Christopher Moore discussion
Moore-like Books?
two more:#1) Books by David Sedaris (although I don’t consider his books as fiction…I think they are more autobiography/non-fiction….but SUPER funny)
#2) Portuguese Irregular Verbs (3 book series) by Alexander McCall Smith (this is one prolific writer! He has a more famous series which is warm & funny called The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency which I also LOVE
Love Haaisen and, as I have with Moore, have read all of his books. A couple to add:
Joe R. Landsdale
Elmore Leonard
Truthfully, I don't think anyone (except maybe Haaisen) is up to Moore's standard but I'm a little biased. :)
i liked brian m. wiprud's stuff - approx in the same vein but lighter and sometimes madder ))
"Crooked Little Vein" by Warren Ellis is a detective story that follows a road trip story. It is full of great dark humor and "strange" things that have become mainstream. It is definitely "Moore"esque.More loosely related to Moore are the authors Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fforde. Pratchett is actually comic fantasy set in a flat world carried on the backs of 4 elephants that ride on top of a giant turtle hurtling through space. It gets stranger from there and Pratchett has a long list of characters from a failed wizard to Death to a tough as nails commander of the watch (a cop) all interspersed with vampires, zombies, werewolves, sapient luggage, Assassin Heads of state, ...etc. They are a bit different from Moore because the setting is not "the real world", but they have his level of satirical humor and the British love of puns as well.
Jasper Fforde is another British author who writes a tongue in cheak literary detective series about a character named Thursday Next. It is set in an alternative earth where planes don't exist, Britain was fighting the Crimean war into the 1970's, literature is a kind of "national pasttime" for the British, and time travel happens regularly. Throw in jaunts inside of the world of fiction, a nearly demonic antagonist, travel through a tube in the center of the earth, and many other crazy twists and you're nearly half way to covering the whole crazy series. Its Moore-esque because its full of strange and unsuall things while having a good sense of humor through out.
While writing this I thought of two other books as well. "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and (my literary hero) Neil Gaiman. This is a book I tell folks in my bookstore, "if you loved 'Lamb' then you will loved 'Good Omens'". Imagine the movie "The Omen" with a pair of strange and dark senses of humor writing it, then throw in witch hunters, the 4 horsemen, and an angel and a demon conspiring to thwart the apocalypse.
Then there is "Anansi Boys" by just Neil Gaiman. Its the story of a trickster god, his sons, and a whole lot of other primal animal gods. It a story about family more than anything else, with ghosts, gods, flamingo attacks, and drunken Kareoke thrown in. Ok I've rambled on enough. Thanks for listening.
Ah Jesse, I agree, Good Omens was a great book, and fans of Moore should dig it. I have not read Anansi Boys, but American Gods, also by Neil Gaiman, is amazing. Packed with laughs, and sure to be appreciated by this crew.
I'd put Gaimen closer to Moore than Pratchett. The thing I like best about Moore (and Gaimen) is that, most often, the protagonist is just a regular Joe who's caught in some extraordinary circumstance. While Pratchett and Fforde are both great writers and have "genres" all their own, both write about their own worlds - Discworld for Pratchett and "alternate reality" 20th century for Fforde. The oddball things that happen to their characters are, often, not terribly oddball in their worlds. I find both Pratchett and Fforde to be best at word-play - which, as an American, I always feel I'm missing half of. LOL!!
While maybe not exactly C. Moore-like, the books by the British writer Louise Rennison are just plain hilarious. Just so you all know this is a young adult fiction series about a teenage girl. There are more books now, but the first several are:1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
2. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
3. Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas
4. Dancing In My Nuddy Pants
I like Neil Gaiman, he has that knack of taking really strange situations and characters and making you feel like "yeah, ok, I can see that happening'. American Gods and Neverwhere being my top faves.I am currently reading The Fourth Bear by Fforde and i really dont know what to make of it. Its my first book from him, and ehhhh... not really getting that into it. Seems more far fetched and less real than I would have liked.
To be honest, i have only read one CMoore book, and that was The Stupidest Angel, but I really enjoyed that one and went right out and bought Lamb, which I plan on starting soon.
So i am no expert when I suggest that Douglas Adams is also in similar vein.. at least in his Hitchickers Guide series... He, as well as Gaiman and Moore, take normal people with a small struggle/issue and create this rollercoaster of a ride, throwing in some very unique characters and situations, and never once have you sitting there thinking "what the hell is this???"... you totally fall for it all, like it was real and tangable.
I have found a group of three authors that are all rather tangled up in the "Web of Moore." Well three that have not been mentioned:1) Tim Sandlin. He writes the ultimate in Beta Male tales of madness. I LOVE his books.
2) Bill Fitzhugh. Fender Benders was my favorite of all his works, but I have enjoyed every one of his books. Funny, crazy mysteries with social relevance.
2) Tim Dorsey. Florida murder mysteries where the protagonist is a serial killer. Silly fun and fast, great reads.
I actully found Moore through these guys.
Jimmy Buffett. Yes, REALLY! THAT Jimmy Buffett.Tales from Margaritaville is full of short stories with quirky characters that you want to party with.
Where is Joe Merchant is a great Hiassen/Dorsey like novel. A great romp with Atlanteans, plane boats roller skating bad guys and cosmic bakers.
There's a reason that he made the bestseller lists in both fiction and nonfiction.
Mod
A. Lee Martinez, especially the book In the Company of Ogres. It's about Never Dead Ned and his misadventures as the new commander of Ogre Company. (As Ogre Company’s newly appointed commander, Ned finds himself in charge of such fine examples of military prowess as a moonstruck Amazon, a very big (and very polite) two-headed ogre, a seductively scaly siren, a blind oracle who can hear (and smell) the future, a suicidal goblin daredevil pilot, a walking tree with a chip on its shoulder, and a suspiciously goblinesque orc...)
The Nightside series by Simon R. Green. Great fun, fast, bizarre, pulpy fantasy detective novels.
I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, espcially American Gods.
Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse but Robert Rankin was kinda fun too, I've been meaning to try something else of his.
I think I'll leave it at that for now, or else I might just rattle off my whole list of books. :)
Ok, I'm glad I'm not the only Moore fan who hasn't fallen in love with Hiaasen's work. Granted, I've only read (most of) one, but there's no contest about who's the better writer, especially if we're gauging "better" on who makes me laugh more. :p
Help! I am badly in need of humorous reading material as I cope with the death of a friend. I have read and relished all of Christopher Moore's books, and I can't keep re-reading them forever. I love Moore's novels for their combination of straight-faced absurdity, gorgeous one-liners and warmly developed characters--his beta-males and ethically-flexible heroes are all essentially warm-hearted. It's important that at some level I can sympathize with and love the main characters. For instance, I love Carl Hiaasen but not Elmore Leonard; I can handle wacky eco-terrorists, but I'm less keen on truly hard-boiled characters. I love Nick Hornby's lovable losers (though his last couple of books were downers).
I really enjoyed M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Adventures series of spoofs on youth genre literature. I also loved Dave Barry's Big Trouble, though his second adult novel was not as funny. I very much enjoy Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's... and especially Dirk Gently) and Terry Pratchett (especially the novels featuring Death and The Librarian), though I'd sort of like to be able to fall into a stronger plot than either of those authors usually provides. I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, but would like something more laugh-out-loud hilarious. Something with the irony, sweetness and absurdity of Feeling Sorry for Celia or of Scout's adventures in To Kill A Mockingbird ("pass the damn peas, *please*") would be immensely appealing.
RAD
well, i recently read A. Lee Martinez's novel Gils All Fright Diner... and I read it in one day. I devoured it. Could not get enough of the two main characters. A vampire and a werewolf, who are as messed up and quirky as any normal person.... it was well written, funny, and cheesy - in a good way! It will definetly help get your mind off of things. You can check out my review on my bookshelf if you like.And I am sorry to hear you lost someone close to you. That is never an easy thing to go through.
Adding Gil's All Fright Diner to my to-read list, thanks, Lori!
Heather, when you do read it, I would be interested to hear what you thought!
Mod
Definitely will do if I ever get around to it - so many books, so little time! :P
I'm currently reading Straight Man by Richard Russo. It has some definite Moore-esque qualities.
Lori,Just read Gil's All-Fright Diner and I loved it! Thanks for the rec!
Your welcome. I really wasnt ecpecting much when i picked it up, but wow... I was totally sucked in after a few pages. I dont usually read books in one day, but i just wasnt able to put it down.... Glad you liked it!
I also recommend: 1) The Fan Man (Paperback)by William Kotzwinkle;
2) Syrup by Max Barry;
3) Artistic Differences, By Charlie Hauck;
4) Fat White Vampire Blues by Andrew Fox (especially for fans of Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck;
5)The World According to Garp by John Irving.
I would like to suggest Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series. I laughed out-loud; dark, sarcastic, twisted, what more could you want from a book?
I didn't read these books, but rather listened to them and I loved them! The actor who reads the books embodied that character so well, that even though I love Michael C. Hall, he paled in comparison in his portrayal of Dexter Morgan to Nick Landrum(the reader). And I would agree that fans of Christopher Moore's dark, absurdist humor will enjoy Lindsay as well.
The Dexter novels were awesome. The third was the weakest, but even still, I couldnt get enough of those books... Flew through them!!!
Try Mil Millington or John Welter. Mil has that crazy Brit humor, Welter is mostly out of print but try and find a used copy of "Begin to Exit Here" or "Night of the Avenging Blowfish" on Amazon.
I totally agree with the A. Lee Martinez recommendations. For me, nobody does it like Moore, but I really look forward to Martinez's new releases. He seems to get better and better with each new book. I have his latest, Too Many Curses, sitting her waiting for me to finish the book I'm currently reading.As far as Hiaasen goes, I read all of his books before I ever read anything by Moore and I have to say that Moore is better. I think Moore has spoiled me for many authors now.
Hey Paul - I LOVE Geogia Nichols! The latest book (Stop in the Name of Pants) was the best so far and really they are all great.
Jennifer Colt writes a really funny mystery series starring twin sisters in CA. Love this books! They are very funny with decent plots.
I have the first Tim Dosey book here on my shelf and I'm looking forward to trying his books out.
I see lots of other good recommendations here. So glad I found this group!
I am surprised nobody has listed Kurt Vonnegut. His books are incredible. I'm fairly sure Vonnegut must have been a huge influence on C. Moore. I recommend Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut as a good starting point. Also recommended is Slapstick.I'd have to agree with some of the posts that Douglas Adams is also hilarious. I suspect Mr. Moore has read and been influence by all of the Hitchhiker books. Check Douglas Adams' books out if you haven't already. You won't regret it.
For some lesser known, but still entertaining authors that will make you laugh, I will first recommend Lance Carbuncle's "Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed." It is hilarious, politically incorrect, crude, and well worth the read. Another author worth checking out is Mykle Hansen. His book "Help! A Bear is Eating Me," cracked me up. The narrator is a complete a**hole who, like the title says, is being eaten by a bear throughout the book.
Really love Neil Gaiman, Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett) is one of the best books I have read. In fact, I've read it over 10 times, it is an old friend.Also, check out Tim Dorsey. His spin is a serial killer with unusual personality quirks. Doesn't sound funny on the surface, but Serge Storm is one of the best fictional characters today. I swear I laughed myself sore! Dorsey really gets Florida in all its garish glory. Check out Florida Roadkill and go from there, you won't be disappointed.
Dorsey's character sounds a little like Jeff Lindsay's Dexter? Speaking of books that make me chortle out loud. The second in the series... Dearly Devoted Dexter cracked me up. Very sardonic dry wit.
OoooohhhhhhLOVED me some Dexter. Fell in love with the books, then get to obsess over the Showtime Series too.....
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tom Holt yet . I found him by going through Chris's Picks on his website.I've only read Valhalla (so far), and while it is more in a fantasy vein, he was pretty funny as well and the other books look pretty appealing (http://www.tom-holt.co.uk/comic.htm)
If you don't mind fantasy (normally I don't care for it), I love Terry Pratchett... particularly his "Guards" series.I second Vonnegut, Gaiman, and Adams.
I didn't really care for Tim Dorsey, but my husband is addicted to his books. They are a bit to hollow for me... like reading an outline.
I like Hiaasen, but I wouldn't put him up on my favorites list. Pratchett is where I go to get a good laugh when I need one.
Read Vonnegut. You can't go wrong with Vonnegut. I think AG even admits that he was a huge influence.Its hard to find other writers that are anywhere near as funny. I've found some small press authors that are lol, though. Mykle Hansen's Help! A Bear is Eating me! is really funny and his recent book has a name so offensive that I won't even type it here. (That is a plus in my book).
The other writer that I found is Lance Carbuncle. I cracked up all of the way through his first book, Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed (I think I got that right) and am working my way through his second book, Grundish and Askew (which seems to be just as crazy as teh first book).
Hansen and Carbuncle are both hilarious but are also pretty crude (lots of poop, dick jokes and general vulgarity) but once again, I find that to be a plus.
And I have to agree that Douglas Adams, while totally differenct from AG, is pretty strange and funny.
Toby Frost's three Space Captain Smith books remind me more of Christopher Moore's work a lot.Space Captain Smith
God Emperor of Didcot
Wrath of the Lemming Men
I agree with Denga and Bert, "Help! A Bear is Eating Me" is a hilarious read. Another similar read [full disclosure, I wrote it:]is "Sex Dungeon for Sale!", which is a collection of weird, funny short stories. They are both from the same publisher.
If someone has already mentioned Lance Carbuncle, then I'm sorry. I haven't read his books yet, but the synopsis for both books sound hilarious and Christopher Moore-ish (I'm sure Lance has added a few of you on Goodreads as a friend)
So here is the link to Lance's website where you can buy signed copies of his books!
http://www.lancecarbuncle.com/
Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to trying Carl Hiaasen. I was never much of a reader, but I picked up Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends a few years back and now I've read almost every one of his books.Can anyone recommend which Carl Hiaasen books to start with?
I like Sick Puppy, to name one - all of them were pretty fun reads, though
I've got nothing as consistently funny as those already listed. It sometimes bothers me that I so enjoy three authors who all have characters who live in Florida and are serial killers (Hiaasen- Double Whammy, Dorsey , and Lindsay)Thorne Smith from back in the 30s, most famous for Topper, has a similar feel and the ability to mix the mythic with the mundane. And no one is as consistently funny as P. G. Wodehouse (Bertie and Jeeves).
I really enjoyed Nichole Peeler's Tempest Rising and Tracking the Tempest. They both tickled my funny bone.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned CHUCK PALAHNIUK yet!I have read many amusing books throughout my life, but Moore and Palahniuk are the only two authors who have ever made me laugh out loud! Both of these men have a VERY VERY special sense of humour! It's just as hard choosing a favourite from Palahniuk as it is from Moore, but I suggest starting with either, Rant, Choke, or Invisible Monsters. I promise, you won't be disappointed! :)
Just read "Heads You Lose" by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. It's a bit funny with the both authors in a seemingly less than collaboratively sense alternating writing chapters.
I have read over 700 books in all genres and in my humble opinion, there are no others authors out there that write like "The Author Guy". He is unique.
Bert wrote: "I am surprised nobody has listed Kurt Vonnegut. His books are incredible. I'm fairly sure Vonnegut must have been a huge influence on C. Moore. I recommend Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut as ..."Chuck Palahniuk Also - I may have missed it in the list, but here it is anyway
I'm presently trying to get through "Mercury Falls" by Robert Kroese. At times, it reminds me that the author is trying to be a combination of Douglas Adams and Christopher Moore but I find myself losing interest the further along I'm into the novel. It might be interesting to others though.
I don't know if anyone said Robert Rankin, but he's delightedly British and hilarious. The one's I have read are: The Da Da Dee DaDa Code and The Brightonomicon; both equally a good time and read.
Christopher Moore
Books mentioned in this topic
I, Lucifer (other topics)Gil's All Fright Diner (other topics)
I, Lucifer (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Glen Duncan (other topics)Glen Duncan (other topics)
#1) ALL books by Carl Haaisen
#2) Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (good enough for an award)
Max Danger: The Adventures of an Expat in Tokyo by Robert J. Collins (very funny as I was living in Japan at the time)