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13th out of 1,316 books
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The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away fro
...moreHardcover, 306 pages
Published
November 1st 2005
by William Morrow & Company
(first published October 1st 2004)
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What is not to love about a book that has a pot smoking law official married to a crazy woman who runs around naked with a broad sword, brain sucking zombies lead by Santa who want to go shopping at IKEA, incompetent arc angel who likes snickers, and a talking fruit bat? I found the story to be very entertaining with several laugh out loud points (I listened to it on tape). I’d recommend this book to anyone who can just let go of reality and enjoy a tale.
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Leslie
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who like demented stuff
Shelves:
audiobooks,
christmas
If you're sick of all the sentimental Christmas stories and looking for something a little different and have a twisted sense of humor. This is the book for you.
My favorite scenes were when the dead people would talk to each other in the cemetery. I also liked how a lot of characters were very crochety and not shy about cussing.
Christopher Moore is the greatest at twisted, dark humor :)
My favorite scenes were when the dead people would talk to each other in the cemetery. I also liked how a lot of characters were very crochety and not shy about cussing.
Christopher Moore is the greatest at twisted, dark humor :)
Heartwarming? A stupid angel is supposed to give a child his Christmas wish. The 7 year old child sees "Santa" getting hit with a shovel and wishes that Santa was still alive. Santa comes back to life with a group of his dead friends as zombies. This book had a couple of very funny scenes but in my opinion was definitely not worth the time.
Estive na dúvida entre dar três ou quatro estrelas, acabando por decidir-me em dar apenas três estrelas, culpa em boa parte devida ao epílogo que na minha opinião foi um pouco "mal amanhado".
A ideia principal da história é interessante: um anjo que vem satisfazer o desejo de uma criança que apenas pode ser cumprido se houver uma intervenção divina. Esta criança vê o Pai Natal ser morto com uma pá e o que é que ela deseja? Que o Pai Natal volte a viver para salvar assim o di...more
A ideia principal da história é interessante: um anjo que vem satisfazer o desejo de uma criança que apenas pode ser cumprido se houver uma intervenção divina. Esta criança vê o Pai Natal ser morto com uma pá e o que é que ela deseja? Que o Pai Natal volte a viver para salvar assim o di...more
I just picked this book for our book club's December read but couldn't wait until December to read it. I guess you can say that a little Christmas mayhem is good for any time of the year. And if you think Christmas tales are rather lame, peruse this single paragraph at the beginning of the novel.
In another Christmas story, Dale Pearson, evil developer, self-absorbed woman hater, and seemingly unredeemable curmudgeon, might be visited in the night by a series of ghosts who, by showing him b...more
Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror is another audiobook to entertain, even at 5 A.M. on the commute into the city. My husband and I have gotten into a habit of listening to audiobooks in the car when we travel to and from work, and when we take little road trips.
Christopher Moore's books seem to be the most addictive for us even with the sometimes dark humor and harsh content. The Stupidest Angel is no exception.
The book is set in...more
Christopher Moore's books seem to be the most addictive for us even with the sometimes dark humor and harsh content. The Stupidest Angel is no exception.
The book is set in...more
This was great. Shannon gave it to me for Christmas, do you see why I was reluctant to join this site? Though now I feel compelled to read more...
Instead of attempting to explain this book I thought I would just share an example of why I liked it so much:
Winter denial: therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude- the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the misfortune of California. The country said: "Look at them, with their fitness and their tans...more
Instead of attempting to explain this book I thought I would just share an example of why I liked it so much:
Winter denial: therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude- the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the misfortune of California. The country said: "Look at them, with their fitness and their tans...more
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From, what I consider to be a mediocre author, this was an amazing book. Everything worked together perfectly in it's own way.
To take it one step further, I feel this is best book to read around christmas. I have even purchased 5 extra copies of the book to loan out to friends for the season.
To take it one step further, I feel this is best book to read around christmas. I have even purchased 5 extra copies of the book to loan out to friends for the season.
Not my usual kind of book, but recommended by someone I love. In general, I don't lean towards Christmas stories, or anything with "angel" in the title.
The premise of this one is hysterical -- a dumb angel wins the rights to perform a Christmas miracle on earth, but bungles it in a spectacularly wrong way.
If the author had followed the angel and explored his whole motivation and angle, I think it would have been wry and fascinating. Instead, he chose to focu...more
The premise of this one is hysterical -- a dumb angel wins the rights to perform a Christmas miracle on earth, but bungles it in a spectacularly wrong way.
If the author had followed the angel and explored his whole motivation and angle, I think it would have been wry and fascinating. Instead, he chose to focu...more
This is the fourth Christopher Moore book; I'm reading them in no particular order, but started with "A Dirty Job."
Unlike "A Dirty Job" or "Lamb", this book took me a while to really appreciate. Initially, the humor seemed forced, as though Moore did as he said in his forward: a friend suggested he write a Christmas book and he replied "'kay."
But as with all of his books, he can take the absurd and make it believable and compellin...more
Unlike "A Dirty Job" or "Lamb", this book took me a while to really appreciate. Initially, the humor seemed forced, as though Moore did as he said in his forward: a friend suggested he write a Christmas book and he replied "'kay."
But as with all of his books, he can take the absurd and make it believable and compellin...more
[3.5 stars]
This book did not turn out to be at all what I was expecting when I picked it off the shelf. Initially I couldn't quite get with the humor, but eventually I became highly amused by the pot smoking peace officer, the old woman obsessed with donkey sex, the talking fruit bat, the insane washed up warrior princess/porn star, the zombies who were trying to get to IKEA, the idiot angel, and the general atmosphere of craziness. Not a bad way to pass an afternoon if you can rol...more
This book did not turn out to be at all what I was expecting when I picked it off the shelf. Initially I couldn't quite get with the humor, but eventually I became highly amused by the pot smoking peace officer, the old woman obsessed with donkey sex, the talking fruit bat, the insane washed up warrior princess/porn star, the zombies who were trying to get to IKEA, the idiot angel, and the general atmosphere of craziness. Not a bad way to pass an afternoon if you can rol...more
Stupid is an understatement. Bizarre, sick, twisted. And yet I finished it? What does that make me?
If the dead rise up again at the end of the world, do we have any guarantee that they re not going to be zombies? Let s just hope the Archangel Raziel isn t in charge of that - he s easy on the eyes, but not so much in the brains department, so it s best that he not be given any important jobs. And the not so much in the brains department thing would make him pretty useless as zombie food....[return][return]Raziel - previously introduced in Christopher Moore s Lamb - is the title chara...more
This was another fantastic read from Christopher Moore. It was absolutely hilarious to listen to.
Publisher's Summary
Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, a...more
Publisher's Summary
Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, a...more
This is a seriously funny and irreverent book! I remember sometime in junior high reading "fractured fairy tales", and I'd put this right up there with those :)
Christopher Moore is such a clever writer! Here is just one of many things I found enjoyable in this book: in describing the insides of a pan of lasagna hitting a wall, he calls it "Pollocking". LOL! There are tons of other things I could quote or refer to, but I'd be referring to the whole book, I thi...more
Christopher Moore is such a clever writer! Here is just one of many things I found enjoyable in this book: in describing the insides of a pan of lasagna hitting a wall, he calls it "Pollocking". LOL! There are tons of other things I could quote or refer to, but I'd be referring to the whole book, I thi...more
This is a review for the audio edition of this book. I read the hardcover version a few years ago, and really liked it, and so I took this out of the library to listen to on my car trip to see family for Christmas.
The Stupidest Angel is the story of an angel who comes down to deliver a Christmas miracle. True to the title, though, he's not very bright. He interprets a child's wish for someone to come back to life by raising zombies who, after they're done munching on brains, want ...more
The Stupidest Angel is the story of an angel who comes down to deliver a Christmas miracle. True to the title, though, he's not very bright. He interprets a child's wish for someone to come back to life by raising zombies who, after they're done munching on brains, want ...more
I'm in a grinchy, grumbly, bah humbug mood today. Ordering Christmas presents on-line is easier than fighting through the mall, but it is hard enough to get the Christmas spirit in So Cal, so that doesn't help. It feels kind of stupid.
As did this book, read for one of my reading groups. At least it wasn't as stupid as the stupid Christmas mysteries we have read in years past. But it felt like reading a TV show. Since I don't watch TV anymore, I guess I shouldn't complain, but the ...more
I discovered Christopher Moore some 15 (gasp!) years ago, when I picked up a copy of Practical Demonkeeping and fell in love. Snarkiness, sarcasm, wit, a nutty story and great writing made a perfectly entertaining book. Published in 2004, I somehow missed this little gem. The Stupidest Angel is classic Moore - it's deliciously twisted satire blended with literary lushness. I mean, who else writes about dumbass angels, redneck Santas, horny pilots, giant talking Micronesian fruit bats and zom...more
The Stupidest Angel
A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas terror
by Christopher Moore
The book opens with ‘Author’s Warning’
“If you’re buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don’t blame me...more
A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas terror
by Christopher Moore
The book opens with ‘Author’s Warning’
“If you’re buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don’t blame me...more
Its utterly rediculous, but its also laugh out loud FUNNY. Im listening on audio book and I've never enjoyed doing laundry more. Its totally odd ball, irreverent, immature, deviously clever and just plain silly, as are most of Moore's books. It doesn't matter if you find the story "believeable" its TOO FUNNY for me to care. C'mon, washed up female battle warrior cult movie star whos totally nuts, in a friendly crazy neighbor sort of way, married to pot smoking sherrif, DEA helicopete...more
"Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe."
You in the Christmas spirit yet?
Imagine reaching into your Christmas stocking and finding a festering foot. Imagine discovering Rudolph, noosed and dangling in a festive saguaro wreath. Imagine a string of black, clotted Christmas lights short circuiting a...more
You in the Christmas spirit yet?
Imagine reaching into your Christmas stocking and finding a festering foot. Imagine discovering Rudolph, noosed and dangling in a festive saguaro wreath. Imagine a string of black, clotted Christmas lights short circuiting a...more
The book follows the citizens of Pine Cove — including many characters who’ve appeared in Moore’s previous novels — as they wrestle with the holiday blues, dumb holy beings sent to grant wishes, and zombies. It’s pretty great.
My favorite bit comes when the zombies are rising from the cemetery, discussing the feast they’re planning:
“Suddenly we are all gluttons, are we? Well, I have always enjoyed Danish Modern Furniture for its functional yet elegant design, so once...more
My favorite bit comes when the zombies are rising from the cemetery, discussing the feast they’re planning:
“Suddenly we are all gluttons, are we? Well, I have always enjoyed Danish Modern Furniture for its functional yet elegant design, so once...more
It's an old saw, but a good one - Be Careful What You Wish For. It's the staple theme of many a cautionary tale, which I suppose we could say this book is. It's a warning I've always kept close to my heart, even though I know I have no rational reason to do so. For example, I might wake up one morning, tired from a poor night's sleep, and a thought will emerge from my brain - "I wish I could just stay in bed all the time." I have to squash that thought, because I know it'll inevitably ...more
If someone ask me I would say that this book is about everything but an angel. Yes, maybe the angel is the one who bring the macabre show to the history although the characters have accomplish something interesting by themselves.
From the Christmas description as something stinky, Moore gave us an introduction to a non conventional Christmas story.
The characters are hysterical: the junkie sheriff, the rage attack from the constructor, the drama ex-wife, the waitress, the ghost...more
From the Christmas description as something stinky, Moore gave us an introduction to a non conventional Christmas story.
The characters are hysterical: the junkie sheriff, the rage attack from the constructor, the drama ex-wife, the waitress, the ghost...more
I thought the way Moore introduced the characters and how he made the novel to be character-driven was pretty good. He set the book in a small California town called Pine Cove. But don't think of Steinbeck's Cannery Row or Salinas while you're reading this.
In Pine Cove, Constable Theo Crowe, the only law-enforcing officer in town, was addiced to smoking pot. Hell, he even grew his own Thai sticks -- though he said he only grew them so he could sell the weeds to get X-mas present for ...more
In Pine Cove, Constable Theo Crowe, the only law-enforcing officer in town, was addiced to smoking pot. Hell, he even grew his own Thai sticks -- though he said he only grew them so he could sell the weeds to get X-mas present for ...more
I'm a pretty big fan of Christopher Moore. I've read a good number of his books (but not all), and I've yet to come across one that I haven't enjoyed.
The stupidest angel is actually one I've read a bit out of order. If you want the full effect of reading this book, you need to read Practical Demonkeeping, Love Nun, the Lust Lizard, The gospel according to biff, and i think another one. Moore has a habit of crossing characters from some of his books into others, and The Stupidest Angel ...more
The stupidest angel is actually one I've read a bit out of order. If you want the full effect of reading this book, you need to read Practical Demonkeeping, Love Nun, the Lust Lizard, The gospel according to biff, and i think another one. Moore has a habit of crossing characters from some of his books into others, and The Stupidest Angel ...more
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Shelves:
4_stars,
author_american,
christmas,
fiction,
humor,
read_in_2009,
reviewed,
setting_us,
paranormal,
titles_i_like
I can't even really say what this is about without giving anything away. Let's just say that the stupidest angel's mission to create a Christmas miracle goes horribly, hilariously awry in ways that only Christopher Moore could write about.
This wasn't quite as funny as I expected it to be, but I think since reading A Dirty Job as my first Moore novel, my expectations for the rest have been unrealistically high. I still laughed all through the book though, and drove my husband crazy ...more
This wasn't quite as funny as I expected it to be, but I think since reading A Dirty Job as my first Moore novel, my expectations for the rest have been unrealistically high. I still laughed all through the book though, and drove my husband crazy ...more
A reasonably entertaining holiday effort from Christopher Moore. Raziel, the "stupidest angel" of the title is actually something of a minor character and suffers from a lack of development. An endnote acknowledges that he, as well as a few other characters in the book have appeared in Moore's earlier work which may explain why the whole thing sounds like an in-joke for long-time fans. Most of the characters are turned to '11' on the quirky dial, sometimes crossing the line into the...more
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Divine Madness: December 2011 - The Stupidest Angel | 15 | 3 | Jan 14, 2012 07:08am | |
| Book Worms: Fruit Bat for a Pet -- Yay or Nay?? | 14 | 24 | Dec 31, 2011 06:46am | |
| Book Worms: More Moore? | 7 | 18 | Dec 30, 2011 06:06am | |
| Book Worms: The Ending? | 15 | 20 | Dec 30, 2011 06:01am | |
| Book Worms: Chapters 20 - 22 Discussion | 5 | 9 | Dec 30, 2011 05:35am | |
| Book Worms: Chapters 14 - 16 Discussion | 6 | 10 | Dec 29, 2011 08:38pm | |
| Book Worms: Chapters 10 - 12 | 8 | 29 | Dec 29, 2011 06:53pm |
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Christopher Moore (born 1957 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.
Moore's novels typically involve confli...more
More about Christopher Moore...
Christopher Moore (born 1957 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.
Moore's novels typically involve confli...more
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“People, generally, suck.”
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1,626 people liked it
“Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.”
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107 people liked it
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