2 Words that describe the book: Vampire comedy3 Settings where it took place or characters you met:* Setting: Modern-day San Francisco* Jody—A fledgling vampire who had her new lifestyle thrust upon her with no warning or choice, Jody is trying her best to make sense of her new undead lifestyle. But getting used to a life lived solely at night can make things a little tricky, so Jody needs a minion to do her bidding, which is where...* C. Thomas Flood comes in. A wannabe writer from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy is new in town and having a hard time getting adjusted to life in the Big City ... until he meets the new love of his life, a certain undead redhead. Although Jody can be a little tricky and high-maintenance with her vampire lifestyle, Tommy is in love (he thinks). As Jody and Tommy settle into together, things take a turn for the worse when the vampire who created Jody starts causing trouble for them.4 Things you liked and/or disliked about it:* I like Christopher Moore. This is the first book of his vampire trilogy (though I accidentally read You Suck first because I didn't realize it was a series). But Moore's vampires aren't brooding, sparkly, or particularly scary. Jody is just like you and me ... except with superhuman strength, a thirst for blood and heightened senses. Moore has fun with the whole vampire thing, which brings me to another thing I liked about the book.* I liked how Moore has Tommy test various vampire legends and stories on Jody to see what is true or not. Once Tommy finds out Jody's little secret, he cannot resist getting every book on vampires out of the library and checking to see what is true and untrue about vampires. These little experiments include having Tommy sneaking around touching Jody with crucifixes, trying to drown her in a bathtub, having her try to climb walls like Dracula, and rubbing her with garlic while she sleeps. And I liked Moore's shout-out to the Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.* I liked how the book is just stuffed with Moore's hilarious throwaway lines. You'll be reading along and then Moore will write something so silly or goofy or unexpected that you just have to laugh out loud. Consider this thought from Jody: She thought, My closet is starting to look like an ostrich hatchery. I've either got to start throwing out L'eggs eggs or get a tan on my legs and quit wearing nylons.This cracked me up because I so remember having all those eggs! Do they even make those any more? It has been AGES since I wore pantyhose.* I disliked the overly serious Reading Group Guide at the back of my book. This is a book that is written to be funny and read for enjoyment. In my opinion, it doesn't cry out for book club discussions or deep thought. Yet there is a Reading Group Guide at the back with discussion questions like this: Everyone has been exposed to vampire lore, either through books, movies or television. How does Jody's transformation into a vampire differ from how you always thought someone became a vampire? In what ways is it similar? The books touches upon the idea of euthanasia--the practice of ending the life of a terminally ill person in a painless or minimally painful way in order to limit suffering--in that Elijah Ben Sapir, the vampire who creates Jody, only kills those who are about to die or whose lives are limited in some way. What are your feelings about "mercy killings"? Do vampires have an ethical standard?Though I would totally want to join a book club that chose to read Bloodsucking Fiends, I can't imagine having a big old serious discussion on vampire lore and euthanasia as a result! But maybe that is just me.5 Stars or less for your rating?I'm giving the book 4 stars. I actually liked You Suck a bit better, but you can't go wrong with Moore. He's a fun, irreverent, creative writer whose sense of humor comes through on every page. Even if you don't like vampire books, you can have fun with this one. (You won't be scared, I promise. The only scary thing is how compelled you'll be to read more Christopher Moore.)
I should admit upfront that I'm suffering from a severe case of vampire fatigue; that, coupled with disdain for Christopher Moore based on the only other book of his that I read, means that there really was no chance in the world that I was going to enjoy this book, and in fact should never have read it. However, it was this month's book club selection, so read it I did and now we all must suffer the consequences.Bloodsucking Fiends is the story of several unlikable characters, some of whom are vampires, some of whom are idiots, and one based on an actual historical personage, although that connection is never mentioned so you might spend the entire book wondering if he's supposed to be immortal too, and you'll definitely spend the end of the book wondering why, since he was the only character who was even a little bit likeable, his final scene had to be so particularly shitty. What, you may be wondering, was the point of that?As near as I can tell, there wasn't a point. While Christopher Moore strikes me as the type of author more interested in making a point than in telling a story - hence the abrupt and contrived endings of the stories that I read - whatever point he was making back in 1995, when this book was written, is really no longer relevant. For having been written only 15 years ago or so, this book is incredibly dated.Which, oddly enough, makes me feel old and humorless. Because I really wonder, if I read this book when it was originally published, would I have liked it? I may very well have. There are a lot of places in the book where the author revels in his own cleverness, and I, as an irritating youngster, would have delighted so much in recognizing them that I might have overlooked entirely that there's basically a giant neon sign hanging over several parts of the book proclaiming Look At How Clever I Am! and that it didn't take much to be in on the joke.Granted, that might have been flown back in 1995. But you can't just pat yourself on the back like that anymore. If you're going to make a big fucking deal about how clever you are, you've got to also acknowledge that said BFD is being made by you, then admit that it's pretty lame to make such a BFD about anything at all, much less something so lame as yourself, before finally settling on the idea that embracing your own lameness actually makes you awesome after all. It's 2011, and if you can't be genuine, you've got to wrap yourself in at least 5 layers of irony if you want to avoid an eye-roll from the audience."You just don't get it," the me from 1995 would say if she could hear me talking like this (I don't think it'd be a good idea to try to explain the internet to her; that wouldn't stick), and the thing is, she's basically right - I don't get it. Because, with age has come the wisdom that sometimes, as in the case of Bloodsucking Fiends, there's just nothing to get.(It should be acknowledged that it was very bold to write a book in 1995 that had so many major plots that openly discussed AIDs. Science, research and public understanding have made these issues not age so well either, but instead of allowing them to detract from the book, let's just be glad that HIV is no longer thought of as an immediate death sentence, that sick people are not just wandering around the city looking for a gentle way to day; but still recognize that we've still got a long way to go).
What do You think about Bloodsucking Fiends (2004)?
This was only my second Christopher Moore novel (and ZOMG I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS that are all "OH, YOU MUST READ HIM RIGHT MEOW!") so there was a lot of pressure (even if only in my own mind) on me to enjoy this before I'd even started it.I LOVED Lamb, mostly because it reminded me a lot of mid-Tom Robbins. This? Not as much.I mean, it wasn't terrible, and I liked it, but if I had started with this book, I'd be in no hurry to return to his work.But, FFS, every single time I updated my reading progress, I was practically assaulted on twitter from the Moore fanbois and grrls telling me how BRILLIANT he is and how this book was the genesis of their love affair with his work. It was pretty overwhelming.So - funny? Yes.Ridiculous? Yes.DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND READ THIS NAO? Not so much.I already own a bunch of his stuff (see previous statement about all the pressure from friends), but I'm not in much of a hurry to read it anymore.I started You Suck the other day, but only got a few pages in before I realized that I just didn't give a damn right then.Maybe I'll be in a better mood the next time I try his work.
—sj
3.5 starsI first picked up this book because it had an intriguing cover. As I started reading, I realized that this was not your average vampire story. First of all, the characters are very colorful, the writing is humorous, and the vampire lore just a little different from all the other stuff out there.Jody has been made into a vampire. She was attacked, bitten, left under a dumpster, burned her hand in the sunlight, and left with a shirt stuffed full of money. There was no vampire sire to teach her how to be a vampire. She figured out a lot on her own. She realizes that she needs to have a human to help her out in the daylight hours. Enter Tommy, an aspiring writer. Tommy has left his home in the Midwest to experience life as a starving writer because according to his family, a writer must starve to be good. Tommy finds work at the local Safeway, where he meets Jody. Most of the book revolves around Jody's relationship with Tommy. However, the secondary characters really do steal the show. From the five Wongs who want to marry Tommy for their American citizenship, Scott and Zelda the turtles that Tommy saved from becoming dinner, Jody's mother, the Emperor of San Francisco, the Animals at Safeway, the police homicide detectives, even the elusive vampire sire, all meld together in a funny, sometimes hysterical story.I would recommend this book to people who are looking for some comic relief to their vampire reading lists.
—AH
Morbide, sexistisch und absolut absurd - Christopher Moore eben."Lange Zähne" ist der Auftakt zu der Moorschen Vampir Trilogie, in der sich alles rund um das Liebespaar Jody und Tommy dreht. Sie, aus unerfindlichen Gründen von einem alten Vampir als Spielgefährtin ausgesucht und er als angehender und erfolgloser Schriftsteller aus Indiana zu einem Supermarktjob verdammt.Aberwitzig zeichnet Moore wieder einmal wundervolle Figuren, denen er in einzigartiger Weise Leben einhaucht. Und dies ist nicht nur auf die Protagonisten beschränkt. Selbst die kleinsten Nebendarsteller, zum Beispiel zwei Hunde des "Kaisers", kommen farbig daher.Nette kleine Querverweise, die später dann in "Ein todsicherer Job" zu finden sind, lassen einen freudig Wiedererkennung feiern.Sprachlich befindet sich Moore jederzeit auf der absoluten Höhe. Allerdings muss vor der einen oder anderen, etwas pietätslosen Szene gewarnt werden. Sex füllt auch einen großen Teil des Buches wobei eben dieser wiederum so witzig dargestellt wird, das es eher zum Schmunzeln als zum „rot anlaufen“ anregt. Das Hörbuch wird von Simon Jäger gelesen. Und, Simon Jäger ist immer (!) gut. Es sollte fast empfohlen werden: noch lieber hören statt selber lesen.4*
—Peter
