The Phallus in Nature is so much fun. That is a sentence I never thought I would write but it’s true. Matthew Gormans dad worked all his life at job he hated so that he could retire well so when he dies in his fifties and leaves Matthew some money Matthew decides he won’t waste the opportunity. He decides in adventure. He convinces his long term girlfriend to move with his to Moab Utah and build a tiny duplex they can rent out for heaps of cash while write their scholarly hearts out. But Moab in summer is like the surface of the sun and Matthew doesn’t have air conditioning. His girlfriend leaves him and he can’t afford an air conditioner for both sides of the duplex. Rescue comes in the form of Piper Lawless a twenty something photographer who is famous for taking pictures of dicks in nature who pays a months rent up front. Matthew just has to live next to the sunshiny Piper and the residents of tiny town and as their lives become more and more entangled Matthew’s seems to be unravelling. This book is a lot of fun, I read that the writer was a stand up and some parts of this do read like a routine but that’s not a bad thing. I felt the ending was a little rushed and I would have liked a bit more of Piper’s brothers but all in all I had a great time in Moab a place I will NEVER visit.

4 ⭐ | 0 🌶️

I can confidently say this is the hardest I’ve laughed while reading a book. From the very first page, it's absurdly funny, and the dialogue feels so real that I almost forgot I was reading. I was hooked right away.

Told from multiple POVs, the book follows the story of Matthew, the owner of a tiny house rental, and Piper, who rents it for her ongoing photography project: The Phallus in Nature. It’s a satirical comedy that takes a jab at society’s rigid intellectual hierarchy and our obsession with defining success—all wrapped up in a lighthearted, unpredictable story full of twists.

Throughout the book, Piper is treated like a child with an intellectual disability—despite being 25 years old and financially independent. Her family judges her, but in a quirky tiny-town community filled with misfits, she finds a place where she is simply seen for who she is. This is the only book I’ve read in the past year that isn’t centered on romance but rather on friendship. It’s also the only book where references to toilets, phalluses, Mormons, and Canadian history somehow all make perfect sense, despite the sheer absurdity of it. And for the first time, I admit I completely misjudged a character.

After finishing the book, I looked up the author. I already knew she was an independent writer with two other successful comedy books, but I had no idea she had done stand-up. She lives in the U.S. but travels frequently to Montreal and even graduated from McGill University. I loved how she wove parts of her life into the book, especially the hilariously dry references to Canada’s boring history.

It was an absolute delight to discover such a talented and hilarious author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rhapsodic Press, and Augusta Reilly for the eARC of The Phallus in Nature.
The. book is a fun ride that'll leave your sides aching and your pets questioning your sanity you'll be laughing out loud so forcefully and so often. If you have even a hint of a funny bone that needs tickling and love the absurd, give this a read.

This is a book about a handful of characters, more so than an actual story. The style of writing isn’t my favorite. I found Matthew to be likable enough, but I didn’t care for any of the other characters. The story felt like it had a million tangents and wasn’t particularly fun to follow.

I read A LOT. Not as much as some, but much more than most people. This book is without a doubt one of the funniest books I have read in years, or maybe ever.

We start with the main character, Matthew, crying “for the first time in eleven years” as his girlfriend has left him, his father had a heart attack and died, and he’s completely broke. But within the first few pages, his parents are hilariously bickering on his father’s death bed. Later, as we meet the world’s most interesting cast of characters, the laughter continues!

Some of my favorite quotes:

“Meet Mahatma Randy. Randy is a marijuana salesman. He was born in Utah and raised a Mormon, so there’s obviously a story there. No one knows what that story is, but he has stopped wearing underwear entirely so they figure it must be bad.”

“It’s like nothing’s ever happened in the entire history of Canada that didn’t involve a beaver.”

“A freelance pharmacist, a reptile dealer, and a penis peddler walk into a bar. They are accompanied by a linguist, who feels like the correct answer to a One of These Things is Not Like the Others quiz on Sesame Street.”

There were at least two points in the story I was crying laughing, one involving physically moving a body.

The author has created such an interesting world with fun characters — a ‘family isn’t always blood’ vibe. The two main characters go through such incredible character development and it is truly a joy to read about it! The pacing is perfect — always interesting even when nothing is really happening — because we are learning more about these characters and their motivations. It is so easy to love (most of) these people! I will no doubt recommend this book to everyone I know who reads.