene and falls madly in lust with Lena, was the main character in Island of the Sequined Love Nun. His sunglass-clad, talking fruit bat, Roberto, also plays a role.

Lena's argument with Dale is witnessed by young Josh Barker, aged seven, who is distraught at the thought that "someone killed Santa." Soon Josh is visited by the Archangel Raziel, who appeared in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, a klutzy angel whose mission it is to go to earth and "find a child who has made a Christmas wish that can only be granted by divine intervention," and do something for him. Josh wants Santa to come back to life.

As always, Moore's off-the-wall imagination takes over, and the investigation of Dale Pearson's disappearance becomes complicated. As the holiday comes closer, Raziel starts to work his bizarre magic and bring about his Christmas "miracle." The juxtaposition of the Christmas message and the violence in town are seen in sharp, ironic relief, and the question of whether there are any heroes in this novel and whether Raziel is truly an archangel come to the fore.

A no-holds-barred, let-it-all-hang-out free-for-all which gives a whole new meaning to "the willing suspension of disbelief," this is a fast-paced narrative that will keep you in stitches. The young at heart probably will not bat an eyelash at its profanity, its vulgar hilarity, and its unexpected satiric twists and turns. Your staid and proper Aunt Martha, however, may be more than a little startled. Mary Whipple

Santas and zombies and angels, oh my! And Fruit bats in Ray Bans! And a dog that is far more clever than myself!

If you've never read any of Chris Moore's stuff, than you are missing a chance to brighten the most foul of days. If you have, then nothing more need be said about Moore, you already know. TSA is no exception from the rest. It's a laugh out loud funny holiday romp, with a tact I dare say has never been attempted before. Its the rare author that can fill a Christmas story with zombies and a functionally retard angel, a stoner cop, a psychotic B-movie actress, and pull if off with aplomb.

With a cast of lovable losers and misfits for his other works, Moore spins a tale that will have you rolling on the ground with laughter, or at least getting you funny looks if you are reading it in public. You would be seriously remiss to pass up this dose of holiday cheer.

If this is your first exposure to Moore, go back and read the books in order. You don't want to miss the history of the characters. You won't be sorry.

Perhaps because I hadn't read any of Christopher Moore's work, I started out this slim novel with the impression that the author was trying too hard. Then, about sixty pages in, I started to laugh. And laugh. As the story got more and more outrageous, I began to fully appreciate the zany wit of this popular author.

In Pine Grove, California, the residents are preparing for Christmas, particularly for a Lonesome Christmas held in the chapel for those who would rather not be at home on Christmas Eve. But when little Josh sees Santa get whacked with a shovel, and a stranger with incandescent blonde hair shows up asking for children, things start to go awry. Throw in a pot-smoking, desperately in love constable, a DEA pilot with a pet fruit bat, the insane Outland Warrior Babe, speaking corpses, and a cast of equally off-kilter, hilariously drawn characters, and you've got this novel. You'll never again hear the store name IKEA without cracking up.

I understand that many of these characters are drawn from Moore's other works, but I was not at a disadvantage by not having read his earlier fiction. The book stands on its own as a zany, off-color, off-center take on the Christmas spirit that can be read at any time of the year.

Christmas has come to the little hamlet of Pine Cove, CA, and as we all know, Christmas is a time for miracles.

A little boy sees Santa get offed with a shovel (he kind of deserved it), and wishes with all his heart that Santa would come back to life. Too bad for Pine Cove the angel that grants this wish is Raziel, the stupidest angel from "Lamb".

Now Pine Cove's dearly departed are rising from the grave, and they don't want Christmas turkey. They want brains.

The Author Guy brings back your favorite characters from his previous novels - Tucker Case and Roberto the talking fruit bat from "Island of the Sequined Love Nun", Mavis Sand of "Practical Demonkeeping" and "Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" fame, Skinner the dog and his Food Guy Gabe, and of course, ex-stoner Theo Crowe and his wife Molly Michon.

In a play on "Gift of the Magi", Theo has grown one last bumper crop of weed to finance his gift for Molly. He doesn't quite realize the DEA has helicopters around, or that murder witness Tucker Case is flying one of them. Molly, on the other hand, has gone off her meds so she can afford her present for Theo. She doesn't quite count on her narrator reappearing, or the lines between reality and the Outland (where she is the Warrior Babe) blurring.

And no one quite counted on the zombies.

Pick up a copy of The Stupidest Angel. You'll be laughing all the way through Christmas morning.

Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel has got to be the sickest, most perverse take on the Christmas Angel / Christmas miracle theme I have ever encountered.

I loved it.

Many of the characters were apparently resurrected (unfortunate choice of words) from other books by Moore, but a reader does not have to have read these earlier works to grow to love-or fear-the...uh...eccentric population of Pine Cove, California. Only the cemetery people (don't want to give too much away here) were a tad on the unlikable side, but I think that was probably Moore's intent, so that's not really a criticism.

The plot builds logically (ironic, huh?) and suspensfully, and the final battle scene is delicious. Christmas simply won't be the same again.

If you love irreverence, sarcasm, and situations that seem to actually make sense in their ridiculousness, you'll love The Stupidest Angel. If not, well, I'm sure they're showing that Jimmy Stewart movie somewhere on television right now.

An anti-Christmas story if there ever was one, this is a dark, mostly funny peep show into the town of Pine Cove, where those residents who aren't dysfunctional are eccentric, except for those who are borderline insane, and those who are dead.

From intimidation at the Salvation Army kettles to fooling around among the tombstones, from larceny of Christmas trees to the Lonesome Christmas party, it's life as usual until the unannounced, uncoordinated and unheralded arrival of Raziel, the stupidest angel ever to don a pair of wings.

Completely misunderstanding the impassioned wish of a little boy who's witnessed Santa Claus' last stand, Raziel raises a little hell on earth, and it's up to the residents to take appropriate as well as inappropriate action. The said residents however include a stoned town constable, a Warrior Babe of the Outland, a lonesome divorcee, a depressed scientist, an icy shrink and a man with a talking bat; so obviously, this is not your normal everyday tale of Christmas joy and glad tidings.

While quite an intriguing concept, there are several chapters that intentionally border on the B-movie boundary that may not appeal to all readers, but if you have a weird and warped sense of humor, you should give this one a shot.

Amanda Richards, April 15, 2005

Some folks will have you believe that "The Stupidest Angel" is about the violent death of Santa Claus. Or the ghastly resurrection of Santa Claus. Or even a member of the Heavenly Host, an archangel no less, who is a few feathers short of a full wingspan. But no. Christopher Moore's latest novel is about the people -- the wonderfully quirky, eccentric and at times downright insane people -- of Pine Cove, Calif.

Moore has conceived a wonderfully witty comedy of errors, taking the spirit of Christmas and grinding it under his boot heel like a noxious cigar. This isn't a holiday tale full of candyfloss and holly, oh ho ho no, it's a twisted whodunnit (without the mystery part, of course, since we know exactly who did what to whom) overlaid on a jittery small town that lives for its Christmas tourism boom. If, by the end of the book, you haven't laughed your eggnog out through your nose, ask local bartender Mavis Sand to describe the contents of her signature holiday drink, a Slow Comfortable Screw in the Back of Santa's Sleigh. And then let her catch you loitering under her goiter-sized clump of mistletoe....

A few years ago, Christopher Moore released this tale of murder, sex, zombies, talking fruit bats and the miracle of Christmas. When a little boy in the town of Pine Cove, California witnesses the murder of someone in a Santa Claus suit, he turns to God for help. What he doesn't know is that God has already sent Raziel, the titular Stupidest Angel, down to Earth to perform a Christmas Miracle. Naturally, things get wildly out of control. When I first read this book last Christmas I had never read anything by Moore before, but I've read several since then, mainly because this book was great. Hysterical, cynical and somehow affirming at the same time.

Moore re-released the book last year as "Version 2.0" - basically the same book with an "extra chapter" added to the end. The new chapter, as it turns out, is really just a short story about what happens to all the characters the next Christmas - entertaining in its own right but completely unrelated to the plot in the rest of the book. If you have a choice between the two versions you may as well get 2.0, but if you can only find the original you really won't miss anything.