The animal skeletons dressed in elaborate period costumes became characters in Moore's novel: A Buddhist priest, who has learned the art of transferring souls, animates the creatures with the help of chunks of ham. Moore's girlfriend discovered Paxton Gate, a gallery on Valencia that features Sartorial Creatures by artist Monique Motil. There are scenes where all Charlie does is walk through neighborhoods, and it's like an Impressionist painting.'

'I tried to get a feel for all parts of the city, so when I wrote the book, the neighborhoods would be like characters. 'I came back to San Francisco and spent more time in the neighborhoods like Chinatown and the Mission that I hadn't been in much before,' Moore says. The job takes Charlie all over the city as he haphazardly collects souls and taunts the murderous demons who live in the city's sewer system.

He also stayed in San Francisco while writing 'A Dirty Job.' 'My mom died in 1999, and I was her caretaker, which motivated me to start thinking of death and what goes on around death.'įew humorous novels begin with a character dying, but that's how Charlie Asher, a 'beta male' and owner of a North Beach second-hand store, becomes Death. Moore, who now lives in Kauai, lived in San Francisco while writing 'Bloodsucking Fiends,' a story about the love between a vampire and an intrepid grocery clerk. I figure if I pick up that flavor in my writing because I'm reading 'Cannery Row' for the 400th time, so be it.' There's a beautiful, very sweet, forgiving narrative voice. ' 'Tortilla Flat,' 'Cannery Row,' 'Sweet Thursday,' the comic novels. The author that Moore returns to again and again is John Steinbeck. 'If you listen to a good comic, you can learn how to put it on a page.' 'You can't teach someone to be funny, but you can teach comic timing,' he says. Moore says, 'Wise-ass is my default setting.' He's frequently asked if humor can be taught. His humor is often dark but never mean in battles between good and evil, good always prevails, albeit in absurd ways. Since then, Moore has written hysterical tales of demons, vampires, trickster gods and sea monsters. I wanted to have fun with the conventions.' 'I wanted to do for horror what Adams did for science fiction. 'As Richard Pryor was to Eddie Murphy, that's what Kurt Vonnegut was to me.' Douglas Adams' irreverent sci-fi adventure, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' also inspired Moore. Moore recovered from the discovery that though he is a serious writer, he does not write serious books. 'Cops get a jaded sense of the world,' he says.īut when Moore began reading his stories aloud, people laughed at his turns of phrase.

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