This is the third Christopher Moore book I have read. My previous Moores are Fluke and Fool. So far, Coyote Blue is my favorite. Although Moore is his usual whimsical self, Coyote Blue has a more humanistic approach than the others.
Fifteen year-old Samson Hunts Alone flees his Crow reservation home, running from the law. Twenty years later, he surfaces in Santa Barbara California, where he has become a wildly successful insurance salesman. That is when the ancient trickster god Coyote shows up to mess with Sam’s life. Coyote might also help Sam find his home again.
Old Man Coyote is a wonderful comic character, the best in Moore’s three books I have read. He has a playful and often stupid innocence that belies his awesome powers. And I like Sam a lot. Sure, the story is funny, but Sam’s redemption in the end is well-deserved and beyond satisfying.
You will love Moore’s retelling of Native American legends. You see, the spirits really just want humans to tell stories about them. Moore is helping the spirits!
I felt a little shorted by the quick treatment of Samson’s original reason for fleeing. It is touched on when he returns but it is just short of satisfying. Reminiscence about a teenage mission to piss on Custer’s grave seems out of place where it is placed in the story. The fate of a Japanese father touring with his family and mourning the thought that he has raised two children who care only for money is left dangling. But these are minor annoyances in an otherwise lovable story.
Get ready to meet M.F., short for “Minty Fresh,” the coolest problem solver Vegas has ever produced.
Link to review of Fool by Christopher Moore on this site
Link to review of Fluke by Christopher Moore on this site
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Posted by Drevil, 10/12/2013
I think it’s interesting how the older polytheistic religions or traditions have a trickster God, but the later monotheistic religions chose a different way to explain random difficulties in life. I guess they say that it’s all part of God’s plan and seemingly random tragedies are really our fault.