CAPTAIN’S BOOKSHELF

Perhaps the unlikeliest of protagonists grabs readers hook, line, and sinker in Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky.

Since Cod was published in 1997, Mark Kurlansky has gone on to write other full-length books about equally unlikely protagonists: salt, paper, oysters, milk. Though I haven’t read any of his other titles, I imagine they are written in a similar vein. Cod is an in-depth, surprisingly readable exploration of an everyday commodity that at first glance hardly seems to warrant its nearly 300 pages but in fact provides a fascinating lens on world history, economic trends, and even religion and culture.

Like any biographer, Kurlansky has his own angle on his subject, and this book is not as much about the codfish itself as it is about the people who have, over the centuries, chased, caught, sold, cooked, and eaten it. And so the book begins not with the origin of the species but with the origin of the cod-fishing industry and the Basques, the people to first turn this fish into a commodity.

The author’s journalistic style is engaging, and as it primarily gives a historical perspective, the 20-year-old book stands the test of time. (For the most part, that is. At one point, when describing a worker at a fish processing plant in Gloucester, Massachusetts, who is, of course, wearing a Red Sox cap, Kurlansky quips, “Cod and the Red Sox—Massachusetts’s beloved losers.”) The text is peppered with relevant quotes, lines from poems and sea shanties, excerpts from journals and letters, photographs and illustrations, and several recipes that span more than 600 years.

Whether or not you tend to fall for these kinds of literary nonfiction books hook, line, and sinker like me, this fish’s biography is worth a read. —Cecilia Kiely

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