# A Dirty Job

By Christopher Moore · Grim Reaper, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/a-dirty-job-eb750322/

Charlie Asher has a newborn daughter, a secondhand shop in San Francisco and a wife who has just died. He also has a new responsibility he never applied for: collecting the souls of the dead before darker forces reach them.

## What makes it funny?

Charlie counts twenty-one fingers and toes on his newborn and worries she has a tail. A nurse supplies the facts; Charlie supplies further possibilities. Even reassurance becomes material for another round of panic.

### The comedy at work

The supernatural comes with ordinary failures of communication. Charlie’s Goth employee Lily assumes the instruction book for his new job belongs to her, leaving him to face death-merchant duties without the manual.

### Try this if…

Macabre fantasy, anxious parenting and eccentric coworkers share space here. The comedy has a coarse streak, but Charlie’s grief gives his ridiculous new responsibilities an emotional weight.

### Good to know

Spousal death and bereavement are central from the opening. Expect profanity, sexual references and bathroom humor. This begins the Grim Reaper series.

## What to expect

- Genre: Fantasy
- On the shelf: Urban fantasy
- Kind of humor: Banter · Dark comedy · Situational comedy
- The atmosphere: Irreverent
- Format: Novel
- Length: 416 pages
- Audiobook: 11 hr 51 min
- Published: 2006

## A few distinguishing details

- A secondhand shop becomes a way station for souls.
- A Goth employee keeps the wrong person’s death manual.

## Sources & further reading

- Book information: [Fantastic Fiction series record](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/christopher-moore/dirty-job.htm)
- Reading sample: [Authorized Chapter One excerpt at AbeBooks](https://www.abebooks.com/9780060590277/Dirty-Job-Novel-Moore-Christopher-0060590270/plp)
- Book information: [Indigo paperback record](https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/a-dirty-job-a-novel/9780060590284.html)
- Review: [Bookreporter review](https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/a-dirty-job)
- Book information: [Audiobooks.com unabridged recording](https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/dirty-job/231154)