Pairing Books with Movies: A Dirty Job

A Dirty Job

by Christopher Moore

★★★☆

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!

Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Books I wish could have had sequels. I listed a few that I wish had sequels and a few others that might make great prequels or parallel books.

1) Love’s Labor’s Lost: This Shakespeare play supposedly had a sequel, Love’s Labor’s Won, but no one has ever seen it. I wish we could discover it!

2) Motherless Brooklyn: I would love to read more stories featuring Lionel Essrog, the private eye with Tourette's syndrome. He was a hilarious narrator and provided a fresh voice to the classic detective story.

3) Neverwhere: Adventures in a world beneath London, I love it! Richard Mayhew is a regular guy who ends up in a dangerous sideways world. I feel like there are so many more strange characters we could meet in that world.

4) A Dirty Job: I recently read this hilarious account of a reluctant grim reaper and his daughter. I think it’s ripe for a sequel about that daughter and her loyal hell hounds.

5) The Night Circus: I think that Celia and Marco’s story is complete, but I would love a sequel about the twins, Poppet and Widget and their time with the Le Cirque des Reves.

6) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: Maybe Miss Pettigrew Takes a Trip or Miss Pettigrew Gets Lost; the character is delightful and the possibilities are endless!

7) I Capture the Castle: I think Cassadra’s stepmother Topaz and her sister Rose are interesting characters and would love to read a parallel novel telling the story from their points-of-view.

8) The Red Tent: I don't want a sequel exactly, but a series of similar books. This one retells a biblical tale from the woman's point of view. It was so good and I think there are lots of other stories in the Bible that would be fascinating from the woman's perspective, Jezebel perhaps, or maybe Bathsheba. Francine Rivers has done something similar, but her Lineage of Grace series lacks the depth of The Red Tent.

9) Rebecca: I would definitely read a well-done prequel telling Rebecca’s side of the story.

10) Harry Potter: I wish Rowling would write a prequel about when Lily, Sirius, James and Remus were at school together. I would love that!