Book Review: The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

[po silvertop the rogue]

Ok- this is an updated version of a review I wrote last year... *why?* you ask? ...Because this comic masterpiece has just been re-released with an additional chapter- what amounts to a new short-story... and I had to stand there- over the open book-box- as I was supposed to be unpacking it and READ the whole new chapter ...

The Stupidest Angel
by Christopher Moore (Harpercollins)


Dear Santa-
I’ve been a (relatively) good boy this year, and what I’d like is something for those of us who want a *good laugh* this Christmas... Something for those of us who are tired of watching Scrooge & the Grinch drop the ball and go goody-two-shoes every year. Can’t we have something holiday-appropriate for adults- with grown-up language and situations (and perhaps a hot babe with a sword)? ...and (if at all possible) can we get a side-order of brain-eating zombies with that?

(What? Harpercollins is RE-publishing "The Stupidest Angel", the comedic novel out from Christopher Moore- the same twisted mind responsible for "Fluke", and "Lamb: The Gospel According to Christ’s Childhood Pal", "Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" and others?)

Never mind, Fat Man!

Christmas carols got you down? Tired of shopping and the commercialism of the season? Then let me sell you this little tale of lighthearted X-mas for the “spiritually challenged”. Take one already slightly neurotic Californian coastal village (whose populace is already more than a bit off-kilter)- add one incompetent angel, a freshly-dead real-estate developer in a Santa suit, and shake well... Garnish with humor- and enjoy!
(What? No, I’m not gonna tell them any more about the plot. Let them encounter the sight gags, the “oh my god” plot twists and the “laughing so hard it hurts” dialogue themselves... Ok, ok- I will give them *one* warning...)

WARNING: This book will assuredly become your traditional holiday favorite read, and you will want to read it over and over again... It will make you want to hunt down Moore's other books to read more about some of these very same characters and it will tempt you to repeatedly read aloud sections (or to paraphrase plot-synopses) of this book to your friends and family- who will then look at you strangely and will likely recommend therapy. Under no circumstances should you offer to loan them (or the therapist) this book! They’ll never return it... (Make’em buy their own copy!)

s.

[Dedeley]

Under no circumstances should you offer to loan them (or the therapist) this book! They’ll never return it... (Make’em buy their own copy!)

Sure, NOW I read the warning! I'm still waiting for my copy of Lamb to be returned to me.

This gentleman is an excellent writer. (Er, should I have said "gentlemen," to include our own Po and Christopher Moore?)