The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Tobin Bushart
CULF 3331
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Report by Tobin Bushart
General Themes:
While reading The Big Oyster I was able to gather a general theme of what Kurlansky was trying to do, and before I give a brief summary of the book I would like to give a short layout of what I think the author was trying to accomplish when writing this book. First off I think the idea was to give a history of Oysters in New York City, but while doing do Kurlansky seemed to try and give a history of the City and its people as well. He also wanted to give a general history on oysters themselves not just New York’s Oysters. He also wanted to talk about the relationship of those Oysters to the people and economy of New York as time passed. He also does a good job of showing of time specific methods of cooking and eating oysters which is always fun as well. Lastly I think he wanted to include some history of the general New England area as well to help contrast New York a bit better.
Mark Kurlansky: Who is this guy?
From what I was able to gather online before starting to read the book, Kurlansky is an ex-journalist turned writer. He was born in 1948 and attended Butler University where he studied Theater. Interestingly enough, once he graduated he no longer felt the love for theater anymore and decided that he wanted to move on to journalist. He had a relatively successful career as a journalist for such papers as the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and internationally at the International Herald Tribune in France. Some notable accomplishments; He wrote his first full length novel in 1992, A Continent of Islands, and later wrote Cod in 1997 which became an international Best seller. Following the ideas behind Cod, Kurlansky moved onto Salt which also brought him much acclaim to his skills as a historian and Foodie. Then came the creation of our book of choice, The Big Oyster. Listed as a national Best seller, this book has done
CULF 3331
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Report by Tobin Bushart
General Themes:
While reading The Big Oyster I was able to gather a general theme of what Kurlansky was trying to do, and before I give a brief summary of the book I would like to give a short layout of what I think the author was trying to accomplish when writing this book. First off I think the idea was to give a history of Oysters in New York City, but while doing do Kurlansky seemed to try and give a history of the City and its people as well. He also wanted to give a general history on oysters themselves not just New York’s Oysters. He also wanted to talk about the relationship of those Oysters to the people and economy of New York as time passed. He also does a good job of showing of time specific methods of cooking and eating oysters which is always fun as well. Lastly I think he wanted to include some history of the general New England area as well to help contrast New York a bit better.
Mark Kurlansky: Who is this guy?
From what I was able to gather online before starting to read the book, Kurlansky is an ex-journalist turned writer. He was born in 1948 and attended Butler University where he studied Theater. Interestingly enough, once he graduated he no longer felt the love for theater anymore and decided that he wanted to move on to journalist. He had a relatively successful career as a journalist for such papers as the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and internationally at the International Herald Tribune in France. Some notable accomplishments; He wrote his first full length novel in 1992, A Continent of Islands, and later wrote Cod in 1997 which became an international Best seller. Following the ideas behind Cod, Kurlansky moved onto Salt which also brought him much acclaim to his skills as a historian and Foodie. Then came the creation of our book of choice, The Big Oyster. Listed as a national Best seller, this book has done