The Book of Eels

A masterful narrative that is part memoir and part scientific detective story. --Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Best Science Books of the Year Enthralling.--Colorado Springs Gazette Fascinating. --What's Jordana Reading, Summer Reads Nature writing at its finest. Svensson's memories of eel fishing with his father speak to the intersection of life and science, and add to its heart. --Shelf Awareness A beguiling chronicle. --Nautilus Svensson has, quite stunningly, discovered in the natural and human history of the European eel a metaphor for his father's life and a way to explore questions of knowledge, belief and faith. --Washington Post Captivating . . . shot through with electric current. The book's deadpan title perhaps undercuts its depth and complexity. Yes, this is a book about eels, those uncanny creatures, but in Svensson's capable hands it is also a book about obsession and mystery, about faith and science, and about the limits of knowledge . . . Like Annie Dillard and Rachel Carson, Svensson knows the best nature writing is done with emotion and drive. --Minneapolis Star Tribune An unusual and beguiling guide to an unusual and beguiling animal. . . . Svensson's book, like its subject, is a strange beast: a creature of metamorphosis, a shape-shifter that moves among realms. It is a book of natural history, and a memoir about a son and his father. It is also an exploration of literature and religion and custom, and what it means to live in a world full of questions we can't always answer. --The New Yorker As much a boon to my mental life as a blow to my social one. For weeks after reading I found myself cornering people at parties to obliterate them with a machine-gun spray of eel facts. But according to The Book of Eels, I'm not alone in my eelmania. . . . If you don't think of yourself as someone who might enjoy meditating on eel glory, well, I didn't either, and here I am transcribing my encounter for publication. --New York magazine Blending a wonderfully evocative and succinct timeline of scientific discoveries about eels with a memoir of his changing relationship with his father, Svensson has produced an extremely readable book on a fish that all have heard of but few (on our side of the pond) have actually seen. --Booklist