#8 THE SEX LIFE OF CANNIBALS: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

#8 THE SEX LIFE OF CANNIBALS: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
by J. Maarten Troost
Date Began: February 12, 2004
Date Finished: February 14, 2004
Rating 10/10
Date Published 2004
Genre: Non-fiction/Travel Essays
Time/Place: 1990s Tarawa/Kiribas islands in the Pacific
Characters: Maarten and his girlfriend Sylvia as well as many islanders
# of Pages: 272
Where did the book come from: Recent purchase
Reason for reading the book: I had picked this up thinking my husband would like it and started reading it and was totally engrossed.
Brief Blurb: Maarten and Sylvia have no idea what they’re getting themselves into when Sylvia agrees to a two-year contact to work on Tarawa, a remote island in the equatorial Pacific.

My comments: This was LOL funny in so many places! Maarten’s turn of a phrase is so clever that he makes one laugh in the face of a nearly intolerable situation living on this remote island – part of which is so crowded it rivals Hong Kong in population density. The 20th century wasn’t kind to these islanders. Their unique culture juxtaposed with the creations of the 20th century is very nearly ruining their culture. But Troost is able to find nearly everything funny (even though one wonders if he it was that funny at the moment) including the bowel habits of the natives. On the back of the book in Maarten’s brief bio, it is revealed that he and is wife are living in California. One can only hope that he is becoming the writer for a sit-com. He makes other authors of humor/travel memoir seem dull in comparison. If I would compare him to anyone it would be Erma Bombeck—the way he is able to find hilarity in even the most mundane things.