FOOP! by Chris Genoa Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of FOOP!
Book Review: Cartoonish Surrealism
Summary: 4 Stars
It looks like it's about time for a more in-depth look at this book that goes beyond the simple "It's great!" or "It stinks!"
It seems that quite a few people are coming to this book through Christopher Moore, who blurbed Foop! on the front cover. I'm not a fan of Moore at all so I can't compare Genoa's writing to Moore's, but there's really no need to do that anyway. Like any book Foop! should be looked at on its own.
The book begins with a first chapter that is possibly the funniest opening chapter I've ever read. You can read it on Amazon through the Search Inside function. The reader is immediately thrown into the bizarre life and mind of Joe, a time travelling tour guide in the not too distant future. To sum up the plot, Joe is given an assignment to find out who has been travelling back in time and torturing younger versions of his boss in very odd ways.
Normally when the idea of "time travel" comes up people automatically expect they are in for a traditional science fiction novel. But Foop! is anything but that, and readers expecting such might be disappointed. There isn't much that's traditional about this book at all. In fact Chris Genoa and his publisher, Eraserhead Press, have aligned themselves with a literary movement calling itself Bizarro. That right there should tell you what you're in for. While this isn't experimental or hard to follow writing, Genoa doesn't reign in his overactive imagination at all when it comes to the characters he chooses to introduce--such as a blind monkey with a lasso--or their often insane actions.
Foop! does have a traditional three part structure, with Parts 1 and 3 being the strongest. Part 2, when Joe retreats to his apartment, does drag a little and could have used some more editing, but Genoa tends to throw enough humor at the reader to make up for this and get you to Part 3 which is excellent.
This book was cearly written by someone of the MTV generation, or generation X, and it will most likely appeal to readers younger than 40. I also suspect that like writers such as Chuck Palahniuk, Genoa will appeal more to men than women, but I could be wrong since there are a bunch of positive Foop! reviews on here from women. The dialogue is rapid-fire, the humor absurd and sometimes scatalogical, many of the characters are cartoonish, there is plenty of satirical social commentary, and the ending is uncompromisingly bleak.
I recommend this book for people who don't get easily offended by off-color humor--hint: if you think South Park is nothing but dumb humor, you won't like Foop!--for fans of the cartoonish surrealism of Terry Gilliam, and for people who don't mind a little bizarre chaos in their bedtime reading.
Book Review: Christopher Moore but Not
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like Christopher Moore books than you will definately like this one. Different writing style but equally entertaining and hilarious. Thank god I have another author who's capable of creating a light, funny book on a consistent basis. Less time to wait between books when you have two of them going. Great debut book i hope the next one is just like it.Book Review: Cool surreal journey
Summary: 5 Stars
This book reminded me a lot of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It has that same surreal, dreamlike quality, but without the trunkload of drugs and booze. The characters in Foop! aren't high, they're just plain old crazy.
Foop and Fear & Loathing are also extremely funny and each had me laughing a lot, mainly because the first-person narration is great in both. But they're also sad stories at the same time since the characters in both never find the dreams they're searching for.
So if you like reading about characters who go on weird, wild journeys, you'll probably really like Foop!
Book Review: Couldn't Agree More!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm giving this book 5 stars for the author's willingness to take risks, his untouchable humor, his unique voice, his embracing of the surreal, his twisted view of the world, and with the hope that he writes many more books in the years to come. This isn't mainstream fiction, but it isn't experimental either. Not by a long shot. The author instead dances around in a middle ground between mainstream and exerimental that I found extremely interesting. I think the book will appeal most to people who like to dance around in that middle ground as well.
I knew from the first paragraph of Foop that I would love it. See for yourself:
"I've always thought that the existence of Abraham Lincoln provided conclusive visual evidence that humans are indeed descended from apes. I look at apes, and I look at men, even Cro-Magnon man, and I think, there's gotta be something in between. Where's the link? The link is Abraham Lincoln. The man looked more ape-like than some apes do when they're dressed in shorts and suspenders and wearing sunglasses."
Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this book based on the Amazon recommendation and the Christopher Moore blurb on the cover. My favorite authors are Christopher Moore and Tom Robbins, and I am always looking to add to my list. The absurdity of this book wasn't "good absurdity;" it wasn't entertaining nor funny, rather it was annoying. The characters were for the most part flat, and when they weren't they were repetitive and dull (in an irritating way). The plot was almost random, yet had feeble attempts to go somewhere with the phony guru, the paranoia, and the "well, screw you all, Earth's gonna be destroyed 'cuz humans are such losers," motif. If you read for humor, entertainment, enlightenment, grand use of the language, and rich characterization, skip this and save your money; you'll be glad you didn't waste your cash or time.