The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific | 
|  | | | Title: | The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific | | Author: | J. Maarten Troost | | Publisher: | Broadway | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 08 June, 2004 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0767915305 / 9780767915304 | | List Price: | $12.95 | | You Save: | $2.59 | | Amazon Price: | $10.36 | |
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Product Description
At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost—who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs—decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals tells the hilarious story of what happens when Troost discovers that Tarawa is not the island paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles through relentless, stifling heat, a variety of deadly bacteria, polluted seas, toxic fish—all in a country where the only music to be heard for miles around is “La Macarena.” He and his stalwart girlfriend Sylvia spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life).
With The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Maarten Troost has delivered one of the most original, rip-roaringly funny travelogues in years—one that will leave you thankful for staples of American civilization such as coffee, regular showers, and tabloid news, and that will provide the ultimate vicarious adventure.
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Customer Reviews:
• Alternate Title: Funny Stories From Life As An Ex-pat On A Tiny Pacific Island 13 May, 2008
Having finished graduate studies in International Relations, Troost (he's Dutch) finds himself unclear on the next career step, so he accompanies his girlfriend who takes a job as an aid worker in Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas), where he tries to write a novel and has funny experiences.
Troost is funny, sarcastic, and self-deprecating. I enjoyed much of the book. If I were reading the stories periodically (e.g., on a blog or in an occasional email), I would have found it even more funny, but in rapid sequence the style got tiresome (especially in the middle of the book). At times the humor felt unpleasantly smug (although I give him credit for being as deprecating to himself as to others).
He also sheds some light on a part of the world that I know very little about: life on a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific? It's a whole different world, one very different from other poor countries. When he includes history, he succeeds in making it entertaining. Ultimately, though, most of the book felt like a trifle: I enjoyed it on net but considered stopping halfway and am not rushing out to read his two more recent books (about life in Vanuatu and travels in China). Sort of like he says himself: "I like my entertainment not too serious, not too stupid, sort of like this book" (p84).
I listened to the unabridged audiobook narrated by Simon Vance (British accent) and published by Blackstone Audio (7 CDs). The narration was good.
[Note on content: This book is not about anyone's sex life, has very little sexual content, very little violence, but a significant amount of strong language.]
- Reviewed by customer ID: AYFNOHE3IQQ4G
• Will Add Sunshine To Your Day...without All The Heat 13 May, 2008
It's rare to find a book that is so amusing you're giggling every chapter or so. This is one of those books. The title is ridiculous, as the book has nothing at all to do with the sex lives of cannibals. This is the adventures of Troost and his girlfriend who go to live on the atoll Tarawa in the Pacific. He tells of his adventures--fishing for shark, boogie boarding on 25ft waves, trying to find fresh water to drink and preserving each drop, looking for something other than fish to eat. He tells of his thoughts--comparing this life (which is desolate to the nth degree) to that of Europe (his native land) and the U.S. Not only funny, but insightful. I hated for their journey--this book-- to end.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2U65YEK69U1PI
• Disillusioning Experiences In Paradise 11 May, 2008
Funny story that really isn't about the sex lives of cannibals, although a bit of the sex lives of the Kiribati who live on Tarawa does play into this goofy first-hand account of a man and his, ahem, "wife" (girlfriend) who spent two years there. While the author is annoyingly and self-consciously cute and flippant as a post-graduate slacker in Washington, DC, he becomes more likable and funny as an out-of-place unemployed author, ahem, "slacker" in Tarawa, where it easy to laugh and feel sympathetic as he describes his experience of trying to swim back to the reef which locals are using as a very public outhouse. Or his other disillusioning experiences in Tarawa.
Pair this with Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before to complete your world-tour of South Pacific disillusionment.
Troost also wrote a sequel that didn't quite live up to Sex Lives for me: Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu.
And if you are interested in more historical background on Tarawa, Homer Hickam (yes, the October Sky guy) has written a World War II historical novel based on the action there that is a nice companion as well: The Far Reaches (Josh Thurlow Series #1)
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2G3U6AM951P6D
• Bad Title, Wonderful Book 08 May, 2008
The title led me to believe this book would concern the exploits of a drunken fraternity boy. I almost put the book aside without reading it, but you can't tell a book by . . . well, you know.
Luckily, I read the first few pages. I got hooked. It turns out the narrator is an intelligent, literate, self-deprecating observer of his own culture shock as he and his wife immerse themselves into a world quite different from our own. "Sex Lives" is a great read--well written and informative.
By the way, the only cannibals on Tarawa are the dogs. When the local residents aren't hunting them for food, they are hunting each other. Life is hard on Tarawa. It is also surprising and funny.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1B2T9LI5KWT8P
• See Hilarious And Poignant... Scroll Down... 14 July, 2008
Fun read, a little repetitious but he made the point, unfortunately points out that tropical bliss has its significant drawbacks; love the writing style - tongue-in-cheek, irreverent.
Will definitely search out other books by this author.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2CWDNDDJKC4L2
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