Ever Wonder About "The Sex Lives of Cannibals"?

After reading this book about the island nation of Kiribati, I was sort of tempted to list it as "A Place to Avoid Going to if You Can". But, it just seemed sort of like kicking an injured kitten. Hardly sporting, and does it really deserve that kind of treatment? Nah!

Like many people, I have this image of a South Seas paradise. Tropical breezes, surf, palm trees, white sand beaches, vibrant turquoise and green, pineapples and coconut. I know I've been paying too much attention to travel advertisements, but I'm sure you have some of the same images come to mind when you think of that region.

I even planned on running away there myself a couple years ago when I had the sergeant from hell as my old boss. (If there is any justice, there's a special place in the eighth circle of hell for him in the afterlife....but I digress.) J Maarten Troost actually did leave everything behind to follow his then-girlfriend to the remote South Pacific nation.

Kiribati, specifically Tarawa, where the author lived, has the turquoise seas and white sand. It's got wreckage left over from a bitterly fought World War II battle still lying around.

But it's also got a disposable diaper problem, erratic beer and food replenishment, and during the time that Troost lived there, a horrible fascination with "La Macarena". Not to mention,"As far as I could tell, the government spends a lot of time drinking and brawling. No workshop on global climate change is complete until the assistant secretary of the environment has passed out in a pool of beer barf ..."

The book itself is a hell of a vicarious adventure. If nothing else, you'll learn what to bring and what to leave home if you ever do run away to a remote island. Check it out sometime!