If you want laugh-out-loud-funny-even-in-public-places, then reach for J. Maarten Troost and the Sex Lives of Cannibals this summer. This is not only a funny read, but an easy read and it ought to be required reading for anyone crossing cultures and moving to a country and a people not your own. Troost and his girlfriend er...wife move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific Island in the Republic of Kiribati. While his girlfriend works Troost gets caught up in all sorts of adventures and records them here for our reading pleasure and enjoyment. I spent my reading days sometimes chuckling or giggling and sometimes doubled over in laughter, but there was hardly a chapter that passed without me smiling. I think you'll smile too.
Admittedly, this is my kind of humor. The author gave me the giggles by being slightly under-stated, dry, with a sprinkle of sarcasm. When I was reading I felt like I was actually sitting on the beach with a cold drink listening to Troost tell these stories in person. Towards the end of the book he writes about his failure to get going on a novel while on the island.
"As for me, well, the book wasn't really working out. I learned that contrary to what they say, books do not write themselves. I thoroughly explored that avenue. Every day I said, All right, book, go write yourself. But the book wouldn't budge. Instead, it asked me for a story. But I didn't have a story, which, of course, is a problem when writing a novel. This setback didn't trouble me (266)."
I am glad he didn't get the novel written, but left us with this true story instead. I now look forward to reading his latest story Lost On Planet China. I suspect I'll love that one too, and I'll have it handy when I require a good laugh.
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