Event: Christopher Moore and Sacré Bleu
Sometimes, readers of this blog must think I'm obsessed with Christopher Moore in a rather stalkerish way, because he's the only author whose live appearances I ever report about. Although Moore is hilarious in person and really makes it worthwhile to come out to his book signings - funny monologues about life, writing and fake dog testicles - I think his frequent appearances on my blog are more a byproduct of the fact that he's a local author and therefore his events are relatively easy to attend.
That said, Moore kicked off his book tour for Sacré Bleu on April 3rd at Books Inc. in San Francisco, and naturally I was there with my sidekick Jeans. (Her previous blog appearances: Chris Moore, Chris Moore, Philippa Gregory.) We arrived just in time to realize that there weren't any chairs left, so we stood off to the side by the Science Fiction section next to a pile of steampunk titles and Neil Gaiman books. A pretty good place to be, if you ask me.
Can I drop any big, dramatic Christopher Moore bombshells on you? Unfortunately, no. At the beginning of a book tour, it seems, Mr. Moore's a little...unrehearsed. He's not sure what material he's going to be using to make his fans laugh; the rhythm of his speech and jokes isn't quite down. Having seen only the final, polished version that usually comes at the end of his book tours at previous events, it was pretty cool to see the rough version this time.
Moore's always bagging on one state or another, and this time around it was Kansas. Because, y'know, it's Kansas! That is to say it represents the entire Midwest, and like all former Midwesterners who have fled their home state, Moore kinda hates it.
He actually spent a decent chunk of time going over art history, and what exactly was happening in Paris in the late 19th century. With so many artists running around, he got to pick and choose which ones would show up in Sacré Bleu. Renoir liked naked women, especially ones with big bums? Sounds like a fun guy - he's in. Toulouse-Lautrec likes absinthe, hookers and dressing up in kimonos? Oh, he's definitely in - heck, TL is the star of the novel. Degas was anti-Semitic and an all-around dick? He's OUT, reduced to only one or two brief appearances.
During the Q&A, someone asked Moore if he was purposely moving into historical fiction, since several of his recent books have been set in the past. Moore said no, he just tends to go with whatever idea happens to catch his interest at the time, and it's mostly coincidence that his last few books have been historical in nature.
On that note, his next book is going to be set in Venice. It's a sequel to Fool. You know what that means. Othello. The Merchant of Venice. It's gonna be AWESOME!! He also mentioned that he'd love to do a sequel to A Dirty Job someday.
At the end of his talk/question answering, Moore gave away a ton of swag. He just hauled a big grocery bag up to the front and started tossing out audio books, f**kstockings, and hats like an ADHD Santa Claus trying to make up for missing Christmas by nearly four months. Jeans and I didn't manage to snag anything, but Moore was handing out temporary tattoos to everyone who waited in the autograph line, so that was a decent consolation prize.
Sorry there are no pictures this time! We did take some, but Jeans has my camera so they'll have to wait.
Check and see if Christopher Moore is coming to a town near you!
That said, Moore kicked off his book tour for Sacré Bleu on April 3rd at Books Inc. in San Francisco, and naturally I was there with my sidekick Jeans. (Her previous blog appearances: Chris Moore, Chris Moore, Philippa Gregory.) We arrived just in time to realize that there weren't any chairs left, so we stood off to the side by the Science Fiction section next to a pile of steampunk titles and Neil Gaiman books. A pretty good place to be, if you ask me.
Can I drop any big, dramatic Christopher Moore bombshells on you? Unfortunately, no. At the beginning of a book tour, it seems, Mr. Moore's a little...unrehearsed. He's not sure what material he's going to be using to make his fans laugh; the rhythm of his speech and jokes isn't quite down. Having seen only the final, polished version that usually comes at the end of his book tours at previous events, it was pretty cool to see the rough version this time.
Moore's always bagging on one state or another, and this time around it was Kansas. Because, y'know, it's Kansas! That is to say it represents the entire Midwest, and like all former Midwesterners who have fled their home state, Moore kinda hates it.
He actually spent a decent chunk of time going over art history, and what exactly was happening in Paris in the late 19th century. With so many artists running around, he got to pick and choose which ones would show up in Sacré Bleu. Renoir liked naked women, especially ones with big bums? Sounds like a fun guy - he's in. Toulouse-Lautrec likes absinthe, hookers and dressing up in kimonos? Oh, he's definitely in - heck, TL is the star of the novel. Degas was anti-Semitic and an all-around dick? He's OUT, reduced to only one or two brief appearances.
During the Q&A, someone asked Moore if he was purposely moving into historical fiction, since several of his recent books have been set in the past. Moore said no, he just tends to go with whatever idea happens to catch his interest at the time, and it's mostly coincidence that his last few books have been historical in nature.
On that note, his next book is going to be set in Venice. It's a sequel to Fool. You know what that means. Othello. The Merchant of Venice. It's gonna be AWESOME!! He also mentioned that he'd love to do a sequel to A Dirty Job someday.
At the end of his talk/question answering, Moore gave away a ton of swag. He just hauled a big grocery bag up to the front and started tossing out audio books, f**kstockings, and hats like an ADHD Santa Claus trying to make up for missing Christmas by nearly four months. Jeans and I didn't manage to snag anything, but Moore was handing out temporary tattoos to everyone who waited in the autograph line, so that was a decent consolation prize.
Sorry there are no pictures this time! We did take some, but Jeans has my camera so they'll have to wait.
Check and see if Christopher Moore is coming to a town near you!