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Summary: I had the best time . . .
Review: . . . reading this book. I've just finished ISLAND OF THE SEQUINED LOVE NUN and THE LUST LIZARD OF MELANCHOLY COVE, too.
Christopher Moore is a New Age Hunter Thompson. Irreverent. Cheeky. Cynical. And thought-provoking.
Set in Maui, FLUKE centers around an expert whale researcher seeing the words BITE ME on the tail of a humpback whale. Of course, he was the only one who saw it and the pictures he took didn't turn out, so he has to prove to himself that he's not going crazy from too much time in a boat.
Moore has filled his book with rich characters, a plausible plot (mostly), and some really wild adventures.
Moore has many gifts, but the one that shines brightest is his skewed view of what most of us see as normal. He makes his readers pause and think: "Could this really happen?"
Enjoy!!!
Rating:
Summary: "deep" humor
Review: Christopher Moore has this indescribeable subversive humor that is so sly you might miss it as you read through his prose. If you're fascinated by marine biology or even if you're just up for a great imaginative story about truth being stranger than fiction this book is for you. The plot (if you can call it that) revolves around Nathan Quinn, marine biologist extraordinaire who has been tracing humpback whales around Hawaii. He is determined to understand their language - their wailing or whaling. One day - one fluke (the farthest horizontal tail fin of a whale) has the words "bite me" written on it. Other incredulous events lead them to believe their research is being impaired by other professionals jealous of their work. Yada yada yada they end up off the coast of Chile.
To provide snippets of the story would undermine the sarcasm and un"fathomable" wit. But this book is just what I needed. A descriptive, sardonic but fascinating read. Highly recommended read.
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Summary: Audio version
Review: I enjoyed this audio version of Fluke.... At first I found the cadence of Bill Irwin a little odd in that he sometimes inserts pauses at unexpected places. It didn't take long to appreciate the effect, however. He does well with making the characters discernable; although, his Rasta guy sounds just like his Irish gal and his Greek guy. It's not an iritation though. His performance enhanced the story.
By the way, this is my first book by Christopher Moore & I'm hooked. I loved and related to all the characters - esp. Kona the faux Hawaiian. The strange twists in this story are the kind of thing where you love 'em or hate 'em, I guess. I won't ruin it for you other readers/listeners by going too much into the story. My favorite line was ...it felt like he had to pee really badly from his eyes....
I'd recommend this audio book to anyone who enjoys a good, intelligent laugh generated by deep set of great characters.
Rating:
Summary: Very good "fluffy" read
Review: I picked this book up not knowing at all what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it starts out completely normal and then somehow descends into the absurd (come on, Mr. Moore...Gooville? Couldn't you have come up with something a little less childlike?), but the absurd was surprisingly captivating. I actually wanted to know why these people were living in Gooville and what it was all about. I would recommend this to people who are up for a little science fiction, but if you like books that stick within the realm of the possible or even plausible, it's not for you.
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Summary: The most twisted Moore yet!
Review: I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of "Fluke" about a month ago (which is a big deal to me, since I'm a huge fan of the author guy!) and I had a blast reading it! I know this review is written the day after it's official release, so I'll avoid spoilers. I will say that while I don't think this was Mr. Moore's laugh-out-loud funniest book, it definitely is his most ambitious and creative. Some people may argue that "LAMB" falls into that category, but I think "Fluke" has "LAMB" beat there. Once again the research that went into this novel was well worth the time and effort, as it was with his other books, especially "LAMB" and "Love Nun". As to be expected from Moore, this book is filled with crazy characters and hillarious dialogue. There are three main parts to this book. Each part is completely different from the last, each part is better than the last and each part gets much weirder and more bizzare than the last. By the time I was finished this one, I felt like I was whacked on the side of the head by a giant fluke, and I'm ready to take the ride again!
Rating:
Summary: Love this book
Review: I've now read three of Moore's books - The Stupidest Angel, Lamb, and Fluke, and I've loved all of them. Lamb was easily the best and gets five stars. However, Fluke was really wonderful as well. I'm not sure what the "dissapointment" reviews are about, because I haven't read his earlier works, but so far, I'm absolutely sold on his books. I'm trying not to read all of them at once, because I don't want to end up with no more Moore books to read, but I'm tempted to just go buy all of the rest right now. He's right up there with Tom Robbins for me, which is saying quite a lot. Go read and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: My apologies to Chris
Review: It was hard for me to hit the 3 instead of the 5 stars for a Christopher Moore book. It's never happened before. I feel like I'm deserting my best friend. I've thrown in Moore's name into my reviews of other authors just to get his name out there.
While there were characters that I loved in this book...Nathan,
Amy, and especially Kona, the Rastaman...I just was not as captivated by this book as all his others. And believe me, I have been captivated!
While we all suspend reality when we read his novels, this one just went a touch too far. I'm sorry, just the word "Gooville" belongs in a Sesame Street adventure. I appreciated the information learned about whale hunting and the scientific work that whale researchers do. However, it was not enough to "float my boat."
If you are new to Christopher Moore, please read any of his others first. Laugh and weep. They are exquisite.
Rating:
Summary: A Big Comeback by Moore
Review: Lamb is a superior book. The Sequined Nun is an inferior book. In Fluke, Christopher makes a comeback with a very funny book that is also a very good book.
In Lamb and Fluke, Moore's outlandish humor takes a backseat to the quality of the novel (I thought Sequined was written for the whackiness rather than any plot). He has two main heros and a few sidekicks who are all terrific characters - each with their own quirks (of course) and qualities. In each is a major component of reality which actually makes them believeable. They may be extreme, but everyone has met at least one person like each of them - though usually not all in one setting.
The setting here is the whale research community in Hawaii. Mr. Moore includes interesting (true) information about whales in the telling of a story that at different times reads as an adventure novel, a mystery, a sci-fi fantasy, a conservationist tome and an evolution debate. Obviously there is much more in this novel than just whackiness and humor.
Humor is still also a significant part of the book. If you can't laugh at the white Rastaferean from New Jersey, there may not be a character in literature at whom you can laugh.
This is a fun read that is also worthwhile for the information it provides and is also thought-provoking on a few levels - evolution and conservation among them. Read it, enjoy it and laugh at an extremely funny book that has redeeming value beyond the guffaws.
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Summary: Another great one from Christopher Moore.
Review: So let me preface this with this: I try and squeeze in reading when I can, and whenever you read in public, someone is always bound to ask "Hey, whatcha reading?" In this case, I honestly had no idea where to begin. "It's a book about humanoid whaley boys and what they can do with their prehensile members!" Security is called and I am promptly asked to go enjoy my book elsewhere. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I believe it's Moore's most creative work to date. I always enjoy his characters, so not much difference there. I was actually worried about Fluke, thinking "How is whale research going to translate into a Moore story?" At first, I was sure that it would be nice, but Lamb would still be my favorite, but after finishing it, I'm not quite so sure. As mentioned by another reviewer, almost all of his books stand out in some way or another as a favorite. For fans of Lamb and other Moore works, you won't be disappointed. Meep!
Rating:
Summary: A very pleasant surprise
Review: The only other book of Moore's I read before "Fluke" was "Demonkeeping for Beginners", which, while amusing, was pretty lightweight. I wasn't expecting much from "Fluke", and was very surprised to find thet Moore had written a comic novel with real characters, a great plot, and a bit of real whale science tossed in as well. "Fluke" begins with the photographing of a somehwat anomolous whale by a researcher- it's like most other whales except it has "BITE ME" printed on its tail. When he gets his film back from the lab, someone has cut out the frame with the picture. Then his labe is broken into and all his records stolen. A drunken coral fisherman reports wraiths on his boat. A batty old lady tells him the whales want a pastrami sandwich. And then things start to get weird. Really weird. Is it the military? A slightly evil promoter of dolphin tours? Aliens? You'll never guess, but you will have a wonderful time reading this book, laughing out loud at times and, oddly enough, learning a lot about whales, too.
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