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Practical Demonkeeping  By  cover art

Practical Demonkeeping

By: Christopher Moore
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
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Editorial reviews

Travis and Catch come to the small town of Pine Cove, California, and that's when the trouble begins. You'd probably say Travis is a nice, good-looking kid, except he isn't really a kid at all, but a man who hasn't aged a day since World War I. Catch is the reason Travis hasn't aged a day; he's a demon, bound to Travis, and an albatross around his neck. Catch might not be so bad if it weren't for his habit of eating people, but in some relationships there are certain flaws one just can't be expected to overlook. And so Travis comes to Pine Cove in the hopes of finding the answer that will let him free himself of this curse and send Catch back to where he can't eat his friends and neighbors.

Moore describes Practical Demonkeeping as a "whimsical horror novel", but perhaps "demonic ensemble comedy" is more apropos. "Ensemble" is the important part of that description, for it's really the interactions between the characters that makes this story sing. The characters range from Gian Hen Gian, King of the Djinn, to the waitress Jenny whose only extraordinary talent is having the exceptional bad luck to get involved in this mess in the first place, to H.P., a man who might just be a little too obsessed with Lovecraft. The plot itself is nothing revolutionary, but how it unfolds is enjoyable from start to finish, and the listener will likely be surprised and amused along the way as it is unveiled what parts each of the ensemble cast play.

Oliver Wyman's general narrative voice has a youthful quality to it, with a wry, but good-natured tone which fits despite the sometimes dark turns the story takes (unavoidable when you have a primary character who tends to eat people). He provides each character with his or her own distinct voice, going above and beyond the call of duty with the guttural and abrasive but somehow endearing! growl of Catch.

Without the embellishment of an actor's reading, Moore's writing is quite fun and funny on the page, but as with many humorous works, the right narrator can take lively prose and make it even livelier and this is one of those performances that truly elevates the text to a different level. Wyman, a veteran cartoon voiceover actor before turning his talents to audiobook narration, ably employs the skills of the former to strengthen and diversify the skills of the latter. Wyman's style isn't ideal for everything reading a serious nonfiction book wouldn't be his forte but for a book like this, which is practically a cartoon in prose form already, it's hard to imagine a better match. John Joseph Adams

Publisher's summary

In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is 100-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets.

Behind the fake Tudor façade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

©1992 Christopher Moore (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

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What listeners say about Practical Demonkeeping

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

For his first book, it’s not bad !

I listened to C Moore’s newest four books first which makes me notice the slight messiness in story weaving until half way. For a first book this is beyond amazing. Now that I finished it, I can see why it was bought for movie rights. Amazing as all his tales.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

gets interesting half way through

Good book. Weird, not sure at first, but ends up being good weird. Easy to listen to.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Best narrator of Moore’s books, imho.

I only discovered Moore a little over a month ago and I’m already on my 9th book of his. He’s a wonderful blend of wit, humor, and creativity with just the right dose of crassness, and his audiobooks in particular have become a reliable comfort zone for me. Personally, I enjoy these Pine Cove series books the best, besides perhaps Fluke and Island Of The Sequined Love Nun (my favorite thus far). I was hesitant to read this since it was his first book, thinking that perhaps his style hadn’t fully developed yet, but boy was I wrong and so glad I took the plunge. Neat story, great characters, thoroughly enjoyable. My only criticism is that I felt the end was a tad abrupt, I wanted a little more resolution, but it didn’t take away from a great ride otherwise.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Great well rounded story

Enjoyable, well put together story. The Narrator was also a good fit and brought the characters to life. looking forward to next in series.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Another great Christopher Moore book!

If you like Christopher Moore books, you’ll like this one! Not as good as Lamb or Island of the Sequined Love Nun, but good none the less.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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loved it

I loved Practical Demon Keeping. I wasn't sure I would after the first chapter, but it was great. The genie was my favorite.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great narration!!!

I love Christopher Moore, he is a genius, only reason this book gets 3 stars is because I felt the storyline was drawn out beyond necessity. Characters were well thought out and dialogue amazing. Honestly I really don’t know why I gave it 3 stars, it just wasn’t as good as his other stories. I’m sorry Mr. Moore, I really do love your work.

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Excellent

Christopher Moore never fails to bring the perfect blend of humour and intregue to his writing.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not quite Pratchett

Christopher Moore just doesn't quite hit my preferred story style. His writing is chuckle worthy, but just tries too much to be clever. I love Pratchett, Gaiman and even like Anthony but Moore just doesn't hit their stride. This book was better than Fool but not enough to engage me to keep reading the series.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I was expecting more

Unfortunately this book that not impress me like a dirty job did, it was actually the reason why purchased this but I feel as though I wasted my time.

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