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Razzmatazz

By Christopher Moore

See more of Greg's

Greco-Roman and Historical Fiction

Read my review of Noir.

Is it just me or does Razzmatazz come off as some kind of drunken challenge that Moore took on from one of his buddies? Just read the synopsis, I count six plotlines going on in there. How in the hell is an author supposed to put all of that together and still write a coherent story that flows, makes perfect sense, and comes to a logical conclusion? Well, I guess the answer is that you have to be Christopher Moore.

Moore has allowed me to reconnect with an old friend, Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin. I first met Sammy in Noir, on the mean streets of 1940s San Francisco. It was great to spend some time with Sammy and his gang: Eddie “Moo Shoes” Shue, Thelonious, Stilton “The Cheese,” and that annoying kid who lives in his building, among many others. I laughed, I chuckled, it was better than Cats.

There are many things that Moore does incredibly well. He creates great characters, and he knows how to use them. The entire cast of Razzmatazz has something special about them, it is like they’ve all been brewing in his mind for decades just waiting for an opportunity for him to inflict them upon the world. Each character plays such an integral role in Razzmatazz that it would be missing something without each and every single one of them.

Beyond all else, Moore is an expert at tying everything together (and I don’t mean in some kind of kinky razzmatazz kind of way); with so much going on, I often wondered how all of this was going to come together in the end. I needn’t have worried, Moore had all of this well under control.

I went with the Audible for this story and it was fantastic. Johnny Heller was perfect, he seemed like he had been transported directly from the 1940s. The attitude was dripping from his voice.

I had a great time with Razzmatazz. You call fully enjoy it without having read (or listened to) Noir, but why would you want to?

*5 Stars