Product Description
Expanded and updated to include an additional 44 species, this is a handy guide to those fishes that are likely to be observed by anybody visiting or diving on the coral reefs of the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific to a depth of sixty meters. Accessible to amateur marine life enthusiasts, this book is the first comprehensive guide of its kind. It enables the reader to quickly identify 2,118 species of fish and includes over 2,500 color illustrations depicting the major forms of each species--male, female, immature, or geographical varieties. The text proceeds according to region, depicting each species and its varieties, and offering information on its geographic range and where on the coral reef itself the fish may be found. Important identification characteristics are highlighted on every color plate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Illustrations different from reality
This guide has the merit to include a really big number of reef fishes species, but I discovered that many fishes have different colors in the field, often too much different than in the illustrations of the book ... The guide can be valid when you can take pictures in water and then, calmly at home, you can looking for features highlighted in the book, often little evident in field.

Great informative book on tropical fishes
I bought this book since I am a volunteer at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. This book is a tremendous resouce especially in the Tropical Diver Exhibit which has many species of tropical fish. It is helpful in identification and lists the fish by scientific as well as common names. I would highly recommend this guide for fish identification, and many of the volunteers use this guide as their resource as well.

nice for divers
I bought the book because i need the names of the fishes in the caribbean, where i dive now, and i thinks that it is a very nice book, very usefull and with a low price.

THE field guide to bring on a scuba trip
An amazingly well done flied guide useful for even advanced fish enthusiasts and scuba divers. I have used this book on dive trips to the Egyptian red sea, the sea of Cortez in Mexico and to Cuba, as well as while walking trough several aquariums in the US, and I have hardly ever failed to find a tropical fish species I observed in this book. The illustrations are well done and include juveniles, sex differences and regional color variants. In addition to the geographic range of a species, the likely occurrence on the reef (lagoon, outward reef, sand ...), the depth ranges and information about fish behavior are indicated. I have found this additional information extremely useful, especially when trying to identify one of several similar species.

The book is divided into a Indopacific and a Carribean part, and in addition to the species descriptions there is a short general introduction to corral reefs and fish biology.

a little treasure
this one is a real must. if I had to choose a single fish ID book to bring along in a dive trip, this handy book would be the one. it is probably more usefull for indo-pacific fishes but also atlantic/caribbean fishes part is pretty good. i guess it is the most complete book on fish identification i ever bought. ... Read more

Product Description
Have you ever wondered where fish go when the ponds and lakes freeze in the wintertime?Or what makes the sound you hear when you put your ear to a seashell?Or why snakes shed their skins?Now you can find out the answers to these questions and many others in this beautiful book of fanciful and fact-filled poems that explain some of nature's greatest mysteries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good writers can offer facts and poetry without nonsense!
Each of Amy Koss's poems quickly catches the young reader's attention: Would clouds feel fluffy,/ Soft and grand,/ If I could touch them/ With my hand?Her "emphasis on end rhyme" provides the kind of gentle draw into poetry that children need.My children clearly grasp each poem's content, asking to hear one or another at bedtime.

Koss does not "attempt" explanations she nails them. "They're made of tiny water drops,/ So light they float/ above rooftops..." is not a "cursory explanation" but "the sort of detailed description that would satisfy a young audience" of five to nine year olds.

My five year old daughter joins our dog in his bed and reads these poems to him.She enjoys the pictures that complement the same quiet interest the poems generate.I do not expect she will get into any Esthetic Analysis of Bryant's illustrations, it only matters that they catch her attention and work with each poem, and they do.

Some words my daughter does not understand, and unbeknownst to some professionals, parents can anticipate questions, and kids can just ask.Terms like "gravity" and "sensor" give parents a chance to offer ostensive explanations: "Gravity is what makes that book fall; it pulls the book and the ground together.""Your hand is like a gravity sensor because it can tell which way the book pulls, much like a root does."

Amy Koss shows children that both facts and poetry can be fun.She does not stoop to impart knowledge by disguising it with nonsense, as so many children's book authors do.Get this book, and you will surely enjoy more time with your brightening child.

Terrific!
This little gem tackles some of the great childhood science questions.The simple rhyme scheme makes the information friendlier and more accessible - yet the book never talks down to the kids.

One of the professional reviews complained that this book hadvocabulary that was "too sophisticated" for young children.I was annoyed by this.If you dumb everything down to what kids already know, then where will they learn new terms?

My 5-year-old enjoyed reading this book, and I enjoyed listening to her.I found the book charming and informative. For example, I didn't know that when fish are waiting out the winter, "Except for occasional / lake bottom treats / the whole winter long / the fish hardly eats!" ... Read more

Product Description
The fourth FAST book from the gifted team of Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison focuses on that speediest of ingredients: fish. Quick preparation time is one of the many reasons to cook fish more often, and Hugh has an irresistible collection of ways for us to spice up our workday meals. If you’re tired of that old standby of pan-fried fish with a squeeze of lemon, explore Hugh’s many flavorful combinations, drawing on cuisines from around the world. Teri’s colorful photographs will have your mouth watering for dishes such as Sauteed Halibut with Nectarines and Ginger, Roast Salmon with Curry Mayonnaise Rub, and Steamed Snapper with Spicy Pesto. As with all the FAST books, FAST FISH includes short ingredient lists, easy instructions, and simple menu suggestions. Endlessly versatile fish provide an amazing array of quick-to-prepare and easy-to-shop-for flavor-packed recipes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fast Fish
When it comes to fish there are two ways to prepare it, deliciously or very badly. When prepared properly fish is probably my favorite type of food. As a child, one of my uncles used to prepare these amazing dishes. Try as I might, I've never really been able to replicate anything even close. At some point, I just quit trying and rarely served fish at all.

A few months ago, I decided I wanted to give fish another try. My local supermarket has all these really great looking choices but I didn't have a clue what to do with them. Fortunately, I picked up a copy of Fast Fish. It's a cookbook made for the average person. The recipes include salmon, halibut, sole, code, snapper, trout, and other types of fish that are usually available at the supermarket. The meals are surprisingly easy to do and they are quick too.

As with all cookbooks, the true test is taste. This is especially true with fish. Despite my initial concerns that I couldn't cook fish properly, I think I've done very well. The food has been fabulous. I like that I can vary the tastes of what I have on hand just by switching recipes. No more dull fried fish and lemon juice!

Fast Fish
Good book with lots of easy to prepare recipes. Had a blast preparing some of the recipes.

Great & Easy Recipes
I love this book because it has easy to follow recipes with photographs.Something about pictures ~ I don't know it's more appetizing and appealing to make.There are recommendations for every type of common fish in alphabetical order. Excellent! We eat fish 2-3 times per week now.

Hugh Has Another Winner
In this well organized book, Hugh Carpenter has distilled the essence of cooking great fish.The recipes are simple and quick with lots of flavor and the photography makes these recipes a feast for your eyes.I especially enjoyed the Stir Fried Swordfish with Asian Spices.And when he says fast he means fast. Cooking the swordfish for about a minute is all it takes.Have everything else ready on the hot plates. ... Read more

Product Description
The second edition of The Diversity of Fishes represents a major revision of the world’s most widely adopted ichthyology textbook. Expanded and updated, the second edition is illustrated throughout with striking color photographs depicting the spectacular evolutionary adaptations of the most ecologically and taxonomically diverse vertebrate group. The text incorporates the latest advances in the biology of fishes, covering taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, biogeography, ecology, and behavior. A new chapter on genetics and molecular ecology of fishes has been added, and conservation is emphasized throughout. Hundreds of new and redrawn illustrations augment readable text, and every chapter has been revised to reflect the discoveries and greater understanding achieved during the past decade. Written by a team of internationally-recognized authorities, the first edition of The Diversity of Fishes was received with enthusiasm and praise, and incorporated into ichthyology and fish biology classes around the globe, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The second edition is a substantial update of an already classic reference and text.

Companion resources site

This book is accompanied by a resources site:

www.wiley.com/go/helfman

The site is being constantly updated by the author team and provides:

·         Related videos selected by the authors

·         Updates to the book since publication

·         Instructor resources

·         A chance to send in feedback

  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Awesome Book
One of the best textbooks on fish today.Gives a great overview of all the relevant topics going into detail in the places where it is best needed.If you want to know anything about fish this is the perfect place to start and if you are going to be teaching a class on fish, this is the textbook for you!

The "Brusca and Brusca" of fish Biology?
I have been using Moyle and Cech (an Introduction to Ichthyology) for years as the standard text to recommend to undergraduate students interested in developing a solid knowledge of basic fish taxonomy/biology/ecology but I think Helfman et al is a much more student-friendly textbook.It is split into sections: Introduction, form function & ontogeny, taxonomy phylogeny and evolution, zoogeography genetics and adaptations, behaviour and ecology, the future of fishes (conservation).These sections a sub-divided into sensible chapters.

The writing style is clear, peppered with good references for further reading and the authors make good use of excellent figures.As well as the reference list there are supplemental reading recommendations.The authors make good use of boxes to highlight interesting areas, e.g. vicariance versus dispersal, should we eat farmed salmon? and finish off each chapter with a bullet point summary.Being a single book treatment of a vast subject there are some sections where I guess the need for brevity has enforced absences, e.g. there is no mention of the special properties of fish eye lenses in the vision section and the section on swimming seems a bit sparse (and would probably benefit from more use of diagrams).

In summary, this is an excellent text that will appeal to undergraduates and serve as a useful sourcebook for tutors.

Horrible! Do NOT buy from this vendor!
This person took my money and I never received my items. They refused to cooperate when I asked for specific dates my items were shipped and to see a copy of the shipping receipt. Do not buy from this seller unless you want to give your money away!

Satisfied customer
Book arrived in good condition as stated in book description and i was very pleased with how fast i received my purchase. I would certainly buy from this seller again...

More Ecology Than Moyle and Cech
This is an outstanding upper-division textbook on fishes, comparable to Moyle and Cech, with important differences. These authors place more emphasis on behavior and ecology. These authors also utilize cladistics (explained in an excellent early chapter on systematics) throughout in their classification of fishes. This textbook is probably a bit more detailed in its content and slightly less readable than Moyle and Cech, but both make excellent references. Helfman et al include a number of boxed readings which provide up-to-date information on scientific research and other interesting fish topics (like eelskin boots!) ... Read more

Product Description
The Cat in the Hat, Sally, and Dick take an undersea voyage aboard the S.S. Undersea Glubber! Traveling down from the Sunny Zone to the Dark Zone to the Trench at the bottom, Captain Cat and his crew get up close and personal with the different life forms found at each level of the ocean. Along the way, they meet sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, manatees, whales, and sea cucumbers, to name just a few!Amazon.com Review
From the tiniest krill to the large gray whale, oceancreatures swim madly through Wish for a Fish--you'll beimpressed with just how much information gets packed into the cleverSeuss-style rhymes. Cat in the Hat, aboard the S.S. UnderseaGlubber, narrates this fact-filled story of life under the sea,along with sidekicks Thing One and Thing Two. You'll learn all aboutthe ocean's food chain, different light zones, and fascinatinginformation about the large mammals that live there. The phonics-basedword patterns make excellent early reading practice for any littlebeachcomber. How can you go wrong with catchy paragraphs like "baleenfills the blue whale's mouth like a grill. As water flows through it,it strains out the krill?" --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

I have read this book to my son hundreds of times
this book (as most cat in the hat) is a huge hit. I read it to my son often and I have been reading it from when he was three to now (he is five). I give it as a little present to other kids all the time because I know that kids like this book. it is one of the most informative of the series and it has just the right amount of information for a 3-4 year old.

Do books get better than this?
Wow!I love this book!The Cat in the Hat takes us on an educational tour under the sea, the way Mrs. Frizzle did in the Magic School Bus.Only these books, although written with a controlled vocabulary, rhyme and are fun to read too!"The jellyfish is a most interesting fella. He looks kind of like a transparent umbrella! Stay away from his tentacles (those long stingy things). They stun prey by giving off hundreds of stings!" I can't wait for the rest of the series to come out.This book is a perfect combo of great subject matter presented with real reading fun.

A great intro to ocean life
I found this book at an aquarium, and bought it as a gift for my 4 y.o. son and 2 y.o. daughter.Too often, books about nature or science for the younger set give too little info (just pictures and names) or the info is just plain inaccurate.Meanwhile, the books for grade schoolers are too complex (and too long for mom to read as a bedtime story.) This book fills the gap perfectly.It gives honest information in a fun, rhyming format.I am here at amazon.com to see what else I can find in this series, which I had never seen before.I am sure to buy more of these.

Wish for a Fish
Dr Seuss books have done it again.In this magical adventure you get to learn about all kids of sea creatures and the different levels of the ocean.It is a must have for anyone who has children tha love Marine Life. My daughter has this book memorized from cover to cover and it is sofactual.I highly recommend this book to any parent or educator. Not onlyis it fun, but very educational.I learned a lot also! ... Read more

Product Description
Fred is not your ordinary mermaid. She's not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is blue.

While volunteering at the New England Aquarium, Fred learns that there are weird levels of toxins in the local seawater. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (88)

Like a Bad Movie
This is the rather haphazard story of Fred, the mermaid, who must discover, with the help of a handsome merman and dashing marine biologist, what's poisoning the bay around the aquarium Fred works at. I think the best way to describe this book is 'it's like watching a b-horror film; it's so bad, it's amazing.'

I won't even go into details except that all the plot points are laughable, and barely there.

It's incredibly easy to read, being I could cover almost 50 pages in my 15 minute breaks at work. Also, there is the feel of a first draft or early work of the writer's fiction to the story. An unpolished feel. Like, she wrote this, put it on a shelf, and when she made it big, the published it without looking it over. (This could be true because Davidson explains that this was the first book she wrote, but hadn't published it before.)

I actually can't think of anything redeeming about this book, except it's ease and ridiculousness endeared it. I still can't say if I'd ever recommend it, or even read the rest of the trilogy.

Does not deserve even one star
Looked forward to this but was so disappointed. The story could have been so much better. it seemed angry, lacking in romance, intuition, and tenderness of any kind.

Very fast read and with little to offer.
The book itself is lack luster, but has some good qualities. Factor in the fact that the book can be read in one sitting and the money you have to pay, it is not really worth it.

Something smells fishy...
I started and finished this the same day; heck, it only took a couple of hours to read this foul-mouthed, vapid, empty piece of garbage. I wanted to like this book, despite a friend's warning of its awfulness rattling around in my head. It had such potential. There are all manner of paranormal beasties starring in books and series today: vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, faeries, even ghosts. Why not mermaids as well? What a shame a perfectly good and quirky concept (half-human mermaid who's a marine biologist and works at an aquarium) was let down by bad writing, a barely-there plotline, and a laughable climax to the "story."

First off, we have the heroine, Fredrika, aka Fred, the hybrid mermaid. Aside from the pseudo-amusing personality quirks (look, she's a mermaid who can't swim in human form! Oh my, she gets seasick on boats, how funny!), she stomps, she grumps, she has no patience or social skills, she's selfish and unbelievably foul-mouthed. Yet two men, both absolutely gorgeous (natch!), upon meeting her for the first time, fall in love with her. Why? Because she's just so damn irresistible? No, because she's just so gorgeous no man can resist her, but, of course, she's completely unaware of her ability to induce lustful feelings in men and some women. Aren't we tired of that 'gorgeous, but oblivious' hook yet? I know I certainly am. Speaking of the two men who love her, one is a giant, buff mer-dude with a mane of flaming red hair and red eyes. And yet nobody seems to think that maybe there's something weird about him when seeing him for the first time, that maybe he's not quite human? No screams of "Oh my god, what's wrong with his eyes? What is he?" when he walks into a local mall/eatery? How believable is that? Or maybe everyone thinks he's in a permanent Halloween costume?The other man, a fellow marine biologist, falls in love with Fred because he can see the true color of her hair, which is green, not blue. That's it? Really? That's the best the author can come up with?

And that brings me to the plot of the book. I use the word plot in only the vaguest sense of the word, just as the author sketched only the vaguest outline of a plot in the story. All the "action" takes place towards the end of the book and the sequence of events is so fast and so absurdly ludicrous that it stretches the point of believability to breaking point. I think there was supposed to be some humor in the situation, but I couldn't find it. And if the author was trying for some sort of mystery, she fell well short of the mark.

I have to give Davidson some credit. She actually tells us in the acknowledgments that this is a crappy book--not in so many words, but in essence. She ripped up her manuscript and started over moments from deadline, she probably went through who-knows-how-many rewrites, and finally handed the whole thing over to a group of editors, who did they best they could with what little they had. Her editors failed, however, in making her look all, y'know, smart 'n' stuff (as she put it). I guess it's my fault for not believing her. All in all, Sleeping with the Fishes is just another crude and vulgar example of Davidson's writing "talent." I'd really like to know how she managed to get published in the first place. I just feel sorry for all the poor trees that have to die in order to support her career.

good read
I recommend this book if you just need to pass the time.
It was interesting, but not great. I didn't love the main character but I did love the idea of doing a story about a mermaid who didnt love the ocean.
I may read the other books, but only if I have no other book lined up.
Very quick, but somewhat unfufilling read. ... Read more

Product Description

From delicate fillets of sole sauced with butter and lemon to flavorful salmon paired with apple and fennel, the variety of fish dishes is nearly endless. And even with so many different ways to prepare it -- sautéed on the stove top, braised in the oven, or grilled over an open fire -- the fresh, clean taste and delicate texture of fish always shine through. Quick and easy to cook, fish is an excellent choice for any occasion.

Williams-Sonoma Collection Fish offers more than 40 recipes, including classic fare as well as exciting new ideas. Inside, you'll find simple dishes for quick suppers, intriguing recipes for serving guests, and hearty main courses for satisfying meals. There's even a chapter devoted entirely to other seafood besides fish, including scallops, shrimp, and lobster, rounding out the delicious array of choices.

Full-color photographs of each recipe make it easy to decide which to prepare, and each dish is accompanied by a photographic side note that highlights a key ingredient or cooking technique, making Fish much more than just a simple collection of recipes. An informative basics section and extensive glossary fill in everything you need to know to add delicious fish to your cooking repertoire.

Lean, healthful, and quick to cook, fish plays an important role in the modern kitchen. Whether you are in the mood for salmon on the grill, traditional trout amandine, or a rustic bouillabaisse, there is always a distinctive and delicious way to prepare any type of fish.

Williams-Sonoma Collection Fish offers more than 40 easy-to-follow recipes, including both familiar classics and tempting new ideas. In these pages, you'll find appealing fish dishes for any occasion -- from a casual weeknight supper to a more formal affair. This beautifully photographed, full-color recipe collection will quickly become an essential addition to your kitchen bookshelf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

wonderful
You can just make so many fish dinners without recipes. This book has such a variety of different things to use. It will come in handy.

Lacking in Fresh Water Fish
I have quite a few of these Williams-Sonoma cookbooks in my collection, which are all wonderful and I constantly use them. This Fish book was purchased without looking through it. Although it has many great recipes, illustrations, and all those classic sea fish dishes I love like Bouillabaisse, I found it lacking in the fresh water fish dishes such as salmon, trout, and wall eye. There are some in there, but not as much variety. If you don't live near the ocean I'm not sure how handy this book will be as sea food becomes costly the further away you live from salt waters. I plan on getting creative and changing out the fish illustrated for fresh water, which should help get more use out of this book.

SO FAR, SO GOOD.
THIS IS A GOOD COOK BOOK.I JUST RECENTLY PICKED IT UP AND IT'S EASY TO USE WITH VERY GOOD RECEIPTS.RECOMMENDED.

JUST FOR THE HALIBUT,..
MMM MMM. SOOO MANY FISHY IDEAS IN THIS BOOK. IF YOU LIKE FISH, OR SEAFOOD, GET THIS BOOK!IT NOT ONLY SHOWS YOU HOW TO PREPARE YOUR FAVORITE LIL FINNED FRIENDS, BUT IT GIVES YOU SOME GREAT IDEAS FOR MARINADES AND SAUCES.DEFINITELY A GOOD BOOK.

Eating more healthfully with fish?
For those looking to eat more fish and less meat for health reasons, such as the need to reduce saturated fats in the diet, this cookbook offers some wonderful recipes prepared in a variety of ways--using the grill, broiler, oven, soup pot, and frying pan.The recipes use a wide variety of fish and shellfish, including suggested alternatives for some of the more esoteric choices (monkfish, pompano, skate) not always available away from the coast.Recipes range from "simple suppers" to fancier, special occasion preparations, and each recipe is accompanied by an attractive full-page photo of a beautiful presentation.

Cooks looking for a complex blend of flavors to set off the fish (especially in sauces) will find that many of these recipes depend instead on only one or two ingredients for their primary flavors--a red snapper recipe is flavored with rosemary and pernod, cod flavored with vegetables and basil, and skate with brown butter and lemon juice.Those who enjoy fruit with their fish may enjoy the halibut with oranges and molasses, salmon with fennel and apple salsa, and salmon with a sauce of mango juice.

Many of the recipes show elaborate presentations--oven-poached whole salmon covered with 1/16" slices of English cucumbers, and orange roughy with 1/8" zucchini slices, easy to do if you have a food processor but a bit fussy to assemble.The halibut fillet en papillote can be prepared ahead, so the "fuss" is done before the guests arrive.Those who plan to cook fish on the grill will need to plan for split-second timing of the grilling and the presentation, and to be sure to have the correct implements for turning the fish to avoid shredding it on the hot grill, a reason many people avoid grilling fish for guests.

Those on low fat diets need to be aware that several of these recipes call for high-fat cooking and sauces--fillets of sole meuniere calls for 6 T. of butter, trout amandine for 4 T. of butter and 4 T. olive oil, the skate with brown butter sauce for 8 T. butter, the striped bass in green curry for 14 oz. of coconut milk (very high in saturated fat), and the New England fish chowder for 1 c. half-and-half and 1 ½ c. of whole milk.Still the selection of forty-two recipes, both fish and shellfish, offers many new ideas for the cook who needs inspiration, and some recipes can be adapted to lower fat cooking.

Note:Williams Sonoma has an earlier Fish cookbook by Joyce Esersky Goldstein, available Used.The recipes in the Goldstein edition are heartier in flavor and less fussy in preparation and presentation.Mary Whipple
... Read more

Product Description
Each year millions of fish are caught on barbed hooks or left to die by suffocation on the decks of fishing boats. But while there has been increasing interest in recent years in the welfare of mammals, fish are thought to be too different--too dim-witted, too cold-blooded, too simple--to merit our concern.

Here, biologist Victoria Braithwaite explores the question of fish pain and fish suffering, explaining what science can now tell us about fish behavior, and examining the related ethical questions about how we should treat these animals.Fish have in the past been portrayed as slow, cold automata with a very simple brain that generates stereotyped behavior. But Braithwaite presents new scientific evidence that seriously challenges this view. Indeed, there is a growing body of science demonstrating that fish are far smarter and more cognitively competent than we have previously suspected. Several fish species are surprisingly intelligent and research has shown that they can have both accurate and long lasting memories, which in some cases, such as migrating salmon, can span years. Moreover, the author demonstrates that fish have more in common with other vertebrates than we think. Their overall physiology, for instance, shares many similarities with other vertebrates--even ourselves. The way that they respond to stressful situations, the so-called "stress response," is strikingly similar. After experiencing a stressful event, our bodies release cortisol into the blood, and the same is true in fish.

Victoria Braithwaite is one of the key scientists working on fish pain and she is also actively involved with both the fishing industry and the angling world, helping them sort through the implications of these findings. Though far from anti-fishing, she concludes that scientific evidence suggests that we should widen to fish the protection currently given to birds and animals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A good start
The first time I had to yank a hook out of a baby fish, my heart trebled.When I searched on the internet on whether fish feel pain, I found very little information.

So this book should get stars simply by being the first to devote an entire book to the topic. A very important topic I believe.

It is a thin book, obviously, but that's hardly the author's fault, as there really is relatively little research done on the topic.

It is an overall well written book.I felt the first couple of chapters of introductory to the main theme sometimes is a little slow, occasionally saying the things most people already know.But once the book started to talk about the author's own scientific experiments investigating whether fish feel pain, it became very interesting.Maybe because I'm not a biologist, so there is a lot of curiosity in me to see how this is done.I'm glad all is described in detail and in a way a lay person can understand.I found her experiments fascinating and it would be a great read for any high school or even middle school kids pondering a career in science.

The following chapters when the author argued in different aspects why fish do feel pain are very convincing and equally fascinating.

The end of the book talked about fish welfare, which is very good. I had not been aware of the inhumane practices in the fishing industry.

It's good the author is not taking a stand on angling. She is quite philosophical about it. I do wish she give more instructions on how to treat fish more humanely when you do enjoy angling, such as what's the fastest and least painful way to kill a fish once you get it.

The book is definitely worth reading, even just for the juicy animal behavior examples, like how two different marine species cooperate to hunt.

I do hope in a few years the author can update the book with new discoveries and new development, and make it a even more authoritative volume on the subject.

Do Fish Suffer? Are They Intelligent?
Dr. Braithwaites answers to the above questions are "yes" and "yes."Fish have the capacity to experience pain, think about it, and react to it emotionally. Their brains are similar to those of mammals and other vertebrates, so why would anyone think that they are fundamentally different than birds, dogs and monkeys?Well, first of all they look very different.Fish don't have arms and legs; they have annoyingly stoic faces, and make no vocalizations.They are fished with hooks, fish farmed, and placed in small bowls and displayed like decorations. Up to the end of the 1900's almost no research had been done on fish sentience, although "IQ testing" has been going on for decades -- often with surprising results.

Braithwaite points out that scientists were well-meaning by reducing the number of rodents used in experiments and replacing them with zebra fish.But is this really better?Braithwaite believes that scientists and the fishing industry need to wake up to welfare issues pertaining to fish.I wholeheartedly agree, but there is one point of annoyance with her attitude.She seems to think everything is A-OK with the lab work done on non-fish animals, and with the factory farming of mammals and fowl. Part of the problem lies in the fact that she writes from a European perspective.Europe generally gets higher marks in animal welfare than the United States and many other countries.This is evidenced by her repeated citing of Britain's 1986 Animal Scientific Procedures Act.One statement in particular was disturbing to me: "We wouldn't accept killing chikens by throwing them into a tank of water and waiting for them to drown, so why don't we object to fish suffocating on trawler decks?" (page 18)

Dr. Braithwaite, we do unfortunately accept practices that are just as evil or more so.In chicken factory farms, when the chickens survive the slaughter phase of the assembly line, they are dunked alive and conscious into scalding hot water intended for feather removal.Braithwaite is well-meaning and her work is important and timely,but if she thinks welfare issues surrounding factory farm and laboratory animals have been resolved, then she has been drinking too much from The Fountain of Temple Grandin.She suffers from her own delusions if this is what she thinks.

I don't mean to slam this book at all.It really is an amazing piece of academic literature for a general readership.She explains in detail (enough for any non-scientist) how she discovered pain reception and stress-reaction in fish.I refuse to summarize, however.You need to read it yourself to really appreciate how carefully they thought through the experiments to eliminate alternative explanations.She also describes very carefully the intelligence testing on fish and field observations that corroborate these experiments. Some of the reviewers have tried to slight the book by making Braithwaite's arguments seem simplistic or superficial, but this is not the case.Read for yourself.

Written by Professor Braithwaite, an expert in this field
My brother is a keen angler. We've argued in the past about whether fish feel pain. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, I don't need to doubt any longer - the proof is in this book that fish can suffer. Boy, am I going to feel smug when I lend him my copy!

Professor Braithwaite is an expert in this field. She, and fellow researchers, began by asking whether fish have the necessary receptors and nerve fibres to detect painful events. Next they wanted to determine whether a potentially painful stimulus triggered activity in the nervous system. If they were able to find positive answers to those two questions, the final test was to find out how the experience of a potentially painful event affected the behaviour of fish and the decisions that they made. The upshot is that Braithwaite did find the pain receptors and fish responded to the pain felt. This is backed up a lot of recent research, some of with is quoted in the book.

Measured, balanced, fascinating....
Refreshingly intelligent book, which trusts the reader and maintains a thoughtful and balanced tone throughout. The author explores the issues around fish pain, suffering and welfare, identifying the questions we might ask, the ways we might try to answer them, and what the answers really mean. At each stage the book gives clear but detailed descriptions of the scientific research supporting each conclusion, making the story accessible to non-specialists and crucially moving the text from a 'trust me, I know' harangue to a 'here's what we know' dialogue.
Considering the general philosophical issues around animal welfare as well as the scientific questions of what fish can experience, the book scrupulously fails to find a bogeyman or call for any knee-jerk instant solutions. Nonetheless, it raises some hard issues, and in a world where we're ready to pay more for free-range poultry, it may be timely to be hearing some unpalatable facts about many of the standard commercial fishing practices used to produce the fish on our plates.
Alongside the exploration of the book's main themes comes plenty of fascinating biology, including the extraordinary and rather delightful story of the grouper and the eel, which I've had to repeat to everyone since reading it. The author is a fish biologist, and the book tells a perhaps unintended third story, that of the scientific process, the honest search for the right question, and then the ingenuity and elegance applied to finding an answer. When the predominant exposure to science is about dramatic breakthroughs or headline-grabbing controversy, this readable, thoughtful and informative book is a tribute to the people quietly getting on with it, trying to find out how things really work. I'm grateful one of them has found the time to share the process, as well as raising some very important issues about our understanding of and interactions with these fascinating and diverse animals.
Comment

Balanced, Thoughtful, and Dispassionate
I approached this book with from a rather skeptical perspective, but found myself won over by the strength of the author's argument. It would be easy to slip into simple advocacy - either for anglers or for animal rights - but Braithwaite artfully avoids this trap. Instead, she allows the data to speak for themselves, and takes the reader through the series of well-designed experimental steps that are necessary to defend her contention that fish do indeed feel pain. Whether or not you agree with her conclusions is another matter, but as a biologist I found the data compelling

This is science at its best - clear, methodical, and rational. I'd recommend it highly to students, not just as a study in fish biology, but also as an example of how to present an emotive argument without letting emotion cloud the issue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Nice keys, but some poor photos
I really like the keys to help identify out fish by spines, etc, but some of the photos are not good representations of the fish. I am glad I bought the book, but I supplement it with other "picture books"

Outstanding!
This is an excellent text for the professional (or near professional) to use in identification of fishes in the Gulf.It is NOT for the beginner, and if you are a beginner you will be disappointed due to the technical layout and terms in this book.Additionally, I think the artistic illustrations by Dinah Bowman are FANTASTIC, but of course I am slightly biased because she is my mother. :)

Fish Identification
The book is written for college study, however, the pictures are of less than good quality.Many of the fish were dead for quite awhile before photographed.This isn't the best source if you're looking for a book to help you identify fish of the Gulf.

Not for beginners, but good
Good for biologists and wanna be/soon to be biologist. Has useful fish species keys, pretty good key to families too, decent descriptions & definitions. Pictures of some species leaves something to be desired (especially some of the sharks, which turn out to be fish mounted on walls). Doesn't coverjuvenile differences well, but most people are looking at adults anyway.

South Texas
Good text book for classifing any fish found in the Gulf of Mexico by families, but not a quick picture reference book for identifying your catch. ... If the pictures had been better in "Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico". I would have given it a five stars rateing. ... Read more

Product Description
From the American entry into World War II until September 1943, U.S. submarines experienced an abnormally high number of torpedo failures. These failures resulted from three defects present in the primary torpedo of the day, the Mark XIV. These defects were a tendency to run deeper than the set depth, the frequent premature detonation of the magnetic influence exploder, and the failure of the contact exploder when hitting a target at the textbook 90-degree angle. Ironically, despite using a completely independent design, the Germans experienced the same three defects. The Germans, however, fixed their defects in six months, while it took the Americans 22 months. Much of the delay on the American side resulted from the denial of senior leaders in the operational forces and in the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) that the torpedo itself was defective. Instead, they blamed crews for poor marksmanship or lack of training. In the end, however, the submarine force itself overcame the bureaucratic inertia and correctly identified and fixed the three problems on their own, proving once again the industry of the average American soldier or sailor. Contrary to the interpretations of most submarine historians, this book concludes that BuOrd did not sit idly by while torpedoes failed on patrol after patrol. BuOrd acknowledged problems from early in the war, but their processes and their tunnel vision prevented them from realizing that the weapon sent to the fleet was grossly defective. One of World War II's forgotten heroes, Admiral Lockwood drove the process for finding and fixing the three major defects. This is first book that deals exclusively with the torpedo problem, building its case out of original research from the archives of the Bureau of Ordnance, the Chief of Naval Operations, Vice Admiral Lockwood's personal correspondence, and records from the British Admiralty at the National Archives of the United Kingdom. These sources are complemented by correspondence and interviews with men who actually participated in the events. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Enjoyable, interesting, but "light"
Did I enjoy the book? Yes.
Did I learn a lot about the US Navy's WWII torpedo problems? Yes.

Still, a book about the issue could have done more.

A significant part of the book is taken up with short stories of sub combat actions, even back into WWI. These do provide context for the whole problem, and show the specifics of what sub captains were experiencing with their torpedoes. While they are an enjoyable part of the book, sometimes they are longer than they need to be to advance the issue of improving torpedoes. (E.g., surface battles in the Savo island area are described in more detail than seem to be necessary to compare the effects of Japanese vs. American torpedoes fired from surface ships.Or, the experience of the Hunley sub in the US Civil War is not just mentioned, but explained in a fair bit of detail. Interesting, but off the main topic.)

Surprisingly to me, the book is quite non-technical.

There is a description of the contact part of the Mk. 6 exploder, but it wasn't sufficient for me to visualize the design or truly understand why the firing pin jammed in its rails during high speed, perpendicular hits -- one of the key torpedo problems at issue. We also learn nothing about magnetic exploders to understand why the magnetic signature of ships at different latitudes caused problems with the US exploder design. Thus, far more could have been done with the technical side of torpedo design.

The author does do a good job in uncovering the many messages travelling back and forth among the various parties involved -- such as Lockwood, Blandy, the sub captains, and BuOrd, so we see the frustrations and problems as they developed throughout the war.

The writing style is good enough. Occasionally there is a slightly over-dramatic flourish that doesn't ring true, but this is minor. (E.g., The analogy that a carrier that was refuelling aircraft "was little more than a ticking time bomb waiting for a spark". Huh? An electrically activated time bomb wouldn't be vulnerable to a spark or even a flame nearby -- It was the ship that was vulnerable to explosions.)


Overall: This is not the definitive story of the US Navy's torpedo problems in WWII, but it is an enjoyable and interesting read, explaining how the problems played out throughout the war and were gradually solved.

A must in any serious naval library
Well written, broad coverage of the submariner's plight with ineffective torpedoes and inert brass.The anecdotes are well chosen and spaced. The few line drawings however precious remain difficult to decipher by a layman.

An outstanding account!
Iron Men and Tin Fish: The Race to Build a Better Torpedo During World War II offers a fine survey of the history and roles torpedoes played during World War II. It focuses on the torpedo development of both sides in the process of offering a 'you are there' story of submarine warfare, blending the narrative with accounts of U.S. sub experiences with faulty torpedoes. An outstanding account!

Bill
This book is a must for anyone that wants to understand the what, where, when, why and how of the failure of United States submarine torpedos in WWII, and no collection of books about the submarine war is complete without it.

Partial History of Submarine Warfare
As one interested in submarine warfare, particularly during WWII, I was eager to see this new account, one of the first in book form in over a decade.My father was involved in the development of improved torpedoes for the U.S. Navy.It is well known that Germany had many "duds" but not as well known that throughout the war, our Mark 14, the standard, was virtually as bad as theirs.Anyone wishing to gain perspective on how close we came to defeat in this area will be fascinated by this book.Well researched, and readable.

Unfortunately, there is much "received wisdom" attached to the book.There is no discussion of work done at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, in cooperation with the the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory.Two recent articles on this work, which resulted in a new magnetic-influence torpedo prior to the end of the war, are available in The Submarine Review [...].

Because the National Archives records pertaining to this work was declassified in 1996 (based on examination the RG 74 (Bureau of Ordnance) box at the Archives, this and most recent reviews of USN torpedoes during the war are incomplete.Most end with the order to "turn off" the magnetic-influence portion of the Mark 14's torpedo exploder mechanism in late 1943, and a drubbing of Admiral Lockwood.Articles in The Submarine Review (October 2009 and April 2010) lead to a necessary revision of the history, BuOrd's role in responding to the crisis of 1941-43 with the Mark 14, and leave a very positive impression of Admiral Hussy's role in responding to the crisis.

Because of the reference material cited here, I give the book a cautionary 4 stars.However, it is not the complete history (there may never be one), but it is missing more than a year of advances in torpedo exploder developments.
The only warning I'd make is that much of the developments of that period are, as yet, classified.Therefore, don't consider any such book a final authority. ... Read more

Product Description
Vargas Llosa--an author, a politician, and a man with fascinating insight into his own life--tells the story of his run for the presidency of his native Peru in 1990 and his ultimate defeat by a political unknown. Weaving the story of his run for office with the story of his journey as a man, Vargas Llosa creates a complete and complex picture of a figure whose real story is just beginning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Real Life and Fiction
Many memoirs have the benefit of allowing us a personal interpretation on events we have observed in the media on a more superficial scale.The main attraction of this memoir is being able to catch a glimpse of the real life events that later shaped Vargas Llosa's amazing fiction.The fact that his early life was the foundation of many of his great works (Conversations in the Cathedral, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter etc)is perhaps suggestion enough to the avid Vargas Llosa reader that the accounts of his childhood, adolescence and early manhood are sure to be fascinating, and indeed they are.

The stories of his early life are interspersed with his ill fated run for Presidency in Peru much later in his life.Although this section is also well written and offers an insightful if rather bleak view of the politics of the third world it doesn't match the magic and narrative interest of his earlier memoirs.

Overall this book presents a portrait of a wise, humble and compassionate man who struggles to come to terms with his ambivalence for his homeland.

Bittersweet Tale of a Sacrificial Llama
A Fish In the Water is Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa's bittersweet tale of the three years he spent in public life and of his quixotic campaign for the presidency of his native Peru.

His candidacy, he says, all came about "through the caprice of the wheel of fortune."At the time, he thought his decision to run for president of Peru was a "moral" one."Circumstances," he writes, "placed me in a position of leadership at a critical moment in the life of my country."But Vargas Llosa is first and foremost a writer, not a politician, and so he has been willing to dig a little deeper into the reasoning behind his decision."If the decadence, the impoverishment, the terrorism, and the multiple crises of Peruvian society had not made it an almost impossible challenge to govern such a country, it would never have entered my head to accept such a task."Motivation doesn't get much more quixotic than that.

Even more engaging than Vargas Llosa's revelations about his unsuccessful foray into the political world, are his reminiscences about his childhood and youth, which he intersperses throughout this book.He begins with a vivid and traumatic memory:the revelation by his mother that his father, whom the author thought had died before his birth, was, in reality, alive and waiting to meet him in a nearby hotel.It was a revelation that Vargas Llosa did not greet with joy.

In fiction, the cruelties experienced in childhood might be used to help explain the adult who survived them, but Vargas Llosa wisely makes no attempt to connect the two.The sections regarding the presidential campaign and those on his youth run along parallel tracks, but the story of his early life trails off after his graduation from college and his decision to go to Europe to write.The matter-of-fact air about the stories suggests that Vargas Llosa is more concerned with remembering than with interpreting and analyzing.

While the personal memories make for the most compelling reading, the campaign memoir does offer a convincing self-portrait of a political innocent sinking under a tide of democratic absurdities.Wildly popular at first, Vargas Llosa presented a coherent, but harsh, economic plan to his fellow Peruvians and rapidly became Peru's sacrificial llama.Near the end of the campaign, he endured catcalls, stone throwing and scurrilous allegations about almost everything, including his books.

Those of us who know and love Vargas Llosa and his books greeted his loss to Alberto Fujimori with more than one sigh of relief.But anyone who has an interest in the gorgeous landscape of Peru, Latin American politics, or the magnificent works of Mario Vargas Llosa will find this book essential reading.

Too bad he lost the election
Mario Vargas Llosa's account of his presidential campaign, interwoven with a memoir of his childhood and young adulthood, is compelling. It is a shame that someone with such a practical, intelligent and courageous plan forgoverning Peru was not elected. Vargas Llosa has serious doubts that Peruwill ever become a "serious" nation, and after reading A Fish inthe Water it's difficult to disagree. The insights into racism in Peru arefascinating, and the story of his young life is entertaining and at timesmoving, especially as it concerns his abusive father. This work is not atall self-serving, and yet the reader cannot help but admire (and like)Vargas Llosa. My only quibble is that some of the passages of his collegedays are overlong with lists of friends and acquaintances, some of whom arenot remarkable and could have easily been left out. But Vargas Llosa, asusual, has produced a work of rigor and grace.

EL PEZ EN EL AGUA MUESTRALA PSICOLOGIA DEL PERSONAJE-AUTOR
,ESTA HISTORIA TIENE DOS HILOS CONDUCTUALES,LA PRIMERA SE TRATA DE LA BIBLIOGRAFIA DEL AUTOR QUE ABARCA SU INFANCIA,SU NIÑEZ,LAADOLESCENCIA,ESTAS ETAPAS VAN ACOMPAÑADAS DE UNA SERIE DE SUCESOSIMPORTANTES EN EL PERSONAJE,COMO LA LLEGADA DE SU PADRE,LA TIA JULIA CON LACUAL LLEGA A CASARSE(,AL RESPECTO HAY UN OBRA DEL AUTOR:LA TIA JULIA Y ELESCRIBIDOR )ESTO TIENE COMO ESCENARIO DIVERSAS ZONAS DEL PERU,COMOAREQUIPA,CIUDAD NATAL DEL AUTOR Y PIURA ,SITUADA AL NORTE DEL PERU ,LA CUALJUEGA UN ROL IMPORTANTE EN EL DESEMPEÑO DE LA OBRA .EL OTRO HILOCONDUCTUAL,ES LA ENTRADA EN LA POLITICA DESDE 1987,EN ESE AÑO EL Y SUSAMIGOS PARTICIPAN DE UNA MANIFESTACION EN CONTRA DE LANACIONALIZACION DELA BANCA,ESTE HECHO COYUNTURAL ES EL INICIO DE UNA CARRERA POLITICA QUE LOVA ARRASTRANDO HASTA LLEGAR A SER CANDIDATO PARA LA PRESIDENCIA DELPERU.ESTA ETAPA SE PODRIA RESUMIR COMO ELINGRESO DE UN ESCRITOR EN LA VIDAPOLITICA LO CUAL, CONLLEVA A CONO CER LA REALIDAD DE UN PAIS ,SUS PROBLEMASY LA CLASE DE POLITICA QUERIGE ESTE PAIS.POR ULTIMO CONSIDERO QUE ESTELIBRO ES UNA CATARSISS DEL AUTOR,DE LA VIDA POLITICA QUE LLEVO DURANTE 3AÑOS Y QUE LE LLEVO A OMITIR MUCHAS COSAS PERO DE LA CUAL TAMBIEN APRENDIOMUCHO.

Navegate into deep Latin American roots.
Through the pages of A fish in the water you can navegate into deep Latin American, not only Peruvian, roots. The family, the society, the political system that corrodes even the best intended winds of change by protecting a status quo of paternalism and long time compromises. An excellent book that you would not want to end... ... Read more

Product Description
DESCRIPTION: Dear Fish,Where you live is pretty cool. You should come visit us sometime. Plus, my mom makes good pies.Sincerely,Peter AlanWhat happens when the creatures of the sea take Peter Alan up on his offer? Something fishy, of course! Watch out for a bucking bull shark at the rodeo, the invasion of a slimy school of fish, and other playful pictorial puns hidden within the illustrations. Endpapers identify more than 30 species of fish that appear in the book!This is a fantastic flight of fancy that every child will savor! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Outstanding!
I was asked to read to third graders at a local Elementary School. Not having young children, I went to our library and somehow "Dear Fish" jumped out at me from the shelves of hundreds of books. I loved it and was sure the children would too.
Just to make sure they did, I took a bottle of bubbles and began my time with the children by blowing buddles. They were delighted BUT even more delighted with the story. They crowded around me to see all the pictures and saw so many funny things the more they explored the pictures. It was a huge hit. This book is outstanding......

Dear Fish peaks curiousity and intererst in young children
Chris Gall has written and illustrated this picture book in the greatest of tradition. The story is a classic of the child who invites the fishes of the sea to come home with him and the manner in which this idea plays out is both silly and uses word play to excite children's understanding about how words and ideas interconnect, confuse, and have multiple meanings. I read this book to my Kindergarten class and they could not contain their excitement. They just loved this book and asked immediately for a re-read. For new readers, the colorful writing and display of words in different hues and sizes itself adds to the effect. The illustrations are just beautiful. A must for any book shelf, buy this book today if you have children ages 3-10.

A Tale of Two Species
Usually I can tell that I'm reading an exceptional book within the first 2-3 pages; in fact, sometimes just the cover will suggest that the illustrator and story are extaordinarily good, and that the reader is in for a treat.

Such is the case with award-winning illustrator Chris Gall's book, "Dear Fish."HIs style recalls several threads in American illustration:The bold graphics of 1940-50's advertising, the homey, small-town appeal of Norman Rockwell, the bizarrely vivid colors and exaggerated images of comic books. Gall's illustrations make this book, and he places them within a wacky but just-reasonable-enough story that one very gladly suspends disbelief. HIs pretext is that young Peter Alan, beguiled by the sea and its residents, throws a message in a bottle into the ocean:

"Dear Fish, Where you live is pretty cool. You should come visit us someday. Plus my Mom makes good pies. Sincerely, Peter Alan".

Apparently, Peter knows the hearts and mind of fish, because they take him up on his offer, slowly at first, and then with increasing rapidity.A solitary fish glopinto Peter's bathroom, interrupting the sound of his tooth-brushing with "dripping and a flipping, a flopping and a gugling."
NOt long after, catfish are "gnawing and burping" on Mr. Adam's lawn, the tentacles of jelly fish grab at jars of peanut butter (this must be one of the 10 "puns" that Galls mentions), and little Sally finds herself blowing up a blowfish instead of a balloon.

At a nearby ballpark, the fish insinuate themselves into hot dog buns and popcorn bags, and even Casey McGraw's bat looks suspiciously like a barracuda. At the rodeo, Cole Trenton ("the roughest, toughest, stinkiest cowboy that ever rode a steer) is bucked two counties away by a bucking....shark!

This immensely enjoyable work succeeds on both the narrative and visual dimentsion. Gall's allusions to "Casey at the Bat," Tug McGraw, and traditional children's book descriptions of cowboy illustrate his keen observation and appreciation of American history and folklore. He borrows some of the most popular icons of popular culture and affectionately explodes them with his fish tale. There are some stunning two-page spreads as well, including a hot air balloon lifted by a floating whale, and a school full of (a school of) big orange "big-eyes." (I know that's their name only because Gall nicely labels pictures of his fish on the endpapers.

As you might expecrt, this invasion "is a little more than Peter Alan expected." He writes another letter, politing stating that "you are nice, but you are fish." "Plus," he writes, "I think I hear your mothers calling." After much cleaning, and promises by Peter that he won't throw a fish non-fry again, he's allowed back at the beach, where he finds a letter from the fish to the "Humans." In a wonderful and swift surprise conclusion, we see Peter and his family driving a woody hitched to a 1950's trailor. (Perhaps the fish will resort to a letter similar to the one Peter wrote: You are nice, but you are humans.)

Full of humor, wit, and spectacular illustrations, this is an inventive and highly original work that kids and adults will enjoy.The density of the illustrations and the quirky situations will ensure repeated readings, and a spot on the bookshelf reserved for favorites. For 2008, the first book in my annual list of the top 20 kids' books I've read each year.

How I became a Pirate
I bought this book for my 5 year old grandson who just loves pirates and thought this book the "greatest".The illustrations are great and the text is fun!

A Caldecott Contender
I bought this book because my 3 year old nephew loves fish and spends a lot of time at the ocean. When it arrived I was amazed at the quality of the illustrations which most certainly could put this book up for a Caldecott Medal this year. Happily, my nephew was as enthralled with the pictures and the sweet story as I was. This is a book he'll enjoy for many years to come as will anyone who reads it to him. For the pictures alone, a new classic that belongs on every child who loves the beach's shelf. ... Read more

Product Description
From a star fishmonger, a unique cookbook and guide to healthful, eco-friendly seafood

Winner of the coveted IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) "Cookbook of the Year" award!

Few people know more about fish than Paul Johnson, whose Monterey Fish Market in San Francisco supplies seafood to some of the nation's most celebrated chefs, from Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Michael Mina to Todd English, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. Now, Johnson at last shares his peerless seafood expertise. Written for people who love seafood but worry about the overfishing of certain species as well as mercury and other contaminants, Fish Forever pinpoints today's least-endangered, least-contaminated, best-tasting fish and shellfish species. Johnson provides in-depth guidance on 70 different fish along with 96 stylish international recipes that highlight the outstanding culinary qualities of each. In addition to teaching readers about sustainable fishing practices, Johnson will be donating a portion of his royalties to Save Our Wild Salmon, an organization that works to restore wild salmon runs. Complete with over 60 beautiful color photographs, how-to tips, and fascinating sidebars, Fish Forever is a must-have kitchen resource for seafood lovers everywhere. A mutiple award winner, this great book also won the IACP's "Best Single-Subject Cookbook." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Great Resource
This book is invaluable for the knowledge you will gain about so many species of fish, and seems to be written with a very fair and balanced approach towards the importance of preserving the eco-system and not over-reacting.While I prefer my cookbooks to be a little more photo/lifestyle oriented, there is no doubt that the intent here is to inform, and it does a fabulous job of that.Great writing, and the recipes look good, if complex.

Great Recipes and Informative
This is a very informative, interesting book which includes excellent recipes for fish.My husband found this in the library and couldn't stop reading it.He finally requested his own copy for the recipes which we use frequently.The author is very knowledgeable and gives practical tips on purchasing and preparing fresh seafood.

Changed the way we eat...
I think of this as a food book more than a cookbook.It is a book about fish that has a few favorite recipes for each type of fish discussed.The recipes are very good.For example, I am known for my salmon glazes.But the simple tomato basil relish that Paul Johnson recommends has been requested by my wife every time we have had salmon since we got this book.But the philosophy of how to eat fish (which fisheries and and aquacultures to avoid) has changed how we buy fish as well (starting with the humble tuna fish salad sandwich).The index could be improved (e.g., try finding his discussion of farmed vs. wild salmon), not every type of commercial fish is listed and some of the species he discusses have never been seen at our local fish market.But the writing and recipes are both great. Now we just have to wait for the rest of the species to come into season.Highly recommended!

If you like fish you will love this book
Hated fish as a kid, but love it as an elderly guy.
I was fortunate to have an opportunity to fish commercially for salmon before the decline of the fishery.I steadily developed a great appreciation for seafood and the industry. I have not met the author, but I have heard about the good things he has done to support the fisheries.
I have his book, "Fish Forever" and have used this quide to prepare a variety of seafoods. It is a favorite reference.

Nice addition to culinary library
Would love to have seen more photos.Pleasant to read and to be used as a resource. ... Read more

Product Description
Life under the sea can be as dull as dishwater, until Barry arrives, that is. See, Barry is no ordinary fish—he's a fish with fingers! And fingers mean finger puppets, finger painting, knitting, counting to ten, tickling, and all sorts of fun things. It isn't long before all of the other fish want fingers, too. Life under the sea will never be the same again. . . . 
Sue Hendra's hilarious text and bright, bold, colorful art will have youngsters begging to read this story again and again.

Customer Reviews (1)

Cuter than Nemo
Nemo, it's time to retire. There's a new fish on the block and he is even cuter than you. He is Barry, an electric blue fish of indeterminate species who happens to have five orange fingers on each of his pectoral fins.

From the perspective of a red and orange sea slug, Barry's fingered arrival is a shock to the community of fish in author Sue Hendra's aquatic world. However, Barry's fingers present a solution to the fishes' biggest problem: boredom.Barry shows the fish all the fun things that can be done with fingers: playing piano, finger-painting, typing, finger puppets, knitting a scarf, counting to ten, and tickling.When the waters grow suddenly dark and a wooden box falls from a ship overhead, the fish are in for a big surprise, which, for adults will be ironically humorous.

Hendra's undersea illustrations are simply magnificent.The single color blocks that comprise the plants, water, and sea floor are bold but harmonious, and the brightly colored fish in this book are so irresistibly adorable, parents will find themselves scouring the Internet, wishing a company would start manufacturing Barry-themed children's toys.

Reviewed by Megan Just ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Warmed My Winter!
My sister (who has lived in Montgomery AL for many years), gave me this book as a Christmas gift.It warmed my upstate New York winter! I love the philosophy, the linkage to history, the stories, the emphasis on local food and farmers, and the recipes. I even learned that I could make use of honeysuckle blossoms! ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a given for recreational and commercial fishermen as well as anyone who loves the outdoors! Since most anglers identify their fish by reviewing illustrations rather than using scientific keys, the authors have succeeded in making fishing easier by providing superb illustrations and detailed diagnostics for fish identification. A valuable, one-stop reference tool for everyday anglers, fisheries experts, biologists, and outdoors writers, this guide includes intensively researched information on 207 species of saltwater fish, essential data on each species’ habitat, identification, typical size, and food value. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book
Wonderfully illustrated and informative, would have liked ideas on what to use for bait for the specific fish.

Beautiful Drawings and Information
I do a lot of fishing in the Gulf and realize that even some very experienced anglers are sometimes weak on the identification of certain species.I don't exclude myself from this category.I scanned this particular book and it seemed reasonably complete and includes many species rarely or never seen in my part of the Northern Gulf.One example of an extremely common misidentification is the 'bonita'.At one time I lived in California and caught hundreds of Pacific bonita.I even saw one [Atlantic bonita] caught in the Gulf.The vast majority of the fish Gulf anglers call 'bonita' are 'Little Tunny.'The markings are quite different and although the true bonita is marginally edible the 'Little Tunny' is best used as cut bait.

Anyway, Raver's drawings are superb and the biology, fish descriptions and quantification of edibility is also quite good.I would say, however, that 'edibility' is in the mouth of the eater.I love King Mackeral balls but Red Snapper [which I had just tonight] is only average to my taste buds.I love barracuda, speckled trout, cobia and grouper.Redfish are OK but not the big ones.Skipjack tuna, a fish that many anglers throw back, is quite good.As a matter of fact, it is the backbone of the commercial tuna fishery.Dorados [Dolfinfish] are terrific.They are beautiful, hard fighting, numerous and delicious.They're a little like Al Capp's Schmoos.Blackfin tuna are just as good as Yellowfin and are, in my opinion, best served cold and raw with Wasabe sauce.

Best of its Kind
One of the best fish identification and biology books I've used.The superb images by Raver are much better for identification purposes than photographs, which almost always seem to have some obscured diagnostic features.They are not only accurate, but beautiful works of art.The text on each fish is informative, fun to read and useful to me in learning more about the fish that I pursue.

Did not buy
Reviews mention photos, pictures, drawings. Which one is it? A photo is worth a thousand words. A drawing is only as good as the artist who drew it. Amazon software would not allow me to see the quality for myself.Without a worthy review, I did not buy.

Mediocre
Lots of good info on the fish and their habitats.Very good drawings.But I expected more info on "angling" than it had.No information on size limits or quantity limits, and no info at all on how to catch the fish.I guess I expected it to be a guide to angling and not an angler's guide.I think there are much better books for less, and wouldn't suggest this book to someone as inexperienced as myself that are just wanting to catch fish on vacation.I know I wouldn't buy it if I had it to do over again. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (25)

The Larger Picture
This book should be seen as part of a larger picture.I found myself incapable of reading the book as a self contained entity, but instead as a reflection of much larger issues of India, religion, culture, the publishing industry, and the memoir genre in particular.Judging from the various reviews of the book, other readers were doing the same.I feel that the spectrum of reviews going from glowing to trashing are as much a reflection of the reader's position on these other matters as they are a reflection of the quality of the book.

Although I am a native Texan, (not of the same mindset as a certain ex-president), I lived for many years in India.I married there and my son was born there.From my own experiences, I found nothing remotely unusual about the incidents in the book.Everything seemed very believable and normal.However there was definitely a large degree of "cherry picking" which favoured the unpleasant and tended to neglect the positive aspects of life in India.This tended to portray her childhood as being traumatic, while I feel that in reality it was probably a very rich upbringing.

Is this an indication of some deep maladjustment on the part of the author? (note therhetorical question;-) Possibly - but not necessarily.This style has become a very marketable formula in an already troubled publishing industry.It has become so over used that it is becoming cliche.However it was still the "in" style at the time that this book was being put together.

We must also remember that a book is not just the work of one writer.As the book goes from the writer to the agent, and then to the publisher, there are numerous editorial changes.At some point the author looses control of the work.One cannot help but notice that the style of the book changes in the last quarter.Although this is pure conjecture on my point, I am hazarding a guess that this change reflects editorial input designed to make the book more marketable.I am guessing that it is the first three quarters of the book which is closer to the author's original writing style.But I would love to hear from someone who is much closer to the author concerning this point.

Well that is just my two bits worth.

Peace

David Courtney

wonderful narrative voice, and narrative
I wish this author would write MY memoirs someday, because I really love her voice.The "plot" of her life is quirky, to be sure, but she tells it with such warmth and grace, I could not put this book down.

Reads like a novel
As I read Rachel Brown's book it reminded me of how we took apart novels in college. If this had been discussed we would discuss how her abused mother felt drawn to, felt the need for a father figure. Is it remarkable Baba becomes her God? (A name meaning father in various languages). The mother drives away husband and daughter searching for the good father she didn't have. Religion then becomes the search for all of our inadequacies. Such high concepts in an autobiography make me feel all that discussion in school was not just BS. Overall great read, and great fun on any level.

Local Mao makes good
Rachel Manija Brown, All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in India (Rodale, 2005)

I'm not a big fan of memoirs, but I have to admit, once this one gets rolling, it's a great deal of fun. Brown, who grew up on a backwater ashram in India among what Nicholas Basbanes has called (referring to book collectors) the gently mad, writes of her formative years with an incisive wit and a truly twisted sense of humor. Any book that makes one chuckle and cringe simultaneously is doing something right. This book does it all too often.

More than anything, I find it unfortunate that I found nothing here hard to swallow. Religious wingnuts worshipping a dead guy in a diaper? Check. Pervasive physical and emotional abuse at a Catholic school? Check. Rampant prejudice? Check. Crazy drivers? Check. (Though it is tough to believe that there are worse drivers than those in and around Boston.) Adults who treat kids like they're idiots? I remember that one all too well. Brown reminds me of me as a kid, in many ways. Early and voracious reader, picked on a lot, much preferred being alone to the company of others. My parents were less crazy, but it's not too hard to extrapolate.

Because of this, and because of some of the less glowing reviews of the book I've seen, I wonder if there isn't more of a vertical market for this book than one might expect in our current memoir-crazy society. If you, too, are that kid, then I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you were the person who picked on that kid... eh, maybe not for you. *** ½

Yes, we know you're intelligent.
I hate to disagree with my Fellow Readers, but I found this to be an insufferable diatribe about how intelligent the author is.Yes, we know she was an early reader.Yes, we know she had a terrific vocabulary by the age of 7.I was so tired of hearing how bright this child was that I found it hard to finish the book.As an American Educator, I found her mother's quote insulting as well; "American schools don't know how to deal with kids as bright as you are."Give me a break; we are trained to enrich as we are trained to remediate~her experience shouldn't be fodder for such an unfair generalization.Maybe she should have elected to edit her mother's comment or leave it out altogether.At any rate, I have better things to do with my summer vacation than finish this essay.I did enjoy some of the snippets into Indian and ashram life so if you can get by this author's attempt to hit you over the head with her brilliance, it may be worth your while. ... Read more

Product Description
A perfect gift for new parents, birthday celebrations, and happy occasions of all kinds, this collection of five beloved Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss—The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, and Fox in Socks—will be cherished by young and old alike. Ideal for reading aloud or reading alone, they will begin a child on the adventure of a lifetime! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

SO EXCITED TO READ THEM AGAIN
I am so excited to read these books to my grandchildren. I read them to my children and they loved them. I received my books very quickly in the best condition as promised. I will be ordering more books real soon based on the wonderful service from Amazon.

Dr Seuss Rocks
I am very happy to have purchased this collection of Dr.Seuss's Beginner Books.I read every one of them when I was a child and thoroughly enjoyed them.When the opportunity to buy them for my son arose, I couldn't place the order fast enough.These books are perfect for new readers.They not only offer the opportunity to enjoy reading, but they give new readers easy to understand words that help them to better enhance their reading skills.

Dr. Suess's children books are wonderful educational tools for kids
I love Dr. Seuss's books! When I was 32 yrs. old I gave birth to my only child/son.During his infant years and through 5-6 years old, I read him all of Dr. Suess's books and fairy tale books over and over. Through constant repetition of his favorite books, he was able to recite and read out loud an entire book by himself and also knowing when to exactly turn the page of a book. I credit Dr. Seuss for making my son's early years a wonderful and fun reading/listening experience of "magical" books filled with excitement, adventure and laughter. He is now 27 years old, married and is expecting his first child soon. He still remembers and can recite "One fish, Two Fish". He claims Dr. Suess's books is one of the best educational tools you can give to a child to learn how to read and still make it fun for them.I bought this beginner book collection, so his child can also enjoy the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss!

nice dr seuss intro
very speedy service, with five great books that introduce the awesomeness of dr seuss to young readers

Dr. Seuss ROCKS !!!
I bought this set for a grand-niece - I read them all to my own children & hope someday to read them to my grandchildren. This is a fabulous collection.It's not every Dr. Seuss book you'll end up wanting (he wrote a lot more), but it sure is a great beginning. What's really great about Dr. Seuss is that the books not only help with bonding with a child, but also reading, counting, rhyming, imagination etc...and the illustrations are bold & bright (think of the animated movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - another great Dr. Seuss book. Buy these books and see where they will take you & your children. Every book in this collection is on the list of top selling childrens books of all time - #4 is 'Green Eggs & Ham' & #9 is 'The Cat in the Hat' What else can I say?It's Dr. Seuss - the best!! ... Read more

Product Description

Everything you never knew about sushi—its surprising origins, the colorful lives of its chefs, the bizarre behavior of the creatures that compose it—is revealed in this entertaining documentary account by the author of the highly acclaimed The Secret Life of Lobsters.

Customer Reviews (48)

I want to see "Top Chef: Sushi" on the Food Network!
This is an entertaining and educational book -- I could have done without all the travails of Kate, the "main character," and the other aspiring sushi chefs, but Corson included a class of students at a California sushi chef school in his narrative, telling us about sushi preparation and the sushi business through them. To me, more interesting was the history of sushi (which, naturally, was originally something very different than what you buy at the supermarket today and which you'd probably consider disgusting), as well as lots of chemistry for food science geeks (you learn all about exactly what chemicals make seafood so delicious, as well as all the ways it can go bad). Learn which fish sushi chefs consider to be true delicacies, and which are the crappy fish Japanese used to consider unworthy of sushi, but which Americans love.

Definitely made me want to go out and eat some sushi.

must-read for sushi lovers
An intriguing look at the American sushi industry and the joys of sushi itself.You will gain a great appreciation for the "saga" of the seemingly simplistic hunk of rice and fish that most people don't give a second thought.If you're going to lay down $100+ for a sushi dinner, it's worth knowing the full story.Then again, this book may make you hungry and curious enough to run out and thrown down $100+ for a sushi dinner when you otherwise would be content with some spicy roll from the supermarket.

Story of sushi
The history and science are what really impressed me here, but the framing tale of a 12 week sushi class held at an excellent, but financially troubled, sushi restaurant in LA worked reasonably well also. I really could associate with the students, having troubles with the daily knife sharpening, and with the fish guts, and struggling through Japanese lessons, fish anatomy, and the harsh realities of the restaurant business. I considered myself a reasonably knowledgeable sushi fan before reading the book, but found that a lot of the "facts" were half truths and mixed up "traditions." I can't imagine any sushi fan not getting a lot out of this book. This book is alternately titled as The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice (P.S.) with more reviews and availability.

A lot of history & science of fish, rice, and sushi preparations
The history and science are what really impressed me here, but the framing tale of a 12 week sushi class held at an excellent, but financially troubled, sushi restaurant in LA worked reasonably well also. I really could associate with the students, having troubles with the daily knife sharpening, and with the fish guts, and struggling through Japanese lessons, fish anatomy, and the harsh realities of the restaurant business. I considered myself a reasonably knowledgeable sushi fan before reading the book, but found that a lot of the "facts" were half truths and mixed up "traditions." I can't imagine any sushi fan not getting a lot out of this book.

American Sushi
This is a book, I think, for lovers of the American-style sushi joint.This is for people who judge a hot new sushi place on the different and exciting kinds of rolls they serve, and for people who think a "Volcano Roll" or a "Mango Chutney Roll with Spicy Curry Sauce" sounds like a delectable treat.

On the other hand, if the words "Edo mae," "Otoro" or "Omakase" have any meaning to you, if the yellow insides of a sea urchin start your mouth drooling instead of gagging, you are probably best off staying away.

Trevor Corson's "The Story of Sushi" is not a pure history book, but instead flip-flops between sushi history in Japan and its development in the US and between telling the story of a class of students enrolled at the California Sushi Academy.The California Sushi Academy offers a 12-week course that circumvents the traditional multi-year apprenticeship system of Japan and delivers sushi-bar ready sushi chefs who are able to meet the current high demand at US restaurants.

From amongst the students Corson chose to follow Kate as his main character.A young woman of around twenty, Kate lacks confidence, has an unspecified eating disorder, is shy and inward, is terrified of her own sushi knives, has no cooking skills and is disgusted at the idea of touching a raw fish, much less cutting one.Directionless and unsure of herself, Kate borrowed money from her parents to attend the sushi school on somewhat of a whim, hoping for a career where she could socialize with customers as her main concern.

Kate is where the book starts, with chapter one, page one, and Kate is where the book fell apart for me.Obviously, Corson saw in Kate someone he hoped his audience could identify with, someone for whom sushi was still slightly "yucky" and who would be grossed out by the concept of eating octopus and squid.I was personally just annoyed by her, and found myself hoping she would drop-out instead of persevere. Her constant whining and self-doubt got to be too much, and she is the kind of character you wish your could somehow reach into the book and give a good smack on the face too.

It's too bad, because the other students who are relegated to the side-lines seemed so much more interesting than Kate. But we don't get to here their stories; like Takumi, the hard-working Japanese student who is secretly a pop star in Japan but escaped to the US where his anonymity allowed him to study his true love, cooking.Or even the Japanese-American girl who dropped out halfway through the course.Why?We'll never know.

As far as the parts of the book that actually focus on sushi history, they are interesting but nothing new.A bit of time browsing wikipedia would bring you the same information, such as the invention of the California Roll by Ichiro Mashita at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant in LA in the 1960s when he found himself out of fatty tuna and decided to slip in avocado as a quick substitute, or the ins and outs of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo where the bounty of the seas is flash-frozen and auctioned to the highest bidder.

Perhaps the lack of any real new historical information or ground to cover is what gave Corson the idea of giving over half of the book to Kate and the California Sushi Academy.If you are a real sushi novice, then perhaps much of this will be new to you and the behind-the-scenes look at the sushi school will be valuable/entertaining.Personally I just didn't find a lot here.

On one last note:When I bought this book, it was called "The Zen of Sushi" and I see that the name has since been changed to "The Story of Sushi" which makes me happy.For someone who has "resided in Buddhist temples in Tokyo" (as it says in his author's bio) Corson should know better than to mis-use the term "Zen" in that way.
... Read more

Product Description
John McPhee's twenty-sixth book is a braid of personal history, natural history, and American history, in descending order of volume. Each spring, American shad-Alosa sapidissima-leave the ocean in hundreds of thousands and run heroic distances upriver to spawn.

McPhee--a shad fisherman himself--recounts the shad's cameo role in the lives of George Washington and Henry David Thoreau. He fishes with and visits the laboratories of famous ichthyologists; he takes instruction in the making of shad darts from a master of the art; and he cooks shad in a variety of ways, delectably explained at the end of the book. Mostly, though, he goes fishing for shad in various North American rivers, and he "fishes the same way he writes books, avidly and intensely. He wants to know everything about the fish he's after--its history, its habits, its place in the cosmos" (Bill Pride, The Denver Post).His adventures in pursuit of shad occasion the kind of writing--expert and ardent--at which he has no equal.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Too much detail, too little McPhee
I was really excited to sit down with this, but I came away pretty unimpressed. This doesn't really match up to other classic McPhee writings. It's too focused on cataloging every mention of shad in American history, to the point of boredom. There are a few nice vignettes of shad fishermen and fish scientists, but they are brief, and they don't make up the narrative arc of the story as so many other McPhee writings do.

If you're really into fish, you're going to like this. But unlike other McPhee books, it didn't draw me in when I wasn't interested in the subject. It's good writing, just not presented in an interesting way.

A Heads Up
If you liked the shad book try The Book of Eels: On the Trail of the Thin-heads. I just finished it and it immediately reminded me of McPhee's book. It is extremely well written and informative book about one of the most interesting of fishes, despite the eel's image problems. It is as good a natural history as I have read. I would have liked more on eel sport fishing but too few do that to have been included, I guess.I am surprised there are not more reviews on the Fort book.

More But Also Less About Shad
Like other McPhee essay books, this book contains more than most folks really wish to know about the topic - in this case shad fish. However, also as usual, McPhee's presentation and research is so well executed that the reader, at the end, is glad he learned more than he wished. Probably the prime example of McPhee's ability to fascinate with the trivial is in his book 'Oranges'.

Here, however, unlike other McPhee books I've read, the author's personally involved with the topic. He's a dedicated shad fisherman. Thus we're treated to perhaps 50% of the book being given over to his experiences trying to kill these animals. The interest some folks have in fishing completely escapes me. The idea that you are outwitting a fish seems a bit of a bizarre boast to me, but I know this is a popular pastime. Even McPhee can't generate in me, and I suppose other non-fishermen, an interest in this sport.

However, it being McPhee, I was hardly bored with the fishing talk and completely taken up with the balance of the book especially the few chapters of fish farming and fishing contests in general. I had no idea some folks try to win fishing contests with frozen fish or that the prizes (awarded by who, I wonder) are so large.

McPhee's research is, as usual, impeccable and he addresses a rather interesting chapter in early US history changing the way that history is written in so many books. Also to give this author enormous credit, he, although a fisherman himself, admits that PETA's charge that fishing is the cruelest form of hunting, has some merit. He then discusses this charge rather than dismissing it out of hand as most fisherman most likely do. Curiously, he does not delve into the fossil history of shad or its ancestors. Since the nature of a shad is an ancient fish, I expected quite a bit of this.

Definitely worth a read.

Biological McPhee
I've read plenty of McPhee, and liked it, but this was my favorite. Two reasons: 1) as a vertebrate biologist, I find fish even more interesting than rocks, canoes, and archdruids. 2) I used to live a half mile from the Delaware River, where much of the action of this book occurs.
McPhee mixes biology, history, personal (fishing) experience, and even cooking to create a synergy that's greater as a whole than the sum of its parts. I loved it. As always, the writing is crisp, clear, and crafted and the research is both broad and deep. McPhee's stuff is always about details, so people who want a breezy overview don't like him--their loss.

I can't help but shake my head in wonder at some of the negative reviews of this book here on Amazon. First, it seems ridiculous to criticize a BOOK for the way it's read aloud on the audio version. Second, anyone who can use the phrases "poorly worded" and "John McPhee" in the same sentence is, it seems to me, nuts. Finally, those who criticize the "preachy animal-rights" stuff (about 5 pages of the whole book) are clearly doing so only because they disagree with what they seem to think he concludes; McPhee gives his opinions on some controversial topics, and he backs them up with his reasons...this is not "preaching." I believe these critics fail a reading comprehension test anyway. McPhee is thoughtful and open-minded on the subject, and, unlike these critics, he tells you the sources of his research. He is well aware of the apparent contradiction between enjoyment of "playing" a fighting fish and admitting that fish feel pain...it's all right there in the book. In the end, McPhee is unwilling to give up his favorite pastime but concludes that it is less cruel to kill and eat his catch than to release a damaged animal to die slowly when out of his sight. If you're going to argue with that, you're going to have to provide your own sources and detail your own thought processes...McPhee does.

Anyway. In MY opinion, a great piece of nonfiction. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

The Founding Fish
This book is a classic about the American Shad. It covers fishing for shad, it''s biology, it's life cycle; just about everything about shad is in the book. Exciting to read and very informative. It's only deficiency is that it is not indexed- Joe Zaientz, Haddam Shad Museum. ... Read more