3.5 stars You Suck: A Love Story is a hilarious romp through San Francisco. The book focuses on Jody and Tommy, two new fledgling vampires and their rather unconventional love. Jody bites Tommy and makes him a vampire. He is not too happy with his new condition, but is easily distracted by Jody and the allure of wild monkey sex with her.Christopher Moore’s vampires have interesting powers. They can turn to mist when necessary, which helps them get out of trouble (or causes trouble). They burn in the sunlight or with UV ray exposure. During daylight, they sleep like the dead.The attraction of this book was the unique cast of characters. Everyone in this book is crazy in their own special way. Each character or set of characters gets their own little subplot, guaranteed to make you laugh. Parts of the book are narrated by Abby von Normal, a teenage wannabe nosferatu and sometimes goth. Abby is Tommy’s minion, his daylight helper. She is infatuated with Tommy, and would do anything to become a vampire. In fact, she thinks she is a vampire after Jody takes a drink from her. Abby’s diary contains astute observations, a little bit of teen rebellion, and a lot of great new vocabulary like “endorken.” Abby’s friend Jared adds some humor to the mix. He is a gay teenager living with his parents who are in denial. Other cast characters include Chet the really big shaved cat (who makes a rather large appearance in the next book). Tommy’s night shift friends from the Safeway store – the Animals – add even more comic relief as they cash in their money from the previous book and run off to Vegas. They return with the Blue, a blue prostitute with rather large silicon implants. She manages to service the boys and steal all of their money. Jody and Tommy continue to try to evade Jody’s maker – Elijah. They had him encased in bronze but he manages to escape. Much mayhem ensues.I truly enjoyed this series. Each book can be read on its own, or even out of order. It doesn’t really matter. If you need a book to cheer you up and make you laugh, then this is the book for you.
Christopher Moore's You Suck audio book is another find at the library that I should have taken out in book form. This book had us roaring with laughter in the car on the way to work over the weeks we listened to it.***Spoiler Alert***This is a vampiric tale of one young fledgling, Jody, turning her Midwest boyfriend, Tommy Flood, into a vampire so they can be together forever. Jody, who was turned by an older vampire, Elijah, teams up with Tommy and his co-workers at the San Francisco Marina Safeway to bronze the older vampire who has gone on a killing spree among the sick and infirm. Jody hopes to get away from the elder vampire and take Tommy into her dark world.Along the way, Tommy starts getting used to his vampiric ways, but eventually "enjoys" some aspects of his nature too much for his Midwestern sensibilities. Tommy adopts the name Lord Flood with his minion, Abby Normal--o yes, you guessed it an old fashioned play on words. She is nothing short of normal by today's standards with her Gothic clothes, her sarcasm, attempts to fit in with the rebels, and her love of the undead...but she also has a perky side and you eventually discover her favorite literary character is not from Lovecraft, but it is Pipi Longstocking, a perkier side of Abby.Even Abby falls in love, and its not with a vampire or her gay friend, Jared.***End Spoiler Alert***Not only is their vampire hunting, love, sex, drugs, and stealing, but there is sarcastic humor, self-deprecating humor, and twists of fate in this book that are great. The narrator chosen to read this novel was well selected. Her character voices were believable.What made the vampire book for me, beyond the vampires of course, was the narration, hilarious lines, and the character of Abby Normal. I would love to see an entire novel of her adventures from Moore; that would make great reading. I recommend this book, You Suck, in any form you choose. I'm going to have to go out and get the hard copy to add to my collection since I foresee myself reading it for the first time, only to re-read it again and again.
What do You think about You Suck (2007)?
C'era una volta...Una casa editrice italiana che pensò bene di tradurre il secondo volume di una trilogia, senza minimamente curarsi del primo o, per quanto possa contare, del terzo.Si credeva fosse una legenda, ma risultò essere tutto tristemente vero.Ora.. Mi va bene (quasi) tutto: serie interrotte, porcate pubblicate senza ritegno perché "vendono", scelte grafiche che fanno drizzare i peli.. MA TRADURRE UN SECONDO VOLUME DI UNA TRILOGIA NO, DAI!!Ma qual è il senso?? Forse nella lettura sono stata influenzata dal mio "NO" totale a questa furbata, ma ho sentito spesso la mancanza di alcuni elementi tanto da confondermi e, lo ammetto, anche distrarmi perché aspettavo da una riga all'altra una spiegazione.Per il resto Moore è sempre geniale e a volte ho riso di gusto.. Ma dopo "Il vangelo secondo Biff" mi sembra tutta fuffa! :(Mi sa urge rilettura di quel capolavoro :D
—Serena!
There are many distinct umbrages I would like to take with Christopher Moore in general and this book in particular. However, I realize the problem here is more with me than it is with Moore. Like most of his work, "You Suck" is an outlandish, mildly entertaining story within a story that references previous books and resurrects old characters. Unfortunately, I simply do not have the ability to retain much of what Moore writes in my head for more than a few minutes. I finished reading this book no more than a month ago and I already remember next to nothing about it other than the rough outlines of its vampires-in-love plot and the fact that one of the book's characters happened to be a female prostitute styled after members of The Blue Man Group. Similarly, Moore's previous books (except "Fluke", which I really enjoyed) have long since departed from my memory, leaving many of the references and characters in this book completely lost on me and the entire work feeling incomplete. All that aside, "You Suck" is definitely good for a few laughs and moves swiftly, making it well suited for a frivolous summer read.Moore remains the rather unexceptional lovechild of Tom Robbins and Jimmy Buffet, inheriting only the superficial silliness of the former and the general insouciance of the latter. And I remain an inexplicably loyal reader who, twelve months from now, will likely find myself wondering why the next Christopher Moore book seems lacking as it references this work.
—Jeff
Alternando entre los puntos de vista (aunque narrados en tercera persona) de Tommy y Jody, Los Animales, el vampiro Elijah, el Emperador, los inspectores y las crónicas de Abby Normal (narradas por la misma Abby y las cuales son de lo mejorcito del libro, en serio), Christopher Moore crea una historia hilarante, desternillante, de esas que te hacen soltar una carcajada tras otra *y da igual dónde estés*, llena de situaciones absurdas, giros y más situaciones absurdas. Haciendo uso del humor negro como nadie *en mi opinión*, Moore nos regala una historia sobre vampiros que no deja de ser una sátira a dicho género, donde nuestros personajes cometen locuras, tienen un sentido del humor y unos principios éticos y morales muy particulares, y se meten en las situaciones más increíbles.Si queréis leer un libro lleno de humor negro, críticas de todo tipo enmascaradas tras situaciones y diálogos a cada cuales más absurdos y cómicos, y con unos personajes indecentes, divertidos y alocados; y pasar un buen rato leyendo y riendo a carcajadas, éste es vuestro libro y vuestro autor. De verdad, a mí me encanta y me hace pasar muy buenos ratos.
—Bella Carstairs
