Books : Practical Demonkeeping
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060735425
ISBN: 0060735422
Label: Harper Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: June 01, 2004
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Release Date: May 25, 2004
Sales Rank: 11346
Studio: Harper Paperbacks
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
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 one-hundred-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.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Travis O'Hearn arrives in Pine Cove and he's not alone. With him is a demon, Catch, that answers to him for the past 90 years. Travis has been criss-crossing the country, tracking down a way to rid himself of the demon. Meanwhile, Gian Hen Gian, King of the Djinn, also shows up and enlists the aid of Augustus Brine to eliminate said demon. Throw in a mix of off-kilter characters and you get Christopher Moore's first book, "Practical Demonkeeping".
Maybe I'm tainted by his later works or maybe he has just improved that much but this book was just ok for me. Better than Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (Today Show Book Club #25) but nowhere near as good as Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Either way, it's a good introduction into Christopher Moore's writings, is a quick read, and you just may get a few laughs from it.
Rating:  -
Set in Pine Cove, CA, Mr. Moore describes well and not a length (thank you) a sleepy little ex-whaling town. Each one of the characters is completely unique and the best ones are a little batty. And I mean that in the best way possible. It is the quirkiness and uniqueness of this cast of characters that really not only keeps the story interesting but turns it into a fast read.
With a shorter novel like this it's hard to give specifics without spoiling too much. The characters range from a people-eating demon named Catch, Travis- his keeper, a police detective, the bait store owner, a genie, a waitress and her alcoholic husband and much much more. Each character does have their background explained in a humorous way which is really what makes up the story. How this cast of characters came to be and how they eventually intersect with one another. (Think of the film Magnolia, but far less confusing and abstract.) The basic plot is that Catch, the demon, is on the loose, no longer under the control of his master and seeking a way to become master-free. At the same time, the master, Travis, who lost control wanted to get rid of him anyway (tired of being his baby sitter and meal provider for the last 70 years) but not at the expense that Catch roams the country free and well, hungry for people!
Comedy, action and a little bit thriller, Practical Demonkeeping is a very fun read, add it to you book list this fall.
Rating: -
Quick shipping and the books is just as advertised. I would buy from you again.
Rating: -
Christopher Moore may be know for the humor in his writing, but he is also a very good storyteller. This is evident in "Practical Demonkeeping", which was actually one of his earlier works. Sprinkled with great one-liners and absurd situational humor, it is tough not to enjoy this one.
Travis O'Hearn was trying to be a good seminarian when he accidently came to be the master of a demon from the underworld. The demon, known as Catch, has an insatiable appetite for eating humans. But Catch is only visible to other people besides Travis in his eating-size, which is three times his regular size. Travis has been trying to escape his obligation to Catch for a very long time. As Travis nears 100 years of age, he is running out of people that could help him as he searches for the candlesticks that may hold the solution. Love, aging, and theology cross pathes as the plot moves toward the solution. Yet I found myself surprised that Moore did not better exploit one potentially awkward romantic twist at the end.
Some readers have suggested that the story "jumps around" which is a product of the style of writing in this book. Readers see the story through the eyes of different characters. The format certainly does not take away from the story. If nothing else, it prepare the reader for when everything comes together at the end. The end will not be what the reader anticipated in the beginning of the book.
Rating:  -
If you remember Pulp Fiction or Playing by Heart for jumping between any of several plot lines and wondering how they relate, this story isn't quite that intense, but you get the idea. There are a lot of characters and you feel invested in all of them by the story's end... even the bad guy. This book wasn't as funny as Lamb, which is really great, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
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