"Father O'Flugence knows there's nothing he can do. It's all in the hands of God now, or the Devil - who can tell the difference? The latter, of course, knows these people better. Father O'Flugence, however, believes in God no more than he believes in the Devil - he knows it's just an excuse for a job. What he does believe in is fraternity - but he knows he's in the wrong place for this. The island is an atrocity, its people are an abomination, and its future is just the same as its past: disaster.

He closes his shutters, lets the storm hammer at his house, and pretends to pray." "Father O'Flugence believes in Nature. He believes it has a mind of its own, but no destination. He believes that humans evolved from primates, and that some are still apes. He believes we are all part of a big mistake, that the species is corrupt, but that the storm is pure.".

"Be warned: Chum is a sex-obsessed, scatological, deeply offensive, violent, disturbed, grim, funny, and horrific allegory, peopled by predatory sailors, murderous seahags, disillusioned bargirls, one shipwrecked porn star, and a degenerate legion of mentally retrograde alcoholic hicks and inbred grotesques."--BOOK JACKET.