Practical Demonkeeping | Christopher Moore | Another Gem by Christopher Moore

Practical Demonkeeping | Christopher Moore | practical demonkeeping

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Practical Demonkee...

	Practical Demonkeeping Christopher Moore Harper Paperbacks, 2004 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor façade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

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Another Gem by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore may be know for the humor in his writing, but he is also a very good storyteller. This is evident in "Practical Demonkeeping", which was actually one of his earlier works. Sprinkled with great one-liners and absurd situational humor, it is tough not to enjoy this one.

Travis O'Hearn was trying to be a good seminarian when he accidently came to be the master of a demon from the underworld. The demon, known as Catch, has an insatiable appetite for eating humans. But Catch is only visible to other people besides Travis in his eating-size, which is three times his regular size. Travis has been trying to escape his obligation to Catch for a very long time. As Travis nears 100 years of age, he is running out of people that could help him as he searches for the candlesticks that may hold the solution. Love, aging, and theology cross pathes as the plot moves toward the solution. Yet I found myself surprised that Moore did not better exploit one potentially awkward romantic twist at the end.

Some readers have suggested that the story "jumps around" which is a product of the style of writing in this book. Readers see the story through the eyes of different characters. The format certainly does not take away from the story. If nothing else, it prepare the reader for when everything comes together at the end. The end will not be what the reader anticipated in the beginning of the book.

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practical demonkeeping

Quick shipping and the books is just as advertised. I would buy from you again.

Mmmm, people.

Set in Pine Cove, CA, Mr. Moore describes well and not a length (thank you) a sleepy little ex-whaling town. Each one of the characters is completely unique and the best ones are a little batty. And I mean that in the best way possible. It is the quirkiness and uniqueness of this cast of characters that really not only keeps the story interesting but turns it into a fast read.
With a shorter novel like this it's hard to give specifics without spoiling too much. The characters range from a people-eating demon named Catch, Travis- his keeper, a police detective, the bait store owner, a genie, a waitress and her alcoholic husband and much much more. Each character does have their background explained in a humorous way which is really what makes up the story. How this cast of characters came to be and how they eventually intersect with one another. (Think of the film Magnolia, but far less confusing and abstract.) The basic plot is that Catch, the demon, is on the loose, no longer under the control of his master and seeking a way to become master-free. At the same time, the master, Travis, who lost control wanted to get rid of him anyway (tired of being his baby sitter and meal provider for the last 70 years) but not at the expense that Catch roams the country free and well, hungry for people!
Comedy, action and a little bit thriller, Practical Demonkeeping is a very fun read, add it to you book list this fall.

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What is so practical about keeping demons?

Christopher Moore's Practical Demonkeeping

This novel was a surprisingly quick read, it is short and although not action packed, it manages to keep your attention from beginning to end. The writing style is very casual and humorous, slightly vulgar but not so much as to gain an "R" rating or to turn off the casual reader. There are drugs, but they are not glorified, there is sex, but it is not explicit and there is profanity, but it is not overwhelming.

The story itself is simple enough, one man (Travis) is cursed with being the "Master" of a Demon by the name of Catch, who is not entirely under his control and tends to eat people when he so chooses. Augustus Brine, the small town owner of a bait, tackle, and fine wine shop is suddenly visited by the king of the Djinn who charges him with finding the Demonkeeper and sending Catch back to where ever it is that the Demon naturally inhabits. The story follows not only Travis and Augustus, but also most of the small town of Pine Cove. Although this is a short book, you will find yourself introduced to more characters than seems possible, and wonder how on Earth this litany of characters will intertwine and affect the story by the end of it all. In this Moore does a fantastic job of never spending too much time on the characters that go nowhere, and managing to include everyone in the ending.

As I stated before, this is a quick and easy read, my only complaint is that in order to get to the resolution, Moore does break down into a long and over involved exposition by one of the characters (Travis) that I felt could have been either broken up better through the story, or told a bit more naturally. In the end the resolution makes the story work and certainly doesn't let the reader down. The journey is a fun one and you have the opportunity to meet several very real characters along the way. No one is perfect, and no one is truly evil. In all it is a very human experience told through a very supernatural tale.

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Jumps around a lot; a fun read

If you remember Pulp Fiction or Playing by Heart for jumping between any of several plot lines and wondering how they relate, this story isn't quite that intense, but you get the idea. There are a lot of characters and you feel invested in all of them by the story's end... even the bad guy. This book wasn't as funny as Lamb, which is really great, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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