Fluke audiobook

If there weren´t the humor and clever writing style, I would have given this a 3 because of the loveless ending and the whole thing feeling kind of constructed and unmotivated, as if Moore just wanted to write another novel with innuendos and social criticism without much caring about the quality. It had its moment, it´s more easy fun than real fantasy comedy, but Moore can do so much better than that. There is the criticism too, environmental topics are of course important, but because it´s mixed in a somewhat lukewarm mix of style elements and genre games, it didn´t really convince me. Moore writes in different styles, his novels have extreme differences in quality and depth, but this hybrid just doesn´t spark the reading pleasure one could wish for.With a normal satirical, or pure comedic fantasy, setting, this could have really been something, but so it´s just showing that experiments don´t always work well. It´s a pity, because environmentalism is a very important topic, and Moore could have made it a hit as big as Lamb or a Dirty job, but so it stays far behind its true potential.I am sure that some might still fight it highly entertaining, if one doesn´t know the other works for comparison or in general doesn´t read that much comedy and satire, it´s hilarious, but I have sadly become a bit snobbish after having devoured so many genre pearls.Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

After completing Fluke, I started to envision this fantasy scenario on how the novel came to be...Book Publisher: Thank you for coming in today, Mr. Moore. I wanted to discuss the manuscript you sent us.Christopher Moore: Yes, of course. The Song Cycles and Migratory Habits of Whales. Did you like it?BP: Well, liking it isn't really the point. It's about whales.CM: And?BP. No. I mean...It's really about whales. It's non fiction. Unfunny non-fiction.CM: But that's my point! Everybody expects me to be funny all the time. I'm so funny people do not realize how much research I do on my topics. I have a serious side. I want to inform, to research, to make a serious contribution to society!BP. But...your contract specifies a novel... a funny novel. I'm not sure people are ready for Christopher Moore the oceanographer. Isn't there some way you can change it. Put in a plot? Make it funny? Perhaps add a Rastafarian wanna-be and a crazy lady millionaire?CM: I'll see what I can do.Three weeks later:BP: I just read your new draft. I'm glad you changed the title. I must say it is really funny. CM: So what did you like about it?BP: I loved the Rastafarian wanna-be. And I loved the sci-fi elements. That's a little different than your previous works. I have to hand it to you. I not only laughed a lot but I learned a lot about whales. Your research really is impressive.CM: Thank you.BP: And I loved that gotcha moment at the beginning where the marine biologist sees "Bite Me" written on the tail of the whale.CM: I'm glad, because you were my inspiration for that part.BP. Why, Than...Oh.CM: Now, lets talk about my new manuscript that I sent you recently. A Concise History of European Impressionist Artists and Their ModelsBP: Uh...Yeah...I wanted to talk to you about that...

In late May, a young, curious humpback whale swam down the St-Lawrence River all the way to the Montreal Old Port. She was by herself, exploring and frolicking, jumping around in that majestic and graceful way those amazing animals do. Humpback aren't fresh water whales, she shouldn't have been so far down the river in the first place, but she showed no sign of distress. But at some point between Sunday, when she was last seen swimming, and Tuesday morning, she died. I am completely devastated that this adventurous and playful creature didn't manage to get back to her natural habitat safely.---Humpback whales are my favorite animal. I’ve always been fascinated by all whales, but humpbacks have a majestic and monumental grace that inexplicably moves me to tears. Just watching a National Geographic documentary about them gives me a lump in my throat, and their haunting songs makes me shiver.When I heard that Christopher Moore had a book featuring a lot of humpbacks and people trying to figure out why they sing, I immediately wanted to read it. Of all the Moore books I have read (and I have read almost all of them), this is the one that strikes me as the most Vonnegut-esque. It’s funny, philosophical, entertaining, instructive and to be frank, kind of a brain-fuck. But the good type of brain-fuck, where you finish the book and think: “WTF was that?! Let’s do it again!”.Nate has been studying whales (i.e. poking them with sticks) for a long time. He’s seen it all and got a bit cynical because so far, the only thing he knows with absolute certainty is that whales are big and wet. Then one day, he sees a humpback whale with the words “Bite me” written on its fluke. His research team thinks he’s hallucinating, but Nate is determined to find that whale. He just might end up finding a lot more than he bargained for in the process… Nate is a great character, driven and passionate about what he does – and Canadian! His side-kicks are wonderful Moore creations: Clay the loyal boat guy, Amy the tiny Goth girl and Kona, the white Rastafarian. All unique, quirky, endearing and hilarious.Moore obviously did a lot of research for this book. You will actually learn some science if you read this, which is not exactly what you’d expect from a comedic novel, but there you have it. He is obviously very passionate about his topic, he wants his readers to be just as passionate as he is, and he manages to pull that off without being preachy or pompous. Even when the story takes a zany turn into sci-fi, his world-building remains tight, concise and very creative. Moore spins one hell of a crazy yarn, but he picks up all the lose strands and ties them neatly together at the end.I recommend this book to fans of Vonnegut, Pratchett and Adams, and to anyone who loves whales and a good laugh. If you have never picked up a Christopher Moore book before, this is a great place to start!

So far, I haven't met a book by Christopher Moore that I've disliked. Or even merely had a lukewarm feeling for. Fluke is no exception. I mean, how can you not like a writer who produces such lines as "A centipede the size of a Pontiac had once lived in the bottom-right corner of the trunk but had long since moved on once he realized that no one was ever going to bother him, so he could stand up on his hind hundred feet, hiss like a pissed cat, and deliver a deadly bite to a naked foot"?Moore writes about things he cares about -- and there are hundreds of them, from people to whales to fruit bats to island paradises to conservation issues to the inevitable jerks who make life so interesting, and on and on and on. In Fluke he gives us whales and their lives, and those who study them. But rather than the predictably over-emotional, politically charged, and buzzword rhetoric that makes up 98% of Green hyperbola on the subject, Moore gives us real people studying real whales -- and the real catastrophes and downsides frequently accompanying such studies.Why do humpback whales sing? Marine biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poke, chart, record, and photograph huge, wet, marine mammals trying to find answers to that question. And then, one day, a whale lifts his tail into the air to display a cryptic message on his flukes: Bite me.The problem is that only Nate saw that message. He's beginning to wonder if Hawaii's hot sun has baked his brains a little too thoroughly. Neither his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus, nor their young research assistant, Amy, not even their other assistant, addlepated, pot-smoking, white-boy Rastafarian Kona (a.k.a. Preston Applebaum) saw it. But later, when a roll of film comes back from the film lab with the crucial frame missing, the one that shows those flukes and the message on them, and his research facility is trashed, Nate begins to think there's more to this than a mere hallucination.What can you say about this novel? Witty, irreverent, puzzling, fascinating, and surprising, Fluke is Moore at the top of his form -- and a great incentive to track down and read everything he's ever written.

Christopher Moore does it again! Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore is a very enjoyable read! I have enjoyed every Christopher Moore book that I've read. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

This is the first book I have read by Christopher Moore, and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It is about Nate Quinn, a biologist who is studying humpback whales trying to figure out the meaning of their song. Odd things start to happen, though, like finding a whale with ‘Bite Me’ painted on its tale and somebody breaking in and trashing his lab. While trying to figure out who would want to sabotage his research he starts to question how much anybody could even care about the work he has done for the last 25 years, and realizes that even if he finds the meaning in the song, nobody would ever believe him. Throw in a few near death experiences, a cast of the most eccentric and eclectic characters I’ve ever experienced, and Killer whales named Kevin, and you’ve got a spectacular book that was far more enjoyable that I had expected.

5 OoksDo you like mysteries?Do you like to laugh?Have you ever wondered why whales sing?Did you ever wish you lived in Hawaii?Did you ever wish you could see one of those white-boy poser Rastafarians get a bit of a stomping?...Hey now, don't be a hater...Moore evokes beach people and the islands in this fun and fast moving tale. It's filled with his usual wit and wacky, but lovable characters, and leavened with a bit of a message (but, not preachy).This is a book that will draw you in and leave you wanting more (no pun intended). Even though it's a mystery, it's just as good on the second reading.

Why do humpback whales sing?This is the basic theme behind the story contained in this book. I picked it up because whales are one of my favorite animals, and I have always loved listening to their singing. Also, I hadn't read a funny book in a while, and needed a break from the 'serious' stuff.I have to say it: It's a whale of a tale!The book starts out fairly normal, but then, takes a turn into the land of the zany. Really. You will have no idea what hit you. And that, truly, is the best part.It's a pretty fast-paced read, and the humor is great! I especially loved the subtle humor and the innuendo. Always fun. Author's Note (from the official site): What do most people know about whales beyond that fact that theyre big and wet? Not much, right? Well, having been a scuba diver for a long time, and lived next to the ocean for some twenty-five years, I thought, I really should learn more about these big wet things that keep swimming by. So I started learning about whales, and more important, the people whose business it is to learn about whales. Something happens when you spend any amount of time on the ocean with people who have a less than conservative view of how one should make his living: you begin to feel that adventure is its own reward. You begin to measure experience, rather than sustenance, as the goal; and you begin to get a feeling for those adventurers you left behind in your childhood: those salty rapscallions sprung from the imaginations of Jack London and Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson -- even the twisted eccentrics of Joseph Conrad and the ancient undersea beings of H.P. Lovecraft. (And you begin, too, to wish youd brought along some Dramamine.) As a writer, you get it, the same way that you got it when you were a kid, and theres not much you can do but share the adventures. So I got it, and Im passing it on to you, that "fear recalled in comfort" that is called the adventure story. Have fun. Sincerely, Christopher MooreMy Note: Save the whales! Don't allow whaling!

Whale research gone weird. I have read or listened to this book so many times I can't count them, and I still find it an entertaining and delightful read. I honestly don't know why this book never palls as so many other favourites have over the years, maybe someone can come up with a good theory. In any event, I was having a bad patch and decided to go through it all the way and in order again, and it was another wonderful ride. I've no idea if anyone else would likes it as much as I do, but I would say it is worth a try.

This is the second Christopher Moore book I've read, but it was certainly enough to get a handle on his typical plot line: Random guy gets involved in a strange situation he can't understand that relates to some type of odd deity, he falls for a very attractive girl who is involved in the weirdness, after very silly plot twists the couple find a way to "ride off into the sunset" together. While this type of explanation would usually put me off reading more of his books, his writing is done so well and the stories so inventive and hilarious that I can't help but enjoy them. This book is about hump back whale researchers living in Hawaii, and while I'm no marine biologist the facts all seemed very well researched. A group of researchers are involved in figuring out why the hump backs sing and what they may be saying to each other, which throws the head researcher into a crazy adventure he could never have imagined. The hot girl is a research student working with the team, but she turns out to be much more. The plot is just so ridiculous you can't help but feel entertained. If you're looking for something smart and funny, I would definitely recommend you give this a read.

About a third of the way through Fluke, I was sure I knew what was going on (view spoiler)[The military had to be testing out some sort of mechanical whale submarines in the waters off Maui (hide spoiler)]. Wow, was I wrong. Very, very wrong. I did not see where this was going at all -- but man did I love the ride, and the cast of characters I took it with. An excellent blend of humor, science, environmentalism, science fiction, and adventure.