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The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Kurlansky
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.25
You Save: $6.70 (45%)
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 53103
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0345476395
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.694
EAN: 9780345476395
ASIN: 0345476395
Publication Date: January 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
“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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Oysters & Beer December 28, 2008
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."
A fun, yet educating read. November 30, 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. I drove my co-workers crazy with numerous quotes from the book. As a New Jersey native (you know the wetern suburb of NYC) I really found the history amazing, we did not learn these things in school.
I remember many many many years ago wandering in various parts of the neighborhood and digging/unearthing oyster shells... Collecting the unbroken smashed up ones and bringing my bounty home. Always wondering how sea shells, got there? Well, perhaps now, finally, after 50 years I have an idea.
What I found most delightful about this writer, is his way to meander, at just the right pace; so as not to bore me, loose me, but guide me from one step to the other without a stark transition and a feeling of disruption in the calm, relaxation this book provided.
The Natural Wonder of NYC October 28, 2008
This is an eye-opening book about the bounty that surrounded New York in the early years of the city, amazing for those of us who grew up locally in the pollution and grime of the late 20th century. For oyster lovers, the story is even more heartbreaking, as oysters used to be available for 10 cents each as opposed to being flown in from far-off lands for many times that. But, it is fun to consider all those oysters and the recipes contained in the book. I think I'll stop by the Oyster Bar the next time I'm in town!
 Do I have to write a book report? May 28, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'll grant that Mark Kurlansky did his homework.He provides an extensive Bibliography and the narrative is filled with many, many, many facts. That's exactly the problem. The book is overflowing with details. For the first time in many years I felt I was reading a history assignment - hence the title of this Review.
I did glean many interesting facts, both big and small. Trouble is, the facts just keep coming. As other reviewers have indicated there are numerous recipes in the book but I would venture to say that most of them are for food historians, not chefs. One brief example is the following recipe: "To Roast a Leg of Lamb with Oysters. Take a Leg about two or three Days kill'd. Stuff it all over with Oysters and roast it. Garnish it with horse-raddish." Yup! That's the whole, succinct recipe.
I'll admit that the number old prints reproduced in this book are interesting. But unless you are of the scholarly type I'd save this book for a night when you have insomnia.
Can't beat it. April 8, 2008
History, History, History. And we continue to live it. Know our past control our future.
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