The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

By: J. Maarten Troost

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

At age 26, Maarten Troost decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to a remote South Pacific island. The idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. But he should have known better.

This is the hilarious story of what happens when he discovers that the island is not the paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles with stifling heat, deadly bacteria, polluted seas, and toxic fish, in a country where the only music to be heard is "La Macarena". He and his stalwart girlfriend, Sylvia, contend with alarmingly large critters, a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis), and such bizarre local characters as "Half-Dead Fred" and the Poet Laureate of Tarawa, a British drunkard who's never written a poem in his life.

©2004 J. Maarten Troost (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"A comic masterwork of travel writing." (Publishers Weekly)
"Troost has a command of place and narrative that puts his debut in company with some of today's best travel writers." (Elle)
"A delightful, self-depreciating, extremely sly account of life in a place so wretched it gives new, terrible meaning to getting away from it all." (National Geographic Adventure)

All Cannibals - No Sex

The Title of this book was obviously selected by the publisher to generate more interest, but nonetheless it doesn't diminish the fact that it's terribly entertaining and funny. The "Cannibals" in the title doesn't refer to the native islanders but rather to the American author and his girlfriend. For some reason the children of the island appear to be undully afraid of the new strangers. The author later finds out it's because the natives tell their children if they don't behave, the foreigners will eat them.

JUST THE BOOST NEEDED DURING COVID

GREAT MEDICINE FOR COBID ISOLATION BLUES. FOUND THE NARRATOR’S BRITISH ACCENT A BUT OFF-PUTTING BUT CONSIDERING THE AUTHOR’S MULTINATIONAL UPBRINGING WHAT ACCENT WIULD ONE EXPECT. MY DAUGHTER IN AUSTRALIA AND IN QUARANTINE CHOSE THIS BOOK AT THE SAME TIME I DID IN TEXAS .
FUN PROSE AND THOUGHT PROVOKING.
ENJOY!

absolutely hilarious

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for something that will satisfy both male and female listeners - this is it. Keeps you laughing.

Hilarious!

I laughed out loud several times. This hilarious book was well worth the credit!

" not too dumb not too serious "

just as the author intended I laughed and was touched and have read it several times

Adventurous, educational, and funny!

This book is exactly what I love to read and beyond! I love how the true world past and present is presented. Witty, exciting, educational. I am so happy the author was able to get over his writers block and share his (and others) experiences. :) the narrator reads as if he wrote it!! A great narrator indeed!!
I will be looking for more books by this author as well as the narrator!

Great book on Kiribati in the late 90s-early 00s

This was a great book relating to the authors' experiences on Kiribati approximately 20 years ago. It really puts the plight of many small island nations into perspective. and it was really fun listening to the book!

Fantastic

This was my first audible book and I loved it. The visual descriptions were fantastic, it made me laugh out loud. I was so into it I listened even when I wasn't in the car! The narrator was great and easy to hear and understand. There weren't a lot of voices or accents which I appreciated.

Very funny! I recommend it

The narrator was fantastic and the author has a great sense of humor! A bit of history about Pacific atolls as we!l!

wrong narrator?

narration didn't seem to align with author in terms of age. [narration didn't seem to align with author in terms of age.]