The Big Oyster

As Joker and I learned one summer evening, a big oyster is not necessarily a good oyster. In fact, some big oysters are palatable only when cut in half. Others, such as Mark Kurlansky's The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, require a bit more work.

The book starts out quite interesting, using the story of that most delicious bivalve to tell the early history of New York City. Before too long, though, it just becomes a gimmick that the author seems to believe has a far more grandiose purpose. The thing that really got to me, though, was his poor writing. I'm not talking about a writing style that I don't particularly enjoy, a la David Sedaris. I mean that Kurlansky's lousy grammar and punctuation would have had my Grandma D stomping her foot in anger. Didn't he have an editor?

I'm not trying to say that the book is without merit. In fact, Kurlansky's use of oyster recipes dating back to the 1600s was quite interesting to me. Had I given it any prior thought, I would have assumed cookbooks to a more of a modern phenomenon. And the gluttony of these recipes was impressive, many calling for fifty oysters or more!

My suggestion would be to skip this book and eat a dozen oysters (of a nice, modest size) the next opportunity you have.