Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (Today Show Book Club #25) | Christopher Moore

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (Today Show Book Club #25) | Christopher Moore | Another winner from Christopher Moore

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Fluke: Or, I Know ...

	Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings (Today Show Book Club #25) Christopher Moore HarperCollins, 2004 - 321 pages average customer review:based on 124 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A whale of a good book!

It's not a fluke--Moore is funny, funny, funny. My odd family and I have an odd way of rating humor in movies and books: the number of Albuterol puffs that it takes to keep you from dying of asthma because you've been laughing so hard. This book, one scene in particular, hit a new high: 5. There is one scene, and you will know it when you get there, where two cetacean researchers on a small rubber raft are assaulted by whale willies. I have never almost had to go to the ER before because something was so funny. Over the next 2 hours, I took a total of 5 puffs of albuterol, but I kept laughing again every time I thought of the scene, and that made me seize up again, which led to more albuterol, and then the dusty hair spray taste of albuterol became associated with thinking about the scene, and thinking of the scene made me laugh again, and so on.

In addition to being everyone-staring-at-you-because-you're-laughing-out-loud-but-you-can't-stop funny, this book delves into the highly competitive environment of science. Some of the reason that I laughed at some of the other places was because the seemingly bizarre nature of scientific relationships is perfectly true. You can compete like heck with some researchers, even sabotage projects, while you collaborate with their lab on other projects. It happens. It's also funny as heck to watch.

TK Kenyon
Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel

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Another winner from Christopher Moore

This was the second Moore book I read after Lamb. Again, I found myself laughing out loud and convincing others to buy the book. I love the thorough research Moore must have done on whales and marine biology to set the plot of this book. He clearly has respect for the subject matter - even if it is given an hysterically irreverent storyline. But, I think the strong point of this book is devil-may-care attitude in the writing. It is the same attitude we attribute to dolphins and whales, I suppose.

In terms of structure, I don't think this book is as intricate as Lamb but it certainly had me laughing, so I wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Fantastically flabbergasted by "Fluke" ...

If you are familiar with Moore's work, you know not to expect anything remotely resembling the mundane. In fact, that's most likely what drew you to his work in the first place ... but even the most seasoned Moore fans should be prepared to jump off the soaring tower of absurdity into the deepest bog of bedlam on this one. Nathan Quinn, the famous humpback questing biologist, has been searching for the answer to one question for nearly thirty years, "Why do the winged whales sing?" To find his answer he will have to journey deeper than ever before into the convoluted world of the cetaceous, where he will encounter man-fish who carry their coffee cups with their pliable and friendly phalluses, exquisite topless women with the breathing capacity of the elusive mermaid, and humpback whales demanding hot pastrami on rye. Sounds unlikely, yes? Doesn't matter; it works. The classic elements of Christopher Moore are still here; sarcastic wit capable of provoking ebullient fits of laughter and, tossed in with the rabid nonsensical, you will find evidence of Moore's meticulous (and characteristic) research. All in all, I felt fantastically flabbergasted by the end; but I had a terrific time trying to keep up with the master of sardonic silliness.

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Another Solid Effort

At this point there's no need for me to repeat what I've already said about Moore's work. I like it enough to have read 4 of his books in the last year, which is a testament given my preference not to read any one author - especially one I like - too frequently in any given time frame. I do this because my primary fear is finding a new author and reading everything they've written in a matter of a few months, thus eradicating years worth of writing in no time. It's also good practice to vary your reading material. Having said that, I have now read Lust Lizard, Coyote Blue, Love Nun, Bloodsucking Fiends, and Fluke in the span of a year and a half. Either I need to slow down the reading pace or Moore needs to triple his output.

This book is similar to his other works, yet different, which is just like all the other books. Got that? In Fluke, he does all the right things he did in Lust Lizard. While I think the later is still my favorite, this one comes in as a close second. While covering many of the same silly bases he does in the other books, this seems to represent a sort of maturation in his slapstick humor. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the words mature and slapstick rarely go hand in hand without a word of negation, yet Moore seems to be able to pull it off.

As you can guess from the cover, the book is about whales. If you haven't deduced that much, you'll figure it out soon enough, probably in the first or second sentence. The setting is somewhere in Hawaii, the specific cove isn't really important, other than to say that it's a vacation destination which serves as an off-season whale studying sanctuary. Thus, the entire off-season populace consists of whale lovers and locals. Nate and Clay, the professionals, are joined by Amy and Kona, the assistants. Throw in a few side characters, an old rich lady who suggests she can talk to whales via telephone, and the eternal whale question which asks, "Why do they sing?" and you have a, wait for it...whale of a story.

I'll pretend that last sentence never happened, and so should you. Moore is Moore in this book, and the story he crafts is along the lines of what he always does. There is usually some basis of contention, a few good guys, a few bad guys, and a resolution. Usually things work out in the end, and really, this is no different. How the characters get to be where they get to be, and all the other details between the covers, I leave for you to discover, if you feel so inclined. Hopefully this review points you in that direction of discovery.

If you've never read Moore before, this is as good as any to start with. It's well-written, funny, entertaining, and stands as a good example of what his work is all about. It's not a strict mystery, but it has elements of someone trying to figure out what happened. It's more of a comic social commentary than anything, where it's best to stress the comic in that notion. All in all, a very entertaining read.

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