From amazon.com...

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, and worst of all, no television or coffee. And that’s just the first day.

Sunburned, emaciated, and stinging with sea lice, Troost spends the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options. He contends with a cast of bizarre 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), and eventually settles into the ebb and flow of island life, just before his return to the culture shock of civilization.

With the rollicking wit of Bill Bryson, the brilliant travel exposition of Paul Theroux, and a hipster edge that is entirely Troost’s own, The Sex Lives of Cannibals is the ultimate vicarious adventure. Readers may never long to set foot on Tarawa, but they’ll want to travel with Troost time and time again.

Waiting for HallieK's address...

I got this in the mail today. Looking forward to reading it! Thanks for starting this bookring!

Having seriously considered putting in for a transfer to Pago Pago when we decided to move, I completely appreciate this book and all the little idiosyncrasies that I never had to deal with. We moved to Texas instead because it's difficult to find any decent information about Pago Pago, especially about things like housing and jobs (outside of fisheries). And apparently it's difficult and insanely expensive to get off the island once you're there. Oh, but what a story! Troost is a great writer...it's like you're sitting with him and he's telling you the story. I laughed out loud numerous times. Thanks so much for starting this ring and sharing this book!

Sending this on to tuff517 at the end of this week. Enjoy!

Received this today, will start without hesitation.

Wonderful! This book made me envious. Sooo envious. I spent six months in Haiti when I was in the army and it's true that you can learn to do without many things. Humans just adapt. Of course we had many things the Haitians didn't, but not as much as we had back in the US. I would love to be able to spend a year or so on an island. I've often fantasized about joining the Peace Corp or traveling to some remote, mosquito-infested, clean water lacking, no English speaking, hut living place in the corner of the world. I think it's a desire for adventure, for removal from what sometimes is an overload of stimulation here.

The book was great. I even enjoyed reading the historical bits, which usually bore me. He made great points about the lack of intelligence when thinking what would really help these types of places. His example of raising funds for AIDS when no one is doing so for dysentery was a good point. I saw this in Haiti. It helps if you explain to people that pooping in (sorry!) and drinking the same water is NOT healthy. But Troost even made the bad parts sound good. Sending this off to Sheri5762 tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!

Rec'd in the mail today! Will get to it soon.

THis book was OK. My first comment is about the title, there was pretty much no sex and I don't remember any cannibals at all. They were not adrift in the Pacific, but firmly ensconced on an island. The back cover describes the story as hilarious and rip-roaringly funny. Not true in my opinion. There were parts that were amusing, once or twice I laughed, but the rest was just interesting. Some parts had too much historical analogy, but once you figured out where he was going with it, it all made sense. I liked the ending, even though it seemed a little cliche, maybe? Over all I liked it and would recommend it to others. Thanks gaysocialworker for letting me read it! Will send it along asap.

Arrived in the mail - 1 bookray ahead of it.

20 March '05 - I really enjoyed this - thanks for sharing! I also had semi-serious, "Hmmmm, that would be nice to do for a few years" thoughts after I was finished reading this, but I'll leave those ambitions for after retirement, I think. The analyses of foreign aid organizations were interesting; I lived in Africa for a while and saw some aid groups who really *were* helping, but lots that were seriously drifting. Well, you can see that anywhere - maybe it is just more obvious in a remote location, where the community is more restricted.

Oh, just wanted to add - I think the "Adrift" part of the title is maybe spiritually/mentally adrift, not physically drifting.

26 March '05 - mailed to SCOUT-FINCH

I love reading travel narratives, and the more obscure the better, so Tarawa, a remote South Pacific Island in the Republic of Kiribati fits the bill!
Am finishing up one BookRay book and then will jump into this.

No sex (of the two-legged variety, though there are descriptions of Mama Dog and how she came to be called Mama..again and again...) and definitely no cannibals - the book title had me skulking around the house trying to shield my 8 year old from it..but the little sneak saw it anyway..sigh...
I really enjoyed this book a lot..I see that several of the previous posters have lived in less developed places than I (Haiti, Africa)..I guess Hollywood, Ca. doesn't count. Rough, definitely, but no bodies of water to poop in, fewer obscure diseases (this is Hollywood vs. Kiribati I'm comparing here)..this def. fit the bill of remote, obscure places so my travel narrative mania has been quelled for now..love to read about places like this..don't wanna visit..hey, I'm going to see if we have any BCers in Kiribati!
A note: the book is looking a bit worn - I can't blame it on humidity but the cover corners are curling up a trifle. It should probably spend an overnight under a pile of bricks or something..
Off to squirrel818 on my next PO run..

Received in the mail today. I will read it asap. Thanks!

This was such a fun book to read. I love travel stories but they always leave me wanting to fly off to some far flung place! Thanks so much for sharing this book!

RELEASE NOTES:

Received in the mail as a bookring.

I thought the book was just ok. Too many areas that were drawn out and seemed off topic at times.

There were some funny parts, but in my opinion not enough to make up for the boring parts.

Thanks for sharing.

I will get this out in the mail 5-13-05.

The book arrived safe and sound today except for the fact the first 10 pages have fallen out.

06-06-05 I enjoyed the book. It provided me with an interesting look into a completly different lifestyle. I found that there was a lot of humour in the book. It makes the idea of running off to a tropical island a little less appealing.

RELEASE NOTES:

I am sending this book on to lady-sybil who is next in the ring. I hope you enjoy it.

I received this book yesterday and has already started reding the first few chapters. So far, it is very interesting and humorous. I particularly like the way the autor loads every page with tidbits of useless information ...

Will report again when I'm done.

I really, really enjoyed reading this book! I like the author's very honest description of his own naivety and failures. He was able to see the humor in something that must have been, at times, a sweltering, stinking hell and I really appreciated that. The book was funny and informative and very readable. The synopses heading each chapter added to the overall charm. I especially enjoyed the snippets of socio-economic and historical facts that are included in the text and learned quite a bit about a place that was, for me at least, a big, blue blank on the world map.

My husband is reading it at the moment and appears to be enjoying it immensely from the number of times that I have caught him laughing out loud while reading the text (he is normally a very reserved reader). He is of the opinion that this should be prescribed reading for anyone who wants to work for an NGO or charity organization in the third world. It will save a lot of heartache and disappointment if you know what to expect and can prepare yourself psychologically.


07/15/2005: It's finally mailed back to gaysocialworker today. Sorry for the delay.

Arrived back today. Thanks to whomever reattached the loose pages! :)

Sex Lives was a hilarious romp through the travels of the writer and his spouse in the South Pacific. It really satisfied the vicarious traveler in me.

I will agree, however, that the writer's style is very wordy. And the author himself admits that he writes, in his own prose, "sentences that were approximately four pages long, describing the sad yet inevitable descent of a leaf" (p. 235).

Book will be sent to Ladyladee in Massachusetts, who accepted the book on bookrelay.com. I hope others are able to enjoy the book, as many in the ring already have.

The book has arrived safely. Ladyladee is actually my cousin, I handle all her book stuff since she doesn't have much online access. I used one of her books to get this one for me! I know I'm greedy! How could I pass up a title like this? I will journal it again once I've read it. I plan on Rabcking it to a Bcer/relayer who is always so helpful when anyone is in need.