{"product_id":"big-oyster-history-on-the-half-shell-9780345476395","title":"The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Part treatise, part miscellany, unfailingly entertaining.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-The New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"A small pearl of a book . . . a great tale of the growth of a modern city as seen through the rise and fall of the lowly oyster.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-Rocky Mountain News\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAward-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants-the oyster.\u003cbr\u003e\nFor centuries New York was famous for this particular shellfish, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city's life that the abundant bivalves were Gotham's most celebrated export, a staple food for all classes, and a natural filtration system for the city's congested waterways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFilled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight-along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos-this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the seventeenth-century founding of New York to the death of its oyster beds and the rise of America's environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan's Gilded Age dining chambers. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Suffused with [Kurlansky's] pleasure in exploring the city across ground that hasn't already been covered with other writers' footprints.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Fascinating stuff . . . [Kurlansky] has a keen eye for odd facts and natural detail.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-The Wall Street Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Kurlansky packs his breezy book with terrific anecdotes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-Entertainment Weekly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Magnificent . . . a towering accomplishment.\"\u003cbr\u003e\n-Associated Press\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Random House USA Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42979015524518,"sku":"9780345476395","price":17.9,"currency_code":"MYR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0443\/8471\/4918\/products\/the-big-oyster-history-on-the-half-shell-9780345476395-32252031729842_ab65f5a2-eb05-427e-a0db-e428e4e025a4.jpg?v=1656109861","url":"https:\/\/bookxcess.myshopify.com\/products\/big-oyster-history-on-the-half-shell-9780345476395","provider":"Staging Site ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}