The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
by Mark Kurlansky
List Price:
Our Price: $8.11
You Save: $6.84 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.84 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Mark KurlanskyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-09
ISBN: 0345476395
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Book Review: Oysters & Beer
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful read that nonetheless will never convince beer geeks that beer writer Michael Jackson was somehow the first person to have ever considered washing down a freshly-shucked oyster with a beer.
I'm ready to order Kurlansky's "Cod" and "Salt."
Summary of The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
"Part treatise, part miscellany, unfailingly entertaining."-The New York Times
"A small pearl of a book . . . a great tale of the growth of a modern city as seen through the rise and fall of the lowly oyster."
-Rocky Mountain News
Award-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants-the oyster.
For centuries New York was famous for this particular shellfish, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city's life that the abundant bivalves were Gotham's most celebrated export, a staple food for all classes, and a natural filtration system for the city's congested waterways.
Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight-along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos-this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the seventeenth-century founding of New York to the death of its oyster beds and the rise of America's environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan's Gilded Age dining chambers. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.
"Suffused with [Kurlansky's] pleasure in exploring the city across ground that hasn't already been covered with other writers' footprints."
-Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Fascinating stuff . . . [Kurlansky] has a keen eye for odd facts and natural detail."
-The Wall Street Journal
"Kurlansky packs his breezy book with terrific anecdotes."
-Entertainment Weekly
"Magnificent . . . a towering accomplishment."
-Associated Press
Seafood Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Seafood Books
Rick Stein's Complete Seafoodby Rick Stein
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2004-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.40
Price in other shops:
Great Fish, Quick: Delicious Dinners from Fillets and Shellfishby Leslie Revsin
Broadway; Published: 1997-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $65.00
Dancing Shrimp: Favorite Thai Recipes for Seafoodby Kasma Loha-unchit
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2000-10-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $134.00
Of Tide & Thyme: The Junior League of Annapolis, Inc.by Inc. Junior League of Annapolis
Junior League of Annapolis Inc.; Published: 2003-01-30; Plastic Comb; Book
Best price: $14.70
Price in other shops:
Salmon: A Cookbookby Diane Morgan
Chronicle Books; Published: 2005-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.81
Price in other shops:
Sushi: Taste and Techniquesby Kimiko Barber, Hiroki Takemura
DK ADULT; Published: 2002-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Fish & Shellfish: The Definitive Cook's Companionby James Peterson
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 1996-04-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.98
Price in other shops:
I Love Crab Cakes! 50 Recipes for an American Classicby Tom Douglas, Shelley Lance
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 2006-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Recipes From a Very Small Islandby Linda Greenlaw, Martha Greenlaw
Hyperion; Published: 2005-07-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Sushi for Dummiesby Judi Strada, Mineko Takane Moreno
For Dummies; Published: 2004-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.09
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean (P.S.)by Trevor Corson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-05-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Consider the Oyster: A Shucker's Field Guideby Patrick McMurray
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2007-12-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.71
Price in other shops:
The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western Worldby Larry Zuckerman
North Point Press; Published: 1999-10-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
1968: The Year That Rocked the Worldby Mark Kurlansky
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2005-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North Americaby Rowan Jacobsen
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2008-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
Spice: The History of a Temptationby Jack Turner
Vintage; Published: 2005-08-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nationby Mark Kurlansky
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Townby Mark Kurlansky
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.69
Price in other shops:
Salt: A World Historyby Mark Kurlansky
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.83
Price in other shops:
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the Worldby Mark Kurlansky
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1998-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops: