I have genuinely loved every Moore book I have read, but this novel was missing a certain something. It started out promisingly enough: A whale researcher is treated to the puzzling sight of the words “Bite Me” clearly printed on the flukes of a diving whale he is photographing. But the follow-through gets a little messy and, quite frankly, strains even my very elastic suspension of disbelief. (I won’t go into details, lest I spoil it for someone.) I quite enjoyed some of the high theory of the book – ancient war between genes and memes, themes of early life being akin to God, the spirituality of whales – but Moore didn’t seem to completely follow through on any of these interesting ideas. All in all, a promising story that left me feeling a little unsatisfied.

It was okay, but I really had to slog through it at times. Too much scientific stuff and not enough funny stuff. I’d suggest any of his other books before tackling this one. I had such high hopes, because I’m a total Christopher Moore fanatic, and what’s not to love about a whale with “BITE ME” written on it’s fluke? Ah well, even the great writers have a semi-dud once in a while. On to the next Christopher Moore book (I’m actually in the middle of Bloodsucking Fiends right now, and enjoying it).

A gift from a friend.

The beginning was funny, very funny, in typical Moore fashion…
Somewhere after Nate gets eaten by a whale the humour sort of drags… the way my writing does when I realise I have more gags I wanted to get in but not enough story… it’s a good read, but not one of his best.

I’ve read two of Moore’s books prior to this: Lamb, and Bloodsucking Fiends. Loved the first, really didn’t like the last.

This one is falling somewhere in the middle so far.

Finished: Not bad. I laughed out loud several times. Still doesn’t measure up to Lamb.