Island of the Sequined Love Nun

Infobox Book |
name = Island of the Sequined Love Nun
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = American paperback cover (Perennial)
author = Christopher Moore
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Romance, Comedy
publisher = Avon
release_date = 1997
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 325 pp.
isbn = ISBN 0-06-073544-9
preceded_by = Bloodsucking Fiends
followed_by = The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

"Island of the Sequined Love Nun" (ISBN 0-06-073544-9) is the fourth novel by absurdist author Christopher Moore, published in 1997. It is based partly on the author's own personal experiences in Micronesia.

Plot

The main character, Tuck (Tucker Case), a pilot for a cosmetics company, crashes the company plane while making love. Although this event causes Tuck to be blacklisted from flying in the States, he receives and accepts a lucrative offer from a doctor-missionary on a remote Micronesian island to transport cargo to and from Japan. Along with a male Filipino transvestite navigator and a talking fruit bat, Tuck moves to the island, where he eventually uncovers a horrible secret harbored by the doctor and his wife, who have taken advantage of fact that the natives of the island have fallen under the influence of a cargo cult that developed as a result of establishment by Allies of an air runway there during World War II. Tuck's shock at the gruesome immorality of the situation leads to a tremendously adventurous and suspenseful climax.

Literary allusions

In chapter 8, "The Humiliation of the Pilot As a Passenger," Moore alludes to the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Tuck is the heir to the Denmark Silverware Corporation, much like Hamlet being the prince. Later Tuck's mother marries his uncle after her husband has a not so accidental riding accident resulting in his death. Tuck is then summoned by a past girlfriend named Zoophilia (similar to Ophelia). While approaching the house in a blind rage he runs over Zoophilia's father. Zoophilia meets her demise with a handful Prozac and a mouthful of water as she drowns in a hot tub, grief stricken. Before Tuck leaves he is threatened by Zoophilia's brother.

Trivia

*The characters of Tuck and Roberto (the talking fruit bat) return in the author's later novel, "The Stupidest Angel".
*Moore borrowed the title of one of the chapters of the novel from a short story he had written in 1987, [http://old.chrismoore.com/fishnet.html "Our Lady of the Fishnet Stockings"]

External links

* [http://chrismoore.com/love_nun.html Author's webpage for "Island of the Sequined Love Nun] "