Fluke

Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

By: Christopher Moore

Narrated by: Bill Irwin

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals - until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite Me.

Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too much time in the sun. 'Cause no one else on his team saw a thing - not his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (aka Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot - and his research facility is trashed - Nate realizes something very fishy indeed is going on.

By turns witty, irreverent, fascinating, puzzling, and surprising, Fluke is Christopher Moore at his outrageous best.

©2003 Christopher Moore (P)2006 HarperAudio

Critic reviews

"This amusing pastiche cobbles together elements from all the classic sea yarns: from 'Jonah and the Whale' to Moby Dick to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." (Booklist)

Meaningful, funny and full of surprises

It will open your mind and heart while you laugh. a worthy deep dive.

second listen, such fun!

clever dialog, narrator brings characters to life. I had listened to this story years ago. It gets better each time.

Hard start, great book

It took me a few times to get started with this one, but once I got past the initial couple of chapters and things started to really move, it turned out to be a really funny, entertaining and inspirational book. highly recommend it.

They're Big & Wet. What Else do You Want to Know?

"Fluke" is a wonderfully fascinating tale that is only made better by the narrator. Great voices. His overall sound is Henry Fonda-ish. If you don't you love humpies before "Fluke" you will after hearing Kona's childlike wonder.

Terrible narrator, interesting story

The narrator seemed bored and barely differentiated between characters other than kona. Most of Moores books have great narrators and I've really enjoyed them but this one fell a bit flat for me due to the lackluster performance. Still rating it higher because Moore is a fun author and the book is good but the delivery really hurt it.

Best way to ruin a good book.

Okay, I want to make it clear that this book is one of Moore’s best. I LOVED IT. However, and it’s a big however, I didn’t love the narrator. OMG! (As Abby Normal would say). Bill Irwin (Please forgive me Bill) is as dry and unexciting as, well, the most dry and unexciting thing you can think of.
Irwin just kills this book. I thought I saw Fisher Stevens attached to this audio book on Amazon. What happened? My advice is to get this book on disc at Amazon with Fisher Stevens. What a shame.

Please..., a better reader next time

I had the misfortune of selecting, as my first Christopher Moore book, A Dirty Job. I say "the misfortune" because that book is narrated by Fisher Stevens and he does such a wonderful job that any other reader was bound to suffer by comparison. My second Christopher Moore book was Bloodsucking Fiends, and that book, although not as well read, was also truly enjoyable. It led me to the mistake of buying this book without first listening to the sample.

I have now tried to listen to this book 3 times. Each time I have gotten a little bit further and will probably try again later, but this last time I only got past the first 30 minutes before giving up. It is not that the book is not well written. I am hear passages that ought to have me laughing out loud, but the reading is so flat that it passes, for me, without the laugh it deserves. Others apparently feel differently, but I would strongly suggest that people listen to the sample before downloading the book.

I gave it 3 stars because it is typical Christopher Moore, but it deserved a better reader (and, with it, more stars).

A fun reading experience...

I liked this book a lot. I am a Christopher Moore fan, so I enjoy his unique style and wit. Although this one did have as many "laugh out loud" moments as some of his others, it still had the rich variety of characters and humor. I will recall this story each time I hear the word "goo." Compared to his other books, I think this has been my favorite. I read for many different reasons and when it is just for something light and fun, I can always count on Moore to exceed my expectations in those areas.
The narration was well done. I did not have trouble with tone or the character voices. It was easy to listen. This is not the type of book if you are looking for something serious, but it is a wonderful way to add some fun to a drive.

What a ride!

Usually not a fantasy buff, a friend recommended the book after noticing I was a Pacific Whale Foundation member (save the whale bumper sticker). What fun! Interesting and timely characters. Hawaiian and Carribean accents from the narrator made the story come alive. Although not believable, it was good fodder for a daydream!

Excellent

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fun! The reader was excellent and the story line humorous as well as intriguing. By coincidence there was story on the front page of the newspaper today--a stringy goo-substance was discovered floating for miles in the Chukchi Sea. Scientists state it is organic and not from an oil spill. I wonder what the results will be if the whales feeding up here encounter it...... Also enjoyed the author's notes at the end of the book.