''A Dirty Job'' is a novel by American writer Christopher Moore, published in 2006. While still full of humor, Moore drew from his own experiences in tending to the needs of close family and friends in the stages of dying.

Premise

Charlie Asher, a "beta-male" (as opposed to " alpha-male") leads a satisfying life as the owner and proprietor of a second-hand store in San Francisco. At the moment when his wife Rachel unexpectedly dies in the hospital a short time after the birth of their first child (Sophie), Charlie is chosen to be a "death merchant" who retrieves souls of the dying and protecting them from the forces of the underworld, while he manages his store and raises his daughter. He realizes the ramifications of this business as clues and complications unfold.

Movie rights and popularity

Shortly after its release, ''A Dirty Job'' reached 9th place on the

New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

. An unabridged commercial compact disc recording of ''A Dirty Job'' has been issued with narration by Fisher Stevens. As of August 2006 the motion picture rights have been optioned by Chris Columbus and his company, 1492 Productions. In October ''A Dirty Job'' won the 2006 Quill Award in the category of General Fiction.

Characters

Charlie Asher: The protagonist of the story, Charlie Asher is the owner of Asher's Secondhand, the thrift shop inherited from his father, where much of the story takes place. Charlie became a death merchant upon witnessing Minty Fresh take his wife's soul object as she died. Over the course of the story, Charlie raises his daughter Sophie while dealing with the ramifications of his soul collecting job. Minty Fresh: Minty is a nearly seven foot tall African American with a penchant for wearing mint green suits. He is, like Charlie, a death merchant. He runs a second-hand record store in the Castro district of San Francisco. Jane Asher: Charlie's sister. She helps Charlie raise Sophie when she's around, and she has a bad habit of 'borrowing' Charlie's suits. Audrey: Tibetan monk with power over the movement of souls and creator of animal chimeras that mysteriously appear. Detective Alphonse Rivera: A detective with the SFPD, Rivera suspects Charlie of involvement in a number of suspicious deaths. Ray Macy: One of Charlie's two employees, Ray is a middle-aged retired cop who spends time online connecting with 'desperate Filipinas.' Lily Severo: Charlie's other employee, Lily is a goth teenager and later a goth chef. She is the only person besides Minty Fresh and Sophie who knows that Charlie is a death merchant. Mrs. Vladlena Korjev and Mrs. Ling: Middle-aged women who live in Charlie's building and frequently care for Sophie while providing

comic relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

. The Morrigan: Babd, Macha, and Nemain, Celtic war deities and denizens of the underworld. Along with Orcus, they are the villains of the novel. Orcus: Husband of the Morrigan, and powerful force of darkness.

Appearances of characters from previous novels

A few characters from Moore's earlier novels participate in this story: Minty Fresh from '' Coyote Blue'' and, because of the story's San Francisco setting (where '' Bloodsucking Fiends'' took place), Jody (unnamed in a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

), The Emperor (and his two "soldiers", Bummer and Lazarus), and detectives Alphonse Rivera and Nick Cavuto. Jody's meeting with Charlie Asher is seen from her perspective, in '' You Suck: A Love Story'', the continuation of ''Bloodsucking Fiends''. Charlie Asher is referenced several times in '' Bite Me: A Love Story''.

References

External links

Author's own website for the book, including excerpt of first chapter
*''The Beta-Male Manifesto'' (in the author's blog, drawn partly from the novel):
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (conclusion)
from Moore's book-signing tour for the original hardback edition during 21 March-23 April 2006
Audio MP3 podcast
of Moore's appearance on 28 March 2006 at the Tattered Cover Bookstore,

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado
The "sartorial creature" dolls
of Monique Motil, which provided the inspiration for the "

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

people" in Moore's novel {{DEFAULTSORT:Dirty Job, A 2006 American novels 2006 fantasy novels Absurdist fiction HarperCollins books Novels about death Novels by Christopher Moore Novels set in San Francisco