The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, a novel by Gideon DeFoe (2004), 126 tiny pages
The book recounts one in a series of adventures undertaken by a hapless crew of pirates; this time, they encounter Charles Darwin and the Beagle in the Galapagos Islands. Most of the action takes place in London, though. Although the book continuously references the pirates’ previous adventures, this is the first book in the series.
I could never quite decide what to make of this tiny book. I picked it up without any previous knowledge of the book or the author. I did not read the inside flap before diving in.
Clearly, it’s intended to be humorous (and it is). I couldn’t decide if it was intended as children’s book or not, but in the end I think not. In the end, I found this book mainly to be brief, funny diversion.
What I most appreciated about this book is its postmodern disregard for past and present, as well as the pirates’ titles (they don’t have names), including the pirate with the scarf, the diffident pirate, and the surly pirate who was dressed in red, not to mention the Pirate Captain.
The author’s website (his blog hasn’t been posted to since May, which is why I’m not linking to it).
I can’t believe I’ve got this far without reading this book! I know some of my friends have this laying around their house – I’ll have to see if they’ll let me borrow it. Thanks for the review!