Comic novelist Christopher Moore comes to Monterey to talk ‘writing and stuff.’

Christopher Moore turns Vincent Van Gogh’s death on its ear – by portraying it as a murder, not the suicide history tells us. The twist catalyzes his latest novel, Sacre Bleu, a fictional murder mystery that is as funny as it is gripping. 


Moore’s cult reputation as a comic novelist is one reason the book debuted at number three as a New York Times bestseller, marking his eighth novel to land on the list. Since Moore’s first novel, Practical Demonkeeping, he has written 13 books in 20 years. He brings this prolific experience to MPC’s Guest Author Series this Wednesday for a Q&A and book signing.


He might discuss how he draws inspiration from other prolific literary figures.


“Douglas Adams for his silliness,” he says. “Kurt Vonnegut for his economy and wit and John Steinbeck for his forgiveness toward his characters and humanity in general.”


His affection for Steinbeck doesn’t end there. “Stylistically, Steinbeck by a long shot,” he continues, “but without Tom Robbins, Vonnegut and Douglas Adams opening a door, I’d not have had a way into publishing books.”


His way into books started in 1992 with Practical Demonkeeping. Moore sets the story in Pine Cove, a fictional town described as located south of Big Sur. Moore based Pine Cove on Cambria, and also used the town for Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and The Stupidest Angel. 


In Demonkeeping, Robert, a heartbroken drunk, contends with a demon and its handler who have come to raise hell and the ire of the locals, which is a recipe Moore uses to bake one hilarious chapter after another.


Twenty years later, he published equally funny Sacre Bleu. As a historical piece in which he brings to life the period of France’s La Belle Epoque and its famous painters – Renoir, Pissaro, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, etc. – Moore’s evolution as a writer clearly presents itself. The story is woven around the strange properties of a blue paint controlled by a muse, and how the son of a baker, Lucien Lessard and the Henri Toulouse-Lautrec solve the mystery of what is killing artists in Europe. The book was so meticulously researched – it took four years all told, with 20 months dedicated to writing – that Moore birthed an online chapter guide (guide.sacrebleu.info) rife with photos.


What’s next for Moore might be best revealed by his current reading list.


“Right now I’m rereading some Damon Runyon stories to give me ideas for writing a period piece I want to do set in the 1940s,” he says. “I’ve just started Matt Ruff’s Set This House In Order, the only book of his I haven’t read, and I have The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach next because I want to write a baseball story.” 


Readers can expect Moore to deliver another curveball. 


THE GUEST AUTHOR SERIES continues 7-9pm (doors open 6:30pm) Wednesday at Lecture Forum 103, Monterey Peninsula College, 980 Fremont St., Monterey. $10, tickets available at the MPC Humanities Office (HSS109) and day-of. 646-4100, www.chrismoore.com