The Big Oyster

About this book

"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