Practical Demonkeeping

By: Christopher Moore

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

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

A seriously original story

This is my first experience with Christopher Moore and I'm hooked on his writing. This was a hilarious story full of good with and great attention to detail! The performance for this audio book is hands down the best I've come across after a little over a year of using audible. I can't recommend this book enough! Now it's time for me to listen to the second book in this wonderful series.

Gets better as it goes ......

I had previously listened to Fool which I thought was both an excellent story and very well narrated. I was a bit reluctant to try this one as I feared a let down. Initially I was a little underwhelmed, having listened to a few chapters. as it took a while for the characters and the humour to develop. I persevered and it hooked me in the end. I think this may be his first book(?) and there is a feel he is developing his craft and finding his voice and pacing. The narrator was good - the voice of the demon caused me to jump a few times (probably not a good thing when you are driving). The book title (and art) should be enough to let you know what style of story it is - if you like Gaiman or Pratchett, this might be for you.

Excellence Squared

Christopher Moore has written many extremely enjoyable books. They're insightful. They're quirky. And they're very funny.

This book is all three.

And the narration is by Oliver Wyman (most of the Serge Storm books by Tim Dorsey) who is one of the top narrators in recorded book history along with Frank Muller (The Talisman, The Dark Tower), Barbara Rosenblatt (the Amelia Peabody and Goldy Bear mysteries), George Guidall (Darwin's Radio), Susan Bennett (You Suck, Bite Me), Euan Morton (Fool and The Serpent of Venice), and Robert Ian Mackenzie (the 44 Scotland Street series).

It's a great thing to have one of my favorite authors performed by one of my favorite narrators.

HIS BEST BOOK!

This was a great book...Christopher Moore is proof that their is still witty and irreligious writing this side of the Atlantic (being the American side, in my case) that is also fun and madcap. He's almost as funny as Douglas Adams, but thankfully much more serious than Terry Pratchett (and does shy away from sex like Terry does so often), Catch is so EVIL yet hilarious...a much better book than his most famous "Lamb"(only famous for its Life of Brian approach), and the narration by Wyman is EXCELLENT (better than Fisher Stevens!) BUY THIS BOOK!

light fun and silly. very original story fun giggl

very original story to make you think about society and laugh. great for the imagination

Pretty Good though not Moore's best

I like Christopher Moore. He does not take his writing too seriously. His books have some interesting bits of Science Fiction or Fantasy and some laugh-out-loud moments, approachable and likable characters and the plot that balances well on the edge of silliness.

The ending felt a little cowardly - all loose end swiped under the rug and happily-ever-afters all around. Which is our collective fault as a readers that demand all the sugary happily-ever-afters. Just look at the mountain of angry letters that GRR Martin receives after each of his books come out. But now i'm way of the subject here.

Practical Demonkeeping is hilarious and inventive. Great plot with many twists. Strong,diverse characters make this a pare turner.

The narrator is great.

I would definitely recommend it for a fun summer listen
:)

I named my cat after the demon Catch

Origional and AWESOME! I've like all CM's books and this one is worth your time.

A credit well spent

Christopher Moore doesn't disappoint. This book is as entertaining, quirky, and offbeat as I have grown to expect from Moore. After having read several of his books, Moore has set the bar somewhat high for me and although I've liked certain works more than others, I've never been let down by any of them.

The narrator chosen for this book did a great job as well.

Funny and intriguing

This a fun and amazing story that brings ancient lore and monsters to a small California town. it has an excellent pace moving along nicely through the narrative.

Vivid characters and detail

This may as well be a picture book with all the detail Christopher puts into his writting. You can feel it when the demon eats a person right down to the bone snapping details.

Mahalo!
Joe