The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Written by Mark Kurlansky
Narrated by John H. Mayer
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
For centuries New York was famous for its oysters, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city's economy, gastronomy, and ecology that the abundant bivalves were Gotham's most celebrated export, a staple food for the wealthy, the poor, and tourists alike, and the primary natural defense against pollution 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 island hunting ground of the Lenape Indians to the death of the 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.
Kurlansky brings characters vividly to life while recounting dramatic incidents that changed the course of New York history. Here are the stories behind Peter Stuyvesant's peg leg and Robert Fulton's "Folly"; the oyster merchant and pioneering African American leader Thomas Downing; the birth of the business lunch at Delmonico's; early feminist Fanny Fern, one of the highest-paid newspaper writers in the city; even "Diamond" Jim Brady, who we discover was not the gourmand of popular legend.
With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.
From the Hardcover edition.
Mark Kurlansky
Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Milk!, Havana, Paper, The Big Oyster, 1968, Salt, The Basque History of the World, Cod, and Salmon, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appétit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City. www.markkurlansky.com
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Reviews for The Big Oyster
185 ratings17 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An historical look at the history of oysters, centered around New York area. An interesting look at history through a delectable food.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A well written account of the founding of NYC, and the oysters that went along with them. I enjoyed the read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another winner from Mark Kurlansky. Although it did not grip me as much as his earlier works; Cod and Salt, I still found it absolutely fascinating. You don't even have to like oysters to find this work extremely interesting and I suppose since I was born and raised in New York made it made it even more enjoyable (and sad to see what we did to the surrounding waters). His research must be exhausting, but worth it when it's put to paper.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've been really happy with Kurlansky's writing in the past, and this was no exception - he really has a great knack for picking a seemingly small topic and expanding upon it. Even if you don't care about oysters or New York, this is a great read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I have never had any desire to eat an oyster, but after reading Kurlansky's book, I will have to. A wonderful historical read with a strong environmental tone demonstrating man's impact on the world and the ignorance we have that what is bountiful now will always be. Kurlansky has also given me a renewed appreciation for non-fiction and yet another throughly enjoyable read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's the fascinating history of New York City from pre-european settlement to the 20th century -- told from the perspective of its relationship with the oyster. One drawback, you'll have an incredible oyster cravings throughout your reading of the book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A history of New York city from the perspctive of the influence of the oyster.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read McPhee's "Oranges" at an impressionable age, so, ever since, I've been susceptible to the charms of this sort of "one-word title" specialized history. (And while (strictly speaking) this lacks a one-word title, it's close: it's a specialized history by the author of "Salt" and "Cod" that - if it were more broadly focused , might have been called "Oyster".)Monty Python once did a sketch called "News for Parrots": the evenings news, told from the perspective of how events affect parrots. "The Big Oyster" is in the same vein: it's the history of the city of New York, told from the perspective of its relationship with the oyster.Interesting enough.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was my first Mark Kurlansky book and I am happy to report I wasn't disappointed. At first I was skeptical about the size of the book in relation to its subject-matter (afterall, my previous major encounter with a book on oysters was the slim and elegantly written Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher). But indeed there are many things to consider while reviewing Manhattan's history using oysters as the parameter. Absorbing, fluid, interesting, and delectable! One drawback: I had incredible oyster cravings throughout my reading...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NYC's historic oyster population and includes recipes etc. An interesting tidbit and some food for thought.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5the rather fascinating story of how oysters and new york city developed together, and how they changed the "natural" landscape of early america. kurlansky is an excellent writer; read this book and find new respect for an industrious mollusk.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like this author, journo-history on super-specific topics. He's better than the rest.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NYC's historic oyster population and includes recipes etc. An interesting tidbit and some food for thought.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've read most of Kurlansky's books, and I enjoyed the majority of them. This one was as good as Cod but not as good as Salt. It's more of a history of New York City as told from the point of view of the oyster trade and consumers. The book was engaging and enjoyable, although the state of the New York harbor's waters at the end was depressing. Still, good book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A story of the New York that was as told through its once renowned export: the oyster. Follow the history of this delicacy in the new world from its discovery to its eventual extinction through over-fishing and pollution. The epilogue also addresses the recent attempts to bring back the oyster beds and the unique role these bivalves play in the cleaning of the Hudson Bay.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who would have thought that a non-academic book would be written about the history of oysters in New York? Who would have thought that I would have read such a book? Who would have thought I would like the book?I was drawn to “The Big Oyster” after enjoying other Kurlansky books and while it was New York-centred and some of the references went over my head I was amazed at how the oyster; today a food for the wealthy ($18 for a dozen at my local supermarket) was once just about the most common of foods with oyster bars dotting New York streets. I was a bit disappointed Kurlansky didn’t refer to Dr W.G. Grace’s (the most famous cricketer of the nineteenth century) visit to New York with his cricket team, where he had “a dinner fit for the gods”, feasting on oysters of a size they had never seen before.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oyster-centric account of NY, most interesting for the descriptions of the pre-European flora and fauna, and the early exploitation of the resource?both by colonists and Native Americans. A few small biological bloopers, like referring to ?the Ostrea edulis?, makes me trust the the recipes more than the zoology. But I found there were rather more recipes than I could really use, and skipped them. The final pollution and extirpation of the beds makes the history end a little prematurely.