The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab: A novel [Hardcover]

Gideon Defoe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2005

They’re back!!! The Pirate Captain and his irascible crew of scoundrels return in their soggiest saga yet.Fresh from their mishaps with Charles Darwin and the evil Bishop of Oxford, the Pirates set sail in a bouncy new vessel——purchased on credit. In order to repay his debts, the Pirate Captain is determined to capture the enigmatic White Whale, hunted by the notoriously moody Ahab, who has promised a reward.Chaos ensues, featuring the lascivious Cutlass Liz, the world’s most dangerous mosquito, an excerpt from the Pirate Captain’s novel in progress (a bodice ripper, of course), whale ventriloquism, practical lessons in whale painting, a shanty-singing contest in a Las Vegas casino, and a dra-matic climax in which the Pirate Captain’s prize ham saves the day!Move over, Herman Melville.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gideon Defoe, who lives in London, is the author of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. The pirate books are just the first stage of his plan to topple the global economy and create a glorious workers’ utopia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375423850
• ISBN-13: 978-0375423857
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.7 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #471,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable candyfloss, January 21, 2006

By 

William Whyte (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab: A novel (Hardcover)

Gideon Defoe's sequel to The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (which I haven't read). A good funny read, somewhat in the Lemony Snicket gothic vein but a bit more burlesque. The pirate captain foolishly purchases the fanciest pirate ship in the yard and as a result the pirates have to turn to increasingly desperate ways of making money such as treasure hunting, putting on a Vegas show, and actual pirating. A "Learn More About..." section in the back suggests ways you can help yourself if you, too, take on unmanageable debt. I actually liked the incidental gags more than the main humorous thrust of the book -- the map in the front showing how the whale evaded the pirates by hiding among tepees in North Dakota, the "Learn More About..." seciton, and the list in the back of 150 non-existent additional books in the series, such as The Pirates! In An Adventure with Rabbits, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Catastrophe Theory, and Back To Pirate Academy, Pirate Captain! vols 1-7.

Weirdly, this is called The Pirates! In An Adventure with Ahab in America even though the original British edition is called The Pirates! In An Adventure with Whaling. Why?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Swashbuckler of a Sequel!, January 16, 2006

By 

frfubar8 "joe reader" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab: A novel (Hardcover)

It's Pirates....It's Captain Ahab...It's Las Vegas, I ask all of you out there, what's not to love?!

Fans of the first book 'Pirates: In An Adventure With Scientists' will be well rewarded by this sequel. Mr. Defoe maintains his sense of fun when our favorite band of scurvy curs hooks up with Captain Ahab in his search for the great white whale. I particularly loved the comparative terminology list between pirates & cowboys..that alone is worth the price of the book.

If you want a serious, dramatic work of literary fiction then get yerself a book by Dickens. If you want a fun, fast, rolickingly funny tale of piratical daring-do & the pitfalls of ship-shopping then 'Pirates: In An Adventure With Ahab is for you.

I look forward to 'Pirates: In An Adventure With Rabbits' myself.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pirates! In an Adventure with a Review, May 9, 2006

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab: A novel (Hardcover)

Gideon DeFoe brings us a return trip with the Pirate Captain, the pirate with a scarf, the albino pirate, the pirate with gout, the pirate in red,... you get the point. Another fun filled romp with the Pirates who actually attempt some real pirating. We get run ins with Ahab, Black Bellamy, Cutlass Liz, and then sail to Las Vegas. There's even a Pirate-to-Cowboy translation list! Time means nothing here and the humorous references to things yet to come are ... well... humorous. It's madcap shenanigans once again and some extremely light-hearted reading, it'll take you about 2-3 hours to read it at 140-some pages. I just wish these books were longer. None-the-less, I'm truly enjoying these stories, just beware where you read them, sudden outbursts if read in public will draw attention to you.