The Sex Lives of Cannibals - J Maarten Troost

I can't remember the last time I read a non-fiction book that wasn't some sort of textbook.  I, by nature, am not a non-fiction person.  I live for fiction.  I believe that fiction is worth so much more than people give it credit for.  I even have a tattoo that says "Fiction is the truth inside the lie."  I am seriously all about the fiction.   Now I did not choose to read this out of the want to build character or expand my reading comfort zone.  I actually read this by accident.  I brought this with me to read at my office a few months ago when we had some downtime and on my breaks and lunch.  My mom sent this book to me after she read it and she really liked it.  I didn't look at the book in too much detail before selecting it.  It was a relatively small book, only 272 pages and was a paperback.  Easily transportable I figured.  However, once I started reading it, and discovered that it was a non fiction account of some guy and his wife living on a tropical island, I became quickly uninterested. 

The book stayed at work for no real reason other than I kept forgetting to put it back in my bag to bring home.  It sat on a shelf at my desk for a few months until one day last week when I had some time between meetings and I needed something that would help me kill time.  It was more out of necessity and boredom than anything else, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.  It was enjoyable enough that I'm considering putting the sequel (of sorts) on my to-read list.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals is the account of the two years J Maarten Troost and his girlfriend, Sylvia, spent living on a remote island in the South Pacific.  Sylvia was placed there for a job and Troost seemed to just tag along.  There isn't any real plot that carries the novel, just the chronological order of events that took place over the 2 years they spent on the island.  Where this book shines is the humor with which these scenarios play out. 

I have never been a fan of the tropical climes and after reading this book, I'm 500% sure I have no desire to be anywhere near the equator.  Troost is an excellent storyteller and I found myself flipping pages quite quickly to see what the next situation would bring.  As the book progresses, the reader can definately sense how Troost adjusts to island living.  My favorite part of this book was the matter of fact way that Troost recounts the events that happened.  I never got the sense that Troost thought he was better than the native people.  The chapters seemed to go:

1: this is a thing that happened

2: I was a bit confused

3: someone explained it to me

4: ah, i get it now

There were, of course, some comparisons to life back in America, but they became few and far between as the book progressed.

The only part I didn’t like about the book was when Troost went into the history of the island.  Now, I completely understand that this is 100% my personal preference.  I understand why the history was there.  I thought it did enhance the story and deepen the narrative, but I just didn't want to get away from the action of the story to delve into the history.  I would have preferred a bit less historical background, but I think that I wouldn't have this opinion if non-fiction was my go-to genre.  In any case, I skimmed most of the historical parts of the book and then continued on my way.

In the end, I thought this was a fun and quick read and it made me think about some of the everyday luxuries that we in the developed world take for granted.  I don't think I could ever do what Troost did, but I'm glad he took the time to write about it.