New Releases by Christopher Moore

Just 50,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors ventured off the African savannah and into the wider world. Now, our technology reaches far out into the cosmos. How did we get to where we are today? With lively text and colorful illustrations, From Then to Now explains how individual societies struggled to find their own paths, despite war, disease, slavery, natural disasters, and the relentless growth of human knowledge. From Hammurabi to Henry Ford, from Incan couriers to the Internet, from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower, from Marco Polo to Martin Luther King, from Cleopatra to Catherine the Great, from boiled haggis to fried tarantulas – this is no less than the story of humanity. It’s the story of how we grew apart over all those years of migration and division, and how – as we recognize our common heritage and our often mixed ancestry – we can come together. An index, maps, and notes make this a must-have reference, as well as a delight to read and to discuss. From Then to Now is bound to create a generation of history buffs!

The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency back-up mistress of the great Bay Area night, and my mangahaired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public. Whoa. And this is a love story? Yup. See, while some lovers were born to run, Jody and Tommy were born to bite. Well, reborn, that is, now that they''re vampires. Good thing theirs is an undying love, since they''re imprisoned in a bronze statue. Their Goth Girl Friday, Abby Normal, wants to be a bloodsucking fiend, too, but right now she''s really busy with other stuff like Chet, who''s getting bigger and smarter—and thirstier—by the minute. Before you can say "OMG! WTF?" Tommy and Jody are sprung from captivity, and join forces with Abby and the entire crew to hunt big cat and save the city. And that''s when the fun really begins.

From the master of subversive humor Christopher Moore comes a quirky, irreverent novel of love, myth, metaphysics, outlaw biking, angst, and outrageous redemption. As a boy, he was Samson Hunts Alone—until a deadly misunderstanding with the law forced him to flee the Crow reservation at age fifteen. Today he is Samuel Hunter, a successful Santa Barbara insurance salesman with a Mercedes, a condo, and a hollow, invented life. Then one day, destiny offers him the dangerous gift of love—in the exquisite form of Calliope Kincaid—and a curse in the unheralded appearance of an ancient god by the name of Coyote. Coyote, the trickster, has arrived to reawaken the mystical storyteller within Sam...and to seriously screw up his existence in the process.

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her. Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that''s where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy''s life—and afterlife—in ways he never thought possible.

Everyone knows about the immaculate conception and the crucifixion. But what happened to Jesus between the manger and the Sermon on the Mount? In this hilarious and bold novel, the acclaimed Christopher Moore shares the greatest story never told: the life of Christ as seen by his boyhood pal, Biff. Just what was Jesus doing during the many years that have gone unrecorded in the Bible? Biff was there at his side, and now after two thousand years, he shares those good, bad, ugly, and miraculous times. Screamingly funny, audaciously fresh, Lamb rivals the best of Tom Robbins and Carl Hiaasen, and is sure to please this gifted writer’s fans and win him legions more.

The town psychiatrist has decided to switch everybody in Pine Cove, California, from their normal antidepressants to placebos, so naturally—well, to be accurate, artificially—business is booming at the local blues bar. Trouble is, those lonely slide-guitar notes have also attracted a colossal sea beast named Steve with, shall we say, a thing for explosive oil tanker trucks. Suddenly, morose Pine Cove turns libidinous and is hit by a mysterious crime wave, and a beleaguered constable has to fight off his own gonzo appetites to find out what''s wrong and what, if anything, to do about it.

Take a wonderfully crazed excursion into the demented heart of a tropical paradise—a world of cargo cults, cannibals, mad scientists, ninjas, and talking fruit bats. Our bumbling hero is Tucker Case, a hopeless geek trapped in a cool guy''s body, who makes a living as a pilot for the Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation. But when he demolishes his boss''s pink plane during a drunken airborne liaison, Tuck must run for his life from Mary Jean''s goons. Now there''s only one employment opportunity left for him: piloting shady secret missions for an unscrupulous medical missionary and a sexy blond high priestess on the remotest of Micronesian hells. Here is a brazen, ingenious, irreverent, and wickedly funny novel from a modern master of the outrageous.

In Christopher Moore''s ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O''Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor façade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

A man of infinite jest, Pocket has been Lear''s cherished fool for years, from the time the king''s grown daughters—selfish, scheming Goneril, sadistic (but erotic-fantasy-grade-hot) Regan, and sweet, loyal Cordelia—were mere girls. So naturally Pocket is at his brainless, elderly liege''s side when Lear—at the insidious urging of Edmund, the bastard (in every way imaginable) son of the Earl of Gloucester—demands that his kids swear their undying love and devotion before a collection of assembled guests. Of course Goneril and Regan are only too happy to brownnose Dad. But Cordelia believes that her father''s request is kind of . . . well . . . stupid, and her blunt honesty ends up costing her her rightful share of the kingdom and earns her a banishment to boot. Well, now the bangers and mash have really hit the fan. The whole damn country''s about to go to hell in a handbasket because of a stubborn old fart''s wounded pride. And the only person who can possibly make things right . . . is Pocket, a small and slight clown with a biting sense of humor. He''s already managed to sidestep catastrophe (and the vengeful blades of many an offended nobleman) on numerous occasions, using his razor-sharp mind, rapier wit . . . and the equally well-honed daggers he keeps conveniently hidden behind his back. Now he''s going to have to do some very fancy maneuvering—cast some spells, incite a few assassinations, start a war or two (the usual stuff)—to get Cordelia back into Daddy Lear''s good graces, to derail the fiendish power plays of Cordelia''s twisted sisters, to rescue his gigantic, gigantically dim, and always randy friend and apprentice fool, Drool, from repeated beatings . . . and to shag every lusciously shaggable wench who''s amenable to shagging along the way. Pocket may be a fool . . . but he''s definitely not an idiot.

Falta una semana para Navidad, pero no todo el mundo es feliz en el pueblecito de Pine Cove (California). El pequeño Joshua Barker necesita con urgencia un milagro navideño. Y no es que esté moribundo, ni que su perro se haya escapado de casa: es que Josh ha visto cómo a Santa Claus le abrían la cabeza con una pala. Ahora solo anhela una cosa: que el viejo barbudo regrese de entre los muertos. Lo que no puede imaginar es que alguien esté escuchando sus plegarias... Aunque no destaque por ser, precisamente, el más listo de los ángeles.

International Retail Marketing combines a broad thematic overview of the key issues concerning international retail marketing with a series of incisive cases and examples of industry practice from markedly different sectors as fashion, food and healthcare. The authors provide an accessible and wide-ranging outline of the fundamentals of the subject, such as trends in retail marketing, strategy and logistics, and buying and merchandise management within an international perspective. Contributions from Europe, North America and Asia show the dynamics affecting international retailing through a variety of case. Key discussion points are highlighted throughout the text, giving a hands-on focus.

''Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit. But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he''s not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn''t run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead. But hold on! There''s an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It''s none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel''s not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he''s botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen. Move over, Charles Dickens -- it''s Christopher Moore time.

Just why do humpback whales sing? That''s the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals. Until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite me. Trouble is, Nate''s beginning to wonder if he hasn''t spent just a little too much time in the sun. ''Cause no one else on his team saw a thing—not his longtime partner; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (neé Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot—and his research facility is trashed—Nate realizes that something very fishy indeed is going on.

A disbarred lawyer making a precarious living as a private investigator in Bangkok, Vincent Calvino is about to close the books on a major drug piracy ring, until his client dies of a heart attack and he stumbles upon the body of a massage girl.

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He''s what''s known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who''s always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male. But Charlie''s been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He''s married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie''s doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel''s hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . . People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It''s a dirty job. But hey, somebody''s gotta do it. Christopher Moore, the man whose Lamb served up Jesus'' "missing years" (with the funny parts left in), and whose Fluke found the deep humor in whale researchers'' lives, now shines his comic light on the undiscovered country we all eventually explore -- death and dying -- and the results are hilarious, heartwarming, and a hell of a lot of fun.

In His Majesty''s Footsteps: A Personal Memoir (Heaven Lake Press, 2006, 329 pp.) offers an intimate, powerful portrait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Thai royal family. This is the first personal chronicle in the English language detailing the life and work of the revered Thai monarch during the politically turbulent period of the late1960s and the 1970s. The author, Police General Vasit Dejkunjorn, who served for 12 years as head of royal court security police, writes his first-hand account of how King Bhumibol faced the challenges of the time-relentless communist insurgencies, frequent military coups and protracted political turmoil. The book vividly portrays what goes on inside the palace as these numerous events unfold. It gives an eyewitness account of the Thai history in the making through the interactions of the three pillars of the Thai nationhood: Nation, Religion and King, and how the king and the royal family touched the hearts of the Thai people by their extraordinary dedication to their subjects. In His Majesty''s Footsteps shows a rare insight into how the Thai king, the world''s longest reigning monarch, has played his role in providing a source of strength and stability to his people and has earned his renown as the most revered king in the modern world.

Les habitants de la petite bourgade californienne de Pine Cove, tous plus ou moins contaminés par l''esprit du Noël qui s''annonce, sont occupés à acheter et à emballer les cadeaux. Après tout, n''est-ce pas là le moment le plus festif de l''année ? Mais certains ne sont pas à la fête. Le petit Joshua Barker, par exemple, attend désespérément un miracle. Est-il condamné sur son lit de mort ? Son chien a-t-il encore fugué ? Pas du tout. Josh est seulement certain d''avoir vu le Père Noël se faire tuer d''un coup de pelle en pleine tête. Alors le gamin de sept ans n''a plus qu''une seule et unique prière : Je t''en supplie, Père Noël, reviens d''entre les morts. Mais attendez ! Car l''archange Gabriel en personne, descendu sur terre à la recherche d''un enfant dont le voeu doit être exaucé, va voler à son secours. Malheureusement, notre ange n''est pas des plus dégourdis, il aurait même l''auréole un peu terne ; sans coup férir, il va plonger les habitants de Pine Cove dans le chaos et leur offrir la plus hilarante et horrible soirée de Noël que la communauté ait jamais connue. Oubliez Charles Dickens, découvrez Christopher Moore !

Eine skurrile Komödie über den ewigen Kampf zwischen Gut und Böse. Travis O''Hearn hat ein Problem: Seit er vor siebzig Jahren eher aus Zufall einen Dämon geweckt hat, weicht ihm dieser nicht mehr von seiner Seite. Und Catch ist beileibe kein angenehmer Zeitgenosse, denn er hat einen unstillbaren Appetit auf menschliches Fleisch. Um dem dämonischen Treiben endlich ein Ende zu setzen, macht sich Travis auf den Weg zum König der Dschinn - der Einzige, der Catch in die Hölle verbannen kann, aus deren Staub er einst gekrochen kam ... Der ehemalige Journalist Christopher Moore arbeitete als Dachdecker, Kellner, Fotograf und Versicherungsvertreter, bevor er anfing, Romane zu schreiben. Seine Bücher haben in Amerika längst Kultstatus, und auch im deutschsprachigen Raum wächst die Fangemeinde beständig. Christopher Moore liebt - nach eigenen Angaben - den Ozean, Elefanten-Polo, Käsecracker, Acid Jazz und das Kraulen von Fischottern. Er mag aber weder Salmonellen noch Autoverkehr und erst recht nicht gemeine Menschen. Der Autor lebt in San Francisco, Kalifornien.

Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe. ''Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit. It is the hap-hap-happiest time of the year, after all. But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he''s not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn''t run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead. But hold on! There''s an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It''s none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel''s not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he''s botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen. Only Christopher Moore, the man who brought you the outrageous lost gospel Lamb and the hysterical fish tale Fluke could have devised a new holiday classic that tugs at the heartstrings and serves up a healthy slice of fruitcake to boot. Move over, Charles Dickens -- it''s Christopher Moore time.

Provides pronunciations and definitions of unusual words from different languages, including Hungarian, Finnish, Gaelic, and Creole.

“One July day four hundred years ago, Samuel de Champlain stepped out of a small boat at Quebec and began a great adventure.” So begins Christopher Moore’s riveting account of the life of the extraordinary, daring “father of New France.” Samuel de Champlain helped found the first permanent French settlement in the New World; he established the village that eventually became the great city of Quebec; he was a skilled cartographer who gave us many of our first accurate maps of North America; he forged alliances with Native nations that laid the foundations for vast trading networks; and as governor, he set New France on the road to becoming a productive, self-sufficient, thriving colony. But Champlain was also a man who suffered his share of defeats and disappointments. That first permanent settlement was abandoned after a disastrous winter claimed the lives of half the colonists. His marriage to a child bride was unhappy and marked by long separations. Eventually Quebec had to be surrendered temporarily to the English in 1629. In this remarkable book, illustrated entirely with paintings, archival maps, and original artifacts, Christopher Moore brings to life this complex man and, through him, creates a portrait of Canada in its earliest days. Champlain is illustrated with archival maps and paintings. Additional artwork has been provided by Francis Back.

Le coyote, c''est le farceur de la cosmogonie indienne. Celui qui tire sur la couverture où les dieux ont soigneusement rangé les étoiles, donnant ainsi un léger côté pagaille su firmament. Autant dire que quand le coyote s''attaque à ce brave yuppie de Sam Hunter, sa vie devient un enfer... Mais un enfer revu par Tex Avery...

Provides information and photographs on Canada, exploring the history, politics, territories, and people that have formed this nation.