A book that owes much to the Canterbury Tales, though this is a voyage at sea rather than on land. The crew, a motley collection of unfortunate fools, tells tales in the hope that the ship will not founder. In places it's as if the author has attempted to translate the nightmares of Heironymous Bosch into written imagery. In the end, fascinating and original despite all that it owes to the early masters of prose and painting .
