The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore
Review by Lauren
source: copy from library; all opinions are my own
Official Summary: ‘Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all
through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy
buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday
spirit.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker
is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he’s not on his
deathbed; no, his dog hasn’t run away from home. But Josh is sure that
he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has
only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.
But hold
on! There’s an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It’s none
other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with
a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel’s not sporting the
brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say “Kris Kringle,”
he’s botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove
headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and
horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.
Review: As soon as I knew I wanted to do the Ho-Ho-Ho Read-A-Thon, I took a look around my library to see what books I could possibly grab for the occasion. I came across The Stupidest Angel and was immediately intrigued. I have been wanting to read Christopher Moore for awhile now, but I just never really had a good opportunity (despite owning some of his other work). Therefore, I grabbed this book and dove into this insane, though slightly humorous, story.
What I had hoped for when reading this book was something that would really make me laugh out loud, but unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case. Sure, it had some fun and amusing moments, but it was also a bit too outlandish in parts and sometimes I just wanted the book to end. I’m still curious about Christopher Moore and some of his other works, so The Stupidest Angel wasn’t all bad.
This book follows various members of the Pine Cove community as the week before Christmas leads all the way up to the holiday. The Archangel, Raziel, comes down from Heaven to give one child a Christmas wish. Unfortunately, that wish is for little Joshua who saw Santa being killed and thinks if he doesn’t come back to life, then Christmas won’t happen. This sounds simple enough…but Raziel is pretty bad at his job and all sorts of chaos occurs before and after Josh’s wish is granted. Oh, and that tidbit about Santa being killed…more like a guy in a Santa suit. Yeah, I’ll let you read the book if you want to know the rest.
Overall, this wasn’t my favorite read. It had some good moments though, and I did enjoy the humor when it worked for me.
It's nice sometimes to have a book like that. I know the name of the author but I can't remember if I have tried a book by him or not…
A book I read/reviewed a year or two now. To be honest I can't remember much about it (not a particularly good sign) other than that I enjoyed it more than Mr T. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I'm away to re-read my thoughts on it.
hm, I'm not sure I would love this a lot… Interesting idea, but well, maybe not for everyone. Great review though!
I've wanted to try this author for awhile now and while I still plan on doing so, maybe just not with this one first. 😉
Great honest review!
Glad there were some good moments to enjoy
I can see where this premise could go south if not handled correctly. But I'm intrigued.
I had tried a book by Moore a few years back (can't remember which one) but it didn't really work for me.
Ahh bummer. I have wanted to try this author too but I am sad to hear that this wasn't funny like you had hoped.
I've been wanting to read this author for awhile but I suspect his books *might* be too outlandish and I'll just be annoyed. But I'm not sure. I'll try one of his others instead of this one though.
It sounds like a funny story, so too bad it didn't quite live up to that.
Bummer!
It's always a shame when the events are just a bit too strange to be funny 🙁 But hey at least you found some moments entertaining!
That's a bummer. I liked the premise and the title was cute.
Sorry to hear it wasn't what you expected the book to be, Lauren. I would imagine that with a book title like this one, the book would brim with whimsy banter and humor too. Needless to say, I would be just as intrigued with a book title like, "The Stupidest Angel" too ha!
While it wasn't a favorite. I do like that there was humor despite bits being over the top or weird.