Time travel, dystopias, robots, other planets, aliens. All these archetypes of science fiction — along with cigarette-smoking monkeys — make their appearance in one fashion or another in Foop!
Foop! is a comedic and at times scatological look at where the Earth may be headed and why. Its hero is Joe, who, as the name implies, is just an average guy. Joe lives a mundane, lonely existence on an Earth crowded by 11 bllion people. His respite is time travel, something he can do quite frequently as a tour guide for Dactyl, the world's first time travel tourism company. Joe's boss, Mr. Burk, invented time travel playing with the world's largest particle accelerator while drunk. Having turned his discovery into a successful commercial venture, Mr. Burk has decided to promote Joe to investigate mysterious photos of past Mr. Burks being abused by persons unknown. As these things never occurred in Mr. Burk's actual past, he wants to know what's going on.
Just after the promotion, Joe notices the Duo, an evil-looking pair he nicknames Boogedy and Nibbles. They stare malevolently at him on the commuter train and also show up on Joe's attempt to investigate Mr. Burk's photos, an effort that ends with the Duo disappearing with Joe's assistant. As Joe attempts to cope with his new assignment and the coincident appearance of the Duo, he encounters Bogumilism, a religion which soon seems to grow by leaps and bounds. Bogumils seek an interconnectedness among humans, believing that each and every human is a ray of light emanating from The Bright and seeking guidance from Ba Hubba Tree Bob, the leader of the Church of the Bright. Yet despite the growing popularity of Bogumilism and Joe's yearning to connect with someone, Joe is unsure of the sect and its leader.
Article comments
1 - DrPat
When a first-time novelist garners kudos from the likes of Christopher Moore, and prompts comparisons with the late Douglas Adams, you know there's something seriously funny going on.
Check out the interview of the author (by Koko the gorilla) to get a real feeling for the severe twist in this guy's mentation!
2 - Laura
I actually read Foop! based on Christopher Moore's kudos and wasn't disappointed. It does show some first novel unevenness, but overall it's a great debut. Any book that can make me laugh out loud as much as Foop! did is a winner in my book. We need more funny books like this.
3 - Laura
And if the Koko interview isn't enough to show you how twisted this guy is, check out the archives to his blog. He blogs in the voice of a mite named Pepino who lives in his eyelashes. At one point the mite gets into a fight to the death with an evil doll.