FOOP! by Chris Genoa Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of FOOP!
Book Review: Further evidence that Americans can't write farce
Summary: 1 Stars
Is there something wrong with me? Some shill, somewhere, said people who enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series would enjoy Genoa's Foop! To this I say, "Fooey!"
By the time I was half way through the book I had enjoyed only a page and a half. Even then I felt guilty, because it was post-Hurricane Katrina and it was the description of New Orleans as a sand castle on the beach at low tide, with an increasingly complex series of moats and walls until finally lthe builder can only lie down to protect the sub-sealevel structure with his (or her, in this case) own body. But why should I have to suffer through 160 pages of Genoa's self-congratulatory Gee, ain't I clever inanity for less than two pages of good prose?
The plot is impenetrable (I'm not even sure it's there), the characterization is poor, the dialogue is trite ... Could I do better? No. But then, I'm not trying to pass myself off as a writer. If you still can't control yourself, and simply must try this book, send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope and I'll send you my copy by return mail. It's only half used.
Do yourself a favor. If you want to read modern farce, re-read Douglas Adams or Jasper Fforde. Don't waste your time on Foop! And if you see another Genoa novel, make loud noises and back away slowly.
Book Review: Good book... Bad ending
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book through the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" tool on one of Christopher Moore's books (I think it was Fluke). I was looking for something similar, and while this book is written in the same style, it is not quite as good as one of Christopher Moore's books. However, it is still a very funny, inane book. My biggest qualm is with the ending, which I found to be just odd an unfulfilling. If you are a person who likes Christopher Moore's style of writing I would say buy this book. However, if you are the type of person who likes a happy ending (or really an ending at all) I would steer clear.Book Review: Great ride!
Summary: 4 Stars
What else can I say that anyone here hasn't already. Foop! was a really good time and I highly recommend it.
I look forward to more from Chris.
Book Review: Hilarious Cult Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
I cannot believe that some people don't find this book funny. It blows my mind really. I read Foop! over the weekend and I don't think that more than a page went by without me chuckling. For a 300 page book that a heck of a lot of laughs. I even had a few uncontrollable laughing fits. If I had been drinking milk at the time I'm sure it would have come flying out my nose. I'm a huge fan of weird fiction and especially bizarre comedy, so Foop! was my idea of a perfect book. When I say weird fiction I mean cult writers like Chuck Palahniuk and Jeff Noon, and when I say bizarre comedy I mean Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
The dialogue reminded me of how I joke around and talk with my friends, and I'm sure we'll repeat a lot of the lines once my friends read it. And there's no way they're not going to read it because it's way too funny and cool for them to miss.
I thought the main character of Joe was great and it was interesting to get deep into his warped head. The supporting characters were all hilarious, and I could read an entire book about the character of Malone, who's a blind monkey.
If you like cult films and have at least a shread of a sense of humor in your bones you'll love this book.
Book Review: Humor with a bit of a bite
Summary: 5 Stars
Like most good humorists, Genoa understands that humor often comes from some amount of pain. In Foop!, that pain is the pain of loneliness in a near-future world where the main character, Joe, finds it impossible to connect with the world around him. He bounces from one absurd situation to another, much like a pinball. I found the core of the book to lie not in the plot, but in its humor, which is sustained quite remarkably throughout the book. There are down times, especially in the middle, but far and away the jokes keep coming at breakneck speeds. Many pages contain multiple laughs.
Both myself and my 16 year-old son read the book, and we both enjoyed it. However, it seems as though my son was able to enjoy it more as the novel's loose construction and surreal humor didn't take some adjusting to for him, as it did for me. Perhaps younger readers are used to entertainment where deliberate nonsense and loosely-related, absurd scenes are old hat. In some places the book reminded me of the fast-cutting movies of modern cinema which cater to our nation's ADD level of focus. If one joke doesn't work for you, fear not, for there's another one coming up!
Overall, the book is quite a pleasure to read if you can get by the crazy looseness of it all. There are many truly hilarious moments, and Genoa's writing can shine at times.