A Dirty Job

I recently joined Audible.com, which is a great service for downloading audible books and magazines, and much lower prices than Itunes. Actually it pre-dates Itunes....When I lived in NYC what seems 100 years ago, my boyfriend at the time discovered this service and I remember him gushing on about it, listening to novels on his morning commute, etc. As I knew I would be doing a bit of long distance driving this summer, and a basic trip to the grocery store here involves a 20 minute drive with no radio service, I decided to give it a go.

My first pick: A Dirty Job: A Novel by Christopher Moore.

Here's the blip from Amazon:

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.

It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

I picked this because I had read Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, book which is irreverent and ridiculous but somehow really touching and inspirational all at once.

Actually, "irreverent and ridiculous but somehow touching and inspirational" might be a catch-phrase for Moore's work in general. The stories never fail to surprise, and while the characters sometimes seem a bit caricature-like, they are at the same time warm and funny and I often find myself tearing up a bit... and then laughing out loud.

While this audible book does not top the inimitable Jim Dale reading any of the Harry Potter series (really, what could?), it was a great listen. Now what to pick next....????