# Christopher Moore's arc

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** books-writing-myths
**Created:** [January 14, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242 "2023-01-14T23:20:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/1 "2023-01-14T23:20:18Z")

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Inspired by @carrps. I have loved Christopher Moore since finding him maybe 15 years ago. _Practical Demonkeeping_ was from 1992, and all those early books were silly, sexy and awesome. I really think he hit his height with _Dirty Job_–so poignant, so weird. And then he started to decline, I feel. I liked the _Fool_ books, but they started to get a little sour. I REALLY didn’t like _Razzmatazz_ and _Noir_. I hope he gets back on his game, although he’s aging like all of us. Thoughts?

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### Author: ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/2 "2023-01-14T23:24:51Z")

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I think he hit his peak with _Lamb_. I hope not, but I too haven’t been too fond of his last couple of books.

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### Author: ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/3 "2023-01-14T23:54:14Z")

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I’ve been avoiding the later books based on comments like these. I don’t want to spoil my memories with clunkers.

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### Author: ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/4 "2023-01-14T23:57:39Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
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> I think he hit his peak with _Lamb_. I hope not, but I too haven’t been too fond of his last couple of books.

This is my reaction to him also. I really haven’t bothered keeping up with him lately.

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### Author: ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/5 "2023-01-15T00:06:29Z")

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I actually think _Sacre Bleu_ is the best.

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### Author: ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/6 "2023-01-15T00:18:38Z")

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I was looking at some amazon reviews, and there was one from the UK for _Dirty Jobs_ IIRC. The guy gave it one star and hated it. But he just _had_ to mention the “atrocious Pratchett,” so I know not to pay attention to anything he says.

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### Author: ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/7 "2023-01-15T02:51:41Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
>
> I think he hit his peak with _Lamb_. I hope not, but I too haven’t been too fond of his last couple of books.

I agree.

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### Author: ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/8 "2023-01-15T02:57:18Z")

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_lamb_ is another high point. If you liked that, read the first Chapter of Dirty Job and see if it doesn’t grab you the same way.

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### Author: ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/9 "2023-01-16T18:50:20Z")

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Have to disagree. I love pretty much everything he’s ever written. Agree that his style has changed over time but his weird mashup of unrelated genres - zombies with Christmas stories; aliens with a Mickey Spillane-esq backdrop - is just genius. Nobody else can pull this off like he can.

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### Author: ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/10 "2023-01-16T22:16:51Z")

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I’ll second this. I don’t think he peaked with _Lamb_. His recent books aren’t his best, but they’re not bad.

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### Author: ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/11 "2023-01-16T23:00:50Z")

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It was a disappointment that Practical Demonkeeping was optioned but never produced. It would be a great film.

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### Author: ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christopher-moores-arc/978242/12 "2023-01-22T20:03:54Z")

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My first Moore book was Stupidest Angel and I was hooked from then on. Personally, I liked Noir and I finished Razzmatazz over Christmas. Not his strongest books I’ll admit but I still really liked them, being a fan of the whole noir genre.  
Fwiw, I wrote him when I was reading Sacre Bleu a couple of chapters were missing from the hardcover I had bought. I half-jokingly contacted him and asked where they might be. He (snarkily, big surprise) replied saying he was very sorry the pages were missing and that he can’t be watching everyone all the time, which was great! He then sent me the pages as a pdf from his manuscript! My respect for him went up greatly that day!
