Description

“Eels [is] more than a fish book. It is an impassioned defense of nature itself. . . . [Prosek] passes on the truth that the often disdained eel, like all migratory fish, is vital and mysterious and worthy of our full effort to bring it back.”   — New York Times Book Review

“A wonderful account of far-flung travels in pursuit of the secrets of the earth’s most mysterious fish. . . . Fascinating and beautifully rendered.” — Peter Matthiessen

Famous for his deeply informed, compulsively readable books on trout, James Prosek (whom the New York Times has called “the Audubon of the fishing world”) takes on nature’s quirkiest and most enigmatic fish: the eel. Fans of Mark Kurlansky’s Cod and The Big Oyster or Trevor Corson’s The Secret Life of Lobsters will love Prosek’s probing exploration of the hidden deep-water dwellers. With characteristically captivating prose and lavish illustrations, Prosek demystifies the eel’s unique biology and bizarre mating routines, and illuminates the animal’s varied roles in the folklore, cuisine, and commerce of a variety of cultures.

About the Author

James Prosek is a writer and artist. Dubbed “the Audubon of the fishing world” by the New York Times, his books include Trout, The Complete Angler, and Fly-Fishing the 41st. He lives in Easton, Connecticut.

Praise For…

“Eels [is] more than a fish book. It is an impassioned defense of nature itself... In Eels, [Prosek] passes on the truth that the often disdained eel, like all migratory fish, is vital and mysterious and worthy of our full effort to bring it back.” — New York Times Book Review

“Prosek has a talent for observation. . . . He finds the beauty in things, the hook, the reason why they get to us, why they lodge in our subconscious. . . . Yes, it’s a book about eels — but it’s the stuff of dreams, and it’s all true.” — Los Angeles Times

“Entertaining. . . . Prosek’s writing is fluid and relaxed” — Washington Post

“A wonderful account of far-flung travels in pursuit of the secrets of the earth’s most mysterious fish. . . . Fascinating and beautifully rendered.” — Peter Matthiessen

“A delightful work with the urgency of a good detective story.” — Thomas McGuane

“[A] riveting synthesis of cultural, geographical, and botanical sleuthing.” — Publishers Weekly

“I loved it! A beautiful adventure story of one of the most wide-spread and least-known but ecologically important fish.” — Bernd Heinrich, author of Summer World

“A comprehensive and appreciative study of one of the world’s most mysterious creatures. . . . [Prosek] has collected anguilline myths, lore and recipes from all over the world” — The Economist

“[Prosek is] a diligent natural historian, keen to the greater landscape. . . . A warm, enrapturing paean to the totemic potency of eels.” — Kirkus Reviews

“An engagingly written account... Readers interested in anthropology and folklore, fishing, and natural history will also enjoy this volume, which is enhanced by the author’s etchings.” — Library Journal

“Enthralling. . . . The eel’s story is remarkable, and so are Prosek’s tales of eel people.” — New Scientist

“The tale of Ray Turner, a man who still fishes for eels the traditional way with a hand-built weir, is at the heart of the book, tying the mythology, the mystery, and the commerce of eels together into his story.” — Booklist

“James Prosek sets out to explore the life of an animal that he calls ‘timeless and vital, a metaphor for the resilience of life itself.’ He is an ideal guide to this world...his knowledge and abiding interest permeate the book.” — Seattle Times

“The 50-million-year-old species wouldn’t seem a likely subject for a riveting natural history book—it is covered in slime, after all—but Prosek pulls it off, thanks mostly to the rabid eel aficionados he digs up.” — Outside