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Title details for The Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky - Available

The Last Fish Tale

The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

by Mark Kurlansky
Grover Gardner
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

Fishing at sea, an ancient trade and a way of life that has defined coastal towns throughout history, may be coming to an end. The culture and traditions of coastal Britain and of seagoing nations everywhere are now threatened with extinction. Celebrated author Mark Kurlansky explores the fate of our oceans and the decline of our most ancient coastal enterprise. The book sends up a timely distress flare, one that brilliantly illuminates a colorful, exuberant, and poignant landscape, from Newlyn in Cornwall to Gloucester in Massachusetts. The result is a cultural, economic, environmental, and culinary bouillabaisse, the most compelling fish tale of our time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 3, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481551441
      • File size: 182569 KB
      • Duration: 06:20:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      With the sprightly tone and buoyant pace of a PBS special, Grover Gardner describes the rise and decline of the New England fishing industry and its effect on the unique Massachusetts town of Gloucester. He ably replicates the voices of the immigrants who manned successive fleets and often perished in rough weather. As the town became connected to suburban Boston via Route 128, shoreline real estate values skyrocketed as fishing jobs disappeared with the cod and the haddock. The filming of THE PERFECT STORM helped, but only temporarily. The story includes comparisons with villages in Sicily and Cornwall as well as recipes for which listeners might need shorthand. What resident artists like Winslow Homer immortalized in paint, Gardener has delightfully portrayed in audio. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 14, 2008
      Bestselling author Kurlansky (Cod
      ; The Big Oyster
      ) provides a delightful, intimate history and contemporary portrait of the quintessential northeastern coastal fishing town: Gloucester, Mass., on Cape Anne. Illustrated with his own beautifully executed drawings, Kurlansky’s book vividly depicts the contemporary tension between the traditional fishing trade and modern commerce, which in Gloucester means beach-going tourists. One year ago, a beach preservation group enraged fishermen by seeking to harvest 105 acres of prime fishing ground for sand to deposit on the shoreline. Wealthy yacht owners compete with fishermen for prime dockage, driving up prices. Fishermen also contend with federal limits on their catches in an effort to maintain sustainable fisheries. But while cod are protected from extinction, the fishermen are not. Some boats must go 100 or more miles out to sea—a danger for small boats with few crew members. Tragedies abound, while one, that of the swordfish boat Andrea Gail,
      documented by Sebastian Junger in A Perfect Storm,
      brought even more tourists to Gloucester.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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