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Windmillwacker

Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 9
Location: The Glove |
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Just finished.
Enjoyed myself...but I'm pissed.
What's with the Captain Obvious slap together ending? I spent the whole book knowing about Sophie, but telling myself "that's too obvious, Chris is better than that." This book had sooooo much potential leading up to the final chapters and then it just pooped out.
Was Chris rushed at the the end? Did he need to tie things up in a hurry? Was he sick of telling the tale? Someplace to go?
I love Chris. Love his work. While this was no "Fluke" (Pun intended. Sorry, Chris, that one sucked the big one.) it left me just as angry. It was a lovely Chinese dinner with no fortune cookie. It was a wink-wink massage without the happy ending.
I demand a rewrite of the last 80 pages! This book jumped the shark as soon as Lily banged Ray with no real reason to do so. (Yes, it's all explained in the book, but it's seriously out of left field and clumsy.) Give me twists, give me turns. Don't telegraph each move and give me a wham-bam wrap in 80 pages where you should use 200 to really flesh it out.
On a side note, I'm also pissed about the way the Sophie character is screwed over the entire time. Passed around like a trinket, then left without her mother AND father in the end. "Waiting for her daddy to come get her"?! What the hell is that? Charlie gets turned into a Squirrel Person and abandons her again? Why this resentment for the Sophie character? Charlie didn't need to croak. This was the last nail in the story's coffin for me.
I guess I'm ticked off because I was so into this book. Really having a good time and then the consistency and story telling took a crap. It's not a touchdown if you don't cross the goal line. I know what Chris is capable of and this wasn't it. I though it was going to be awesome, but instead of "Coyote Blue" I got "Casey at the Bat."
 _________________ The Dude abides.
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Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:42 pm |
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sgt_steve

Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 5197
Location: Michissippi |
Lord_Chimmy wrote: |
Of course it was obvious that Sophie was the Luminatus, but the humor in the story was that Charlie's over-active, beta-male imagination led him to believe that HE was the personification of death. |
Yes. Only Charlie has enough information to put it together that Sophie is the Luminatus, but he's just blinded himself to any idea that it's not him. As much as he loves Sophie, Charlie is an awful lot about Charlie.
But the secret isn't a secret to the reader. It's perfectly obvious to the reader. Hell, it's perfectly obvious from the cover of the book. But don't take my word for it - that's what Chris says.
And that said....
Welcome, Windmillwacker and Black Crowe. We're always ready for new faces around here. You should start by checking out the rules and giving them all the respect they deserve.
To see who (or what) we are, check out some of the items in Who's Who, especiallyIf you'd like to tell us more about yourself those are great items to get you going.
Restrict spoilers about 'A Dirty Job' to that specific forum. This post is a great start, by the way.
Do feel free to flirt, socialized, rhapsodize, write serious analyses of the AG (Author Guy) book and other folks', and generally make yourselves at home. Do swoon about Hillary's and Y's avatars, but at a respectful distance. Watch out for the pica stick, thagomizer and stubor. Don't drink the kool-aid (no matter what Naked and Famous says), indulge in the pie, and watch out for the pudding cannon.
We're wild, we're zany, we're way off kilter (and off-color), but mostly harmless. Except for Gracie. She's completely harmless. And ignore Joelibris. He's just keyed up because I haven't sentenced him to any remedial nudity yet.
So - stack, strip, and start postin'. And don't make me call She Who Must Be Obeyed.
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Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:16 am |
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mllefifi

Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 8964
Location: Deleoware |
Sal wrote: |
[...] How Charlie ever came to the conclusion that HE was the big D I will never know. Not anywhere in the book did it give away it might be Charlie, it's like he woke up one day and say, Hey, I'm death! When right in front of his face his daughter was making people die [...]. |
I understood that part of the plot to derive from Charlie's over imaginative nature as a beta-male, especially with the sewer harpies being after him. So, it's reasonable to think that Sophie's "kitty" thing just fed into that imagination; after all, if he's the new Luminatus, how appropriate that his new daughter, has something like "the gift," as it were, even if daddy can't quite understand the whole thing yet.
Your mileage on this interpretation may vary.  _________________ "If you allow yourself to be offended, then you're a bit of [a] nitwit."
(Christopher Moore)
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Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:36 pm |
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chris
Site Admin

Joined: 02 Mar 2004
Posts: 3833
Location: People Republic of Northern California |
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Know something? Posts like this drive me off the board. Why? I have to get up every day and do it again. I don't have to read reviews on Amazon, or in the paper, but this is my board, and because I've deigned to particpate with my readers, I read these posts. Then I have to go to work.
It's not particularly easy to come up with funny, entertaining stories. It requires more confidence, often, than I can muster. So when I sign on to my site and read people slamming my last two years work, well, it sort of undermines the process.
So, all well and good that you guys didn't like Dirty Job or Fluke, but realize, that when you bring it here, you accomplish one of two things -- you undermine my writing, or you undermine my participation on the board.
And realistically, would you have me recall the 150,000 American copies of Dirty Job in print and rewrite the ending? Ever heard of that happening? Would you have me contact the translators in a dozen countries and tell them that some mook from East Lansing didn't like the ending so I need to restart the process.
Here's a look inside. My new book is due in three weeks. The cover is done, the PR is done, the catalog copy is done. I got a note last Thursday from my editor saying this: "You'll have the manuscript to me on August 1st, I'll have it back to you on August 3rd, then you need to have all the rewrites in New York by August 8th."
I'm currently maybe 2/3rds of the way through the book. I have no idea whatsoever how it ends. I will come up with something. And in the midst of this process, I'll be able to look back here and find the confidence I need to just fucking wing it -- because if it's not perfect, well... I'll have five full days to fix it, along with any spelling, grammatical, or logisitics issues that my arise in the edit.
I'm out for the next month. I can't afford the hits under this schedule.
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Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:57 pm |
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zevon

Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 761
Location: SoCal |
DanaMichelle wrote: |
Perhaps some of the newbies don't realize that this is a FAN board. If you aren't a fan, you should start a board of your own to criticize. We only criticize Chris for his choice of shirts, nothing more. |
The Boardello Rules are funny, I laughed my naked ass which was sitting on a pile of AG books off when I read them. I think what you wrote about above should be Rule #1, and new people signing up to the Boardello should have to read the fuckers.
On this page there are 3 posts I'd be irked at if I was AG, by noobs with 1, 9, and 10 posts respectively.
Prolly haven't even had their full body cavity search by Joe or Y yet.
Fuckin mooks.
"Those who can, write, those who can't, review".
-Some Guy
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Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:50 pm |
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Forum Rules:
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