Noir, by Christopher Moore

He's done it again! With characteristic humor and literary limbo, one of my favorite authors gifts us with a bizarre yet touching tale of love, loss, and little green men. Set in San Francisco shortly after World War II, our hero Sammy is tending bar for a sketchy bunch of day drunks, night drunks, and just plain drunks. Moore has lived in San Francisco for quite sometime and did a lot of research on the city post-war. As a major port of call, it attracted many workers from all over the States, particularly Southern blacks who eventually settled into the already-racially mixed Bay Area, with its significant Asian (mostly Chinese) population. While I didn't live in post-war San Francisco (obviously), the lingo Sammy and his colorful, comical pals sling around feels authentic enough. The plot, on the other hand... but then that's proper Christopher Moore for you. Reality has nothing to do with it.

Within the first few pages, Sammy becomes smitten with a busty blonde named Stilton. Yes, like the cheese. At the same time, his slimy boss, Sal, is trying to get Sammy's help in rounding up some girls for an air force general who wants to impress the highly influential members of the Bohemian Club (look it up). This general is in charge of a base near Roswell, New Mexico. Ah yes, here we go. Additionally, Sammy's Chinese American friend Eddie Moo Shoes inadvertently gives him the idea to buy an extremely venomous snake. What do these three wildly disparate things have to do with each other? You'll just have to read the book to find out! Prepare for guffaws.


Moore will be in Napa 5/31!