From Booklist
In a style reminiscent of
Monty Python and Douglas Adams (or so the publisher asserts) comes this tiny tome from fledgling author Defoe, set in the early 1800s (although filled with anachronisms such as Post-it Notes and dental floss). The adventure begins as the pirate captain (none of the crew have names, just descriptions, such as the "pirate with the red scarf" and the "pirate dressed in green") mistakes Charles Darwin's ship,
Beagle, for a treasure ship from the Bank of England and boards it. Darwin's only claim to fame at this point is that he has taught an ape--a Man-panzee by the name of Mr. Bobo--to behave as a proper, albeit speechless, English gentleman. The pirate captain and Darwin, now chums, head back to England to rescue Darwin's brother, who has been abducted by the evil bishop of Oxford. Once in foggy London, the pirates encounter damsels in distress, nefarious schemes, and even the Elephant Man. Aficionados of outre British humor should find this amusing.
Michael GannonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Product Description
Not since
Moby-Dick...No, not since
Treasure Island...Actually, not since Jonah and the Whale has there been a sea saga to rival
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, featuring the greatest sea-faring hero of all time, the immortal Pirate Captain, who, although he lives for months at a time at sea, somehow manages to keep his beard silky and in good condition.
Worried that his pirates are growing bored with a life of winking at pretty native ladies and trying to stick enough jellyfish together to make a bouncy castle, the Pirate Captain decides it's high time to spearhead an adventure.
While searching for some major pirate booty, he mistakenly attacks the young Charles Darwin's Beagle and then leads his ragtag crew from the exotic Galapagos Islands to the fog-filled streets of Victorian London. There they encounter grisly murder, vanishing ladies, radioactive elephants, and the Holy Ghost himself. And that's not even the half of it.
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