New York : Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007, c2006.
xx, 307 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm.
What a fun way to learn about the history of New York City! Kurlansky again finds a way to entertain and inform while presenting his discoveries about another item that humans put in their mouths. He has tackled salt, and cod (which I reviewed here about a year ago).
Like his other books, this one is well-written, fascinating, and very informative. In it you'll learn that for many years in the 1800s, New York City was the oyster capital of the world - but that in a short time ballooning population and industrialization led to the demise of the rich oyster beds of the New York harbor - due to pollution and and over-harvesting. Kurlansky does a great
There is a lot to The Big Oyster - it is a practical history of the early years of New York City, with a lot about the earliest European settlement of the area to the bustle of the 19th and 20th centuries. But it is also a social history and a foodways history - including recipes from various eras. Finally, it is both an environmental history and cautionary tale about the squandering of precious natural resources.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the history and culture of America's most dynamic city, New York.
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