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    A Dirty Job: A Novel
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    A Dirty Job: A Novel
    Unavailable
    A Dirty Job: A Novel
    Ebook472 pages7 hours

    A Dirty Job: A Novel

    By Christopher Moore

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.

    It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061801822
    Unavailable
    A Dirty Job: A Novel
    Author

    Christopher Moore

    Christopher Moore is the author of seventeen previous novels, including Shakespeare for Squirrels, Noir, Secondhand Souls, Sacré Bleu, Fool, and Lamb. He lives in San Francisco, California.

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    Reviews for A Dirty Job

    4/5

    2,670 ratings163 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Always a great read! I love how Moore brings characters from his other stories and creates this entire world of awesomeness! This one makes me think of our own mortality and how fickle it really is. Love it!
    • 5/5
      Intense, dark, twisted, and very ,very finny.
    • 5/5
      Funny story about death.
    • 4/5
      A whimsical, dark romp through the "underworld" of San Francisco. If you enjoyed Dead Like Me, you will likely enjoy this story of an average guy who finds himself in a succession of unfortunate situations, and suddenly finds he has a second job as a grim reaper.
    • 5/5
      I read this book ages ago but somehow forgot to add it to my shelf. It's excellent - funny, wacky, and charming despite all the death and stuff!
    • 5/5
      A great novel by Christopher Moore. This tale follows Charlie Asher in his...No wait, I can't really tell you because it might ruin the story for some of you. If you are a Christopher Moore fan GET THIS BOOK. If you just want a good laugh out loud while squirting milk through your nose read: GET THIS BOOK.
    • 5/5
      Great book! Really funny.
    • 4/5
      I LMAO more than once in this book (actually, at least once every page). The ending was a little unnecessary, I thought, but it was still good. ALL the way to the end, it was good. Charlie, the main character, is a Beta Male. In other words, average. And content to be so. Until his wife dies after giving birth to their daughter and he sees a tall man in a mint green suit over his wife's body. After that, he starts seeing objects glowing red, hearing voices speaking to him from the sewers no one else can hear, and names of dead people keep appearing on his agenda by his bed (with numbers, no less). Not to mention, his daughter has a slight problem when she says the word "kitty" and his gay sister keeps stealing all his suits.
    • 5/5
      My first Moore. I will definitely be reading more. This book was so heartbreaking at the beginning that I didn't want to read the rest of it, but, thankfully, I have a rule that I must finish every book I start. And this sort of thing is the reason why. It was hysterical, bizarre, and completely different from most things I've ever read. Despite the light, popular comedy tone that Moore uses through most of the book, he's clearly capable of more poetic turns of phrase, which gave the book a deeper wealth of feeling. It wasn't just light comedy, it was a great meditation on death. I'm glad I read it.
    • 4/5
      That was my first book by Christopher Moore and I am sure it won’t be the last. There are a lot of events, things and persons I really liked. Death (with a capital D) for instance who does not know who he is and wonders why all the pets he buys for his daughter wouldn’t last long. Lily, the goth-girl giving pity-sex from time to time, the Emperor with his troops roaming through San Francisco, Minty Fresh the not-gay shopkeeper, Jane the lesbian sister, some cute squirrel-people and some not-so-cute Evil Monsters. It’s nice to watch two men (one of them a wannabe ex-com with a penchant for cybersex with Philippine drag-queens, the other one Death) who think both the other one is a serial-killer, the fuck-puppets, two babysitters from Russia and China, respectively obsessed with bears, and – most important – Sophie with her shoe-eating puppies. But there is one aspect that really bothered me. I like serious books without jokes. I like serious books with some jokes. I like funny books that are just – funny. But I don’t like funny books that turn – if only for some pages – serious, spiritual and sentimental. No complains about Death as a fool mixing up old CDs with the souls of dead people, but, please, don’t give it an earnest background and/or a semi-religious explanation. “She liked the way that he could find the silliness in such dark territory.” (page 344) For me it’s exactly the other way round: I dislike the way Moore could find the darkness in such silly territory.
    • 5/5
      I love all of Christopher Moores books - but this one is the best so far. Hilarious! I listened to this one on CD and the reader was fabulous with all the different characters.
    • 4/5
      This was a nice change from my usual reading. Light and funny and very sarcastic story about Death and the Death Merchants who work for Death. I hadn't enjoyed my first experience of Moore's writing but I'm glad I gave him another chance as this was perfect for my mood.
    • 5/5
      It is funny how little things about people stick with you through the years. My 8th grade American History teacher Mr. Riley was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet, but I remember him for two reasons. He kept retelling the joke about "having Sir Walter Raleigh in a can" and he used to tell people, "you look like Death eating a soda cracker." Which, if you think about it, is pretty strange.

      Christopher Moore's new book A Dirty Job is kind of like that--pretty strange, and you might see Death (or Death's Helper) eating a soda cracker. Or hellhounds eating anything or Squirrel people stealing soul objects or sewer harpies out for a stroll. It all starts when Charlie Asher's wife Rachel kicks him out of her room after delivering their daughter Sophie. His worrying and paranoia is driving her crazy. He makes it out to his car and realizes that her favorite CD is on the front seat. When he takes it back to her room, he sees a huge man standing over her and then she dies. He tries to convince the hospital staff that this man had something to do with her death, but no one else saw him. After that, things get really weird. Random objects pulse with a red light, people start dying when Charlie is near, and Sophie discovers she has special powers of her own. I loved this book for the randomness, the humor, and the great storytelling of Moore that makes this seem like a quick read.
    • 4/5
      I love Christopher Moore but for some reason I remember very little of his books after I read them. I couldn't really remember any of the recurring characters, but it didn't matter. It was a great book, fun read. Moore has a fantastic sense of imagination.
    • 4/5
      Even knowing how much I loved some of Moore's books, this one sat on my shelf for months before I cracked it open. Death and lost souls and zombie creatures are not so much my cup of tea. And then it starts out with the death of the protagonists' wife, leaving him with a young daughter to raise and how could that be funny?It's hilarious. I laughed out loud many times, and the creepy death stuff isn't macabre at all. This was much better than the most recent Moore books I read (a vampire-ish one and , though not as good as Lamb or Fluke. But, this one would make a great movie.
    • 4/5
      What a strange little book! Charlie is a bit of a neurotic man, a self-declared Beta male, living with his wife in San Francisco. In the opening pages she dies giving birth to their daughter Sophie. What follows is a trippy whirlwind as Charlie discovers he’s been recruited to be a “merchant of death” collecting souls around the San Fran area. The mild-mannered man is completely baffled by both fatherhood and his new “job.”Moore approaches each novel he writes with a sense of humor. The book is hilarious. He can write about the wildest things because his stories are tongue-in-cheek looks at the genre and the reader is happy to go along for the weird ride. There is definitely adult language and situations (the sewer hags are super creepy), so it’s not for kids, but I couldn’t help laugh out loud a few times. The book contains some truly great supporting characters, especially Minty Fresh. He’s a 7-foot-tall black man who owns a record store owner. He has an intimidating exterior, but such a sweet personality. I also loved the Hell hounds that appear out of nowhere to protect Sophie. The things they eat are hysterical. BOTTOM LINE: The book is odd to say the least, but very funny. I’ll definitely keep reading his work whenever I’m in the mood for something smart, funny and weird. Pair with the TV show Dead Like Me. This dry comedy was about a young woman who dies unexpectedly in the pilot and finds out she’s become a grim reaper. It has the wonderful Mandy Patinkin in it too!  
    • 4/5
      Very nice book. Characters were developed nicely. Story a bit absurd, but what do you expect. In past Moore books the cleverness wore off. This one sustained all the way through. Made me smile.
    • 4/5
      Charlie Asher’s wife, Rachel, dies shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Sophie. At this time in the hospital, Charlie sees a very large black man wearing a mint green suit; the black man is astonished that Charlie can see him! After this, weird things start happening to Charlie: random objects are glowing red, people are dropping dead around him! What is going on? It took a little bit for the book to get going, I thought, but not too far into it, when we find out what is going on, I thought it really picked up, and I really liked it. There were some great supporting characters in the book: Ray and Lily, who work at Charlie’s second-hand store; Sophie, Charlie’s little girl; Mrs. Ling and Mrs. Korjev, Charlie’s neighbours and frequent babysitters of Sophie… I listened to the audio, and I’m sure people thought I was a little odd, laughing to myself as I listened. I would give the story itself 3.75 stars, but I’m adding an extra quarter star for the really good narrator of the audio.
    • 4/5
      You know, whenever Christopher Moore comes out with a new book I just know it’ll be a hoot. The last one I read, The Stupidest Angel has to be the funniest and more irreverent Christmas book I’ve ever read.A Dirty Job is just as funny and just as irreverent. Charlie is a beta male, and his wife had just died after giving birth to their first child - a daughter. Not long after, Charlie discovers that he’s been tapped as a “Death Merchant.” These are people who go collect the souls from people who are about to die and pass them to people who don’t yet have souls. Prolems arise when Charlie misses a few souls and the “sewer harpies” begin to take them and injest them.Nevermind the fact that the spirituality in the book goes directly against my personal beliefs, it is still outstandingly hilarious. Charlie’s four fingeres Chinese laundryman Mr. Hu has a daughter named Cindy Lu. Yeah, think about it. And then there is the woman who died because she ate that little packet of stuff that says “Do Not Eat” just because she wanted to know what would happen.Overall, I highly recommend Mr. Moore’s book especially if you can take a joke and love to laugh at the stupid eccentricities of humanity.
    • 5/5
      I throughly enjoyed this book. It is witty and entertaining.
    • 4/5
      This book was recommended to me as a cheerful read when I was feeling rather stunted and generally annoyed with everything. And low and behold, despite the seemingly not at all cheerful premise and rather gloomy and dark events it did lift me from my looming depression and with a new lust for reading.The idea that souls can ingrate themselves into a cherished object upon their owners deaths is reminiscent of Warehouse 13. But unlike in that TV show, here the hunt for the haunted objects is not lead by a highly specialised governmental organisation but rather left to untrained, uninformed and maybe even unwilling individuals. Becoming a soul retriever is not something you choose, it is something that happens to you (for apparently unclear reasons). Once a person becomes a so-called death merchant, he or she might receive a set of instructions based on the collective experience of their predecessors but that is all.That is a mighty responsibility! How would one cope? Especially when also entrusted with the care of a young child. Our protagonist does not handle it all very elegantly but certainly tries. On his way, he meets people he never thought he would interact with, but his new found allies bring him further than he would have gotten by himself. The two hounds of hell are my absolute favourites in this story! They lead to many hilarious scenes. How practical it would be to actually be able to feed your dogs whatever is nearby and still have such healthy and lively pets. The story in itself is not as strong as it could have been. I do hope that the ending and the mere existence of the (horrible sounding) squirrel people will prove satisfying in the sequel, which luckily almost comes out. There are many plot holes and unanswered questions. Maybe the interesting premise of life and death, and what constitutes a soul makes the readers expect more clarity than usual. Why bring these topics up if you do not have something interesting to bring to the table? This could be why the inconsistencies stand out so much. They did not take away from the reading pleasure however and might be vindicated in the second instalment of this story. Throughout the language use is excellent, well-paced and whimsical. This is a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone.
    • 4/5
      Gotta love his little girl..."Kitty!" That is too cute!
    • 4/5
      Charlie Asher is a hapless Beta Male living happily with his pregnant wife in San Francisco and running the family business, a thrift shop. When his wife dies unexpectedly right after giving birth to their daughter, however, Charlie’s life changes forever. Charlie discovered a man in a mint green suit was standing over his wife’s body, seeming quite surprised that Charlie could see him. As it turns out, NOBODY else saw the man in mint green, not even the hospital’s surveillance cameras. And when Charlie returns home with his baby daughter, he discovers that various items in his thrift store have begun to glow red…another thing nobody else seems able to see. Charlie soon discovers…by reading the “Big Book of Death” mailed to him by the man in mint green…that he has become a Death Merchant. “Death” with a little “d.” His job is to collect the Soul Vessels into which the souls of the dying enter and make sure that the Vessels end up in the right hands thereafter. A contientious person at heart, Charlie undertakes to perform his duties; but soon he discovers that the forces of are rising and he…and his rag-tag band of friends, relatives, and employees…are the only thing standing in their way.Filled with Moore’s characteristic humor, but also touched with moments of real pathos and simple wisdom, “A Dirty Job” is enjoyable. Fans of Moore’s work will recognize some characters from his other titles.
    • 4/5
      A very entertaining, if equally irreverent and politically incorrect take on death. This is my third book by Christopher Moore, and the best one so far. I haven't read Lamb or Practical Demonkeeping, which are supposed to be his best, though. I have a feeling that Moore is having tremendous fun when writing, and some of that energy spills onto the reader, even though all his plots are tremendously far-fetched, and some of the humour is rather lame.
    • 4/5
      -When Charlie’s wife dies right after giving birth to their only daughter, he doesn’t know how he will conquer his grief in order to care for a newborn. Unfortunately, it turns out that Charlie will have a lot more to deal with, as he is soon ‘hired’ (without his knowledge or consent) as Death. Soon, he finds himself on his way to a show down against hordes (okay, only four) of evil… Very funny in a sick kind of way – I really enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      After reading LAMB, I wanted more or Moore. I got it in A DIRTY JOB. I LOVED this book. I laughed out loud while riding the train to work and YES, that was while I lived in San Francisco.If you love quick whit and dark comedy, you have to read this book. Mr. Moore takes you all over San Francisco with excitement and laughter.
    • 4/5
      first line: "Charlie Asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below."A Dirty Job is the first of Moore's books that I've ever read, though I also own a copy of You Suck. I laughed at a lot of passages and scenes, but found other parts surprisingly moving. (It's not always easy to combine levity with sentiment, but I think he makes the juxtaposition work.)While not everything works for me (the frequent referrals to "beta male" characteristics and the rather stereotypically-goth character), I really did enjoy this novel. I'd recommend it to fans of the HBO series Dead Like Me who like their reading material a little bit cracked.
    • 5/5
      Who knew that death and destruction could be laugh-out-loud funny?
    • 4/5
      Also freaking hilarious, though there are instances where Moore shows his sensitivity as a human being. He will make you cry on one page and then make you laugh out loud on the next. He is brilliant. He mixes mythology with sarcasm and ingenuity. Some things are predictable, but other things hit you from left field. Charlie looses his wife but gains a daughter and a new profession as a Death Merchant. Moore's philosophy about Karma is really interesting - souls are transported into a person's most important possession and are then given to their next body via second-hand stores. (Just another reason to visit garage sales and bookstores- I'm apparently looking for my soul).
    • 4/5
      A genuinely funny "in your face" look at death and its subculture. Set in contemporary San Francisco, Moore's use of time and place couldn't have been better for the bizzare cast of characters he created. Having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 50 years I found myself feeling like I was visiting my old haunts one more time which was an added bonus for me. Aside from the walk down memory lane, the story itself is both imaginative and insiteful. Imaginative in his use of a bizzare fantasy world, and insiteful as he delves into a subject most of us find emotionally painful and thus avoid. Despite his liberal use of profanity I found the book to be an emotionally satisfying read.