The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

2003 • 272 pages

Ratings13

Average rating3.5

15

Oh boy, I did not like this book. First, the title - which almost put me off from reading the book entirely - and was weirdly never addressed in the book itself, but instead seemed like a catchy title cooked up by a publisher who thought it would sell. Which really reflects how weirdly tone-deaf this book can be. Although Troost provides a portrait of a place very few people have written about, and at times can be insightful about the challenges that Pacific nations like Kiribati face, his description of the nation and its residents is ultimately one-dimensional, and his tales of personal suffering as the husband of a foreign aid-worker getting by in this place seemed... insensitive.

April 20, 2018Report this review