A Dirty Job

By: Christopher Moore

Narrated by: Fisher Stevens

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant, you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.

But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie, exhausted from the birth, turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird.

People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.

©2006 Christopher Moore (P)2006 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic reviews

• 2006 Quill Award Nominee

"Moore's enthusiasm and skill make it convincing, and his affection for the cast of weirdos gives the book an unexpected poignancy." (Publishers Weekly)

great beginning, got too silly toward the end

Narrator was terrific. I was always able to tell which character was talking, and they were all well understood and sympathetic. The story was very funny and interesting initially. I was very surprised to find myself laughing at such dark humor.

Unfortunately, somewhere in the last third of the story, the book seemed to lose its way and became fantastical, silly, and predictable. In the first half, I was already shopping for the sequel, but if it's based on the end of this one I think I'll give it a miss. What a shame!

fun read!

in the beginning I had low expectations on the story line, But the more I read the more I couldn't wait to get in the car and listen to more. Most if my listening to on the way to work and back. This story in addition to be being funny, also touched a little of life-death realities, romance, sci-fi, mystery, action, family-friends relationships. Overall great Listen!

Sarcastic Good Fun

I immensely enjoyed this book. It was a little slow to really get into for the first couple of chapters, but once it takes off, it really takes off. The characters are easy to become attached to and the story is funny, endearing, exciting and entertaining. I’m looking forward to reading more Christopher Moore.

Disappointing

struggled to finish. started out great, 1/2 way through , total inanity. made no sense

Well written

Well written with witty dialogue; the storyline (though impressively unique) and ending was just not my cup of tea.

Not topics and language that you want to listen to within the earshot of kids.

Interesting

I loved the characters in this story. Each one had their own story and strong personalities. The only issue I had was the music that would play. Some times the music was too load and the narrator could not be heard.

Moore always delivers; quirky characters in wild situations.

Mr. Moore has a wild imagination and it spills out so smoothly. You just accept these characters and the insanity that they’re embroiled in. A mild mannered beta male, Death, hellhounds and sewer harpies… this book delivers his classic macabre sense of humor and his endless creativity perfectly.

Truly funny

You wouldn't expect a book about death would be funny, but there are parts that made me laugh out loud as in spew my drink funny. Great story I'd listen to again. The only draw back was the crappy music between chapters.

fun from beginning to end

I did love it and it cost me a lot of sleep the narration was excellent.

Slogs a bit but good overall

The performance is very good although in a few conversational parts it was easy to confuse who was talking. The beginning of the book is very good. I felt it became repetitive about 6 or 7 hours in and almost gave up on it. I'm glad I didn't the final chapters were worth slogging through the middle for.