FOODCHAIN

In this madcap farce, a farmer in North Carolina invents a way to grow massive crickets to sell as a protein source, but when some escape, havoc ensues.

Wendell Swinehut lives in a small town—Rose Hill, North Carolina—but he’s a man of big ideas. Anticipating the global trend to make bugs the primary source of dietary protein for human beings, he invents a way to “turn the growth chemistry on” in crickets, which he can grow as big as chickens. However, a dozen of them escape their cages, and Wendell discovers that their “growth infusion” is transferable to other creatures via consumption of the crickets, producing other giant-sized creatures that terrorize the town. Wendell and his brother, Zeb, are nearly killed by a mammoth peacock. In Hales’ hilarious comedy, humans are also affected by contact with the contaminated animals—males suffer a gargantuan enlargement of their penises, a condition that nearly destroys Zeb’s marriage to his wife, Emily, who is horrified by his transformation. “My wife doesn’t want a damn thing to do with it.” Wendell is a peculiarly striking protagonist, a quiet genius who keeps a pet bear named Yogi. While the author’s humor is consistently absurd, and flirts with juvenile immaturity, it never devolves into vulgarity for its own sake. In fact, the core of the tale is the limits of science to rescue humankind from its troubles—repeatedly, Wendell is accused by others (and himself) of hubristically playing God, including by himself. The novel runs more than a bit too long, overpopulated by too many digressive subplots, including a distracting one about drug dealers trying to kill Wendell. However, despite its excesses, this is a genuinely funny story, by turns silly and thoughtful.

A wildly comedic reflection on the dangers of science unrestrained by good sense.