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The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson

Nonfiction

The Book of Eels

by Patrik Svensson

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Quick take

A deep dive into the life and legacy of one of the world's most mysterious underwater creatures: the eel.

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  • Illustrated icon, Literary

    Literary

  • Illustrated icon, Critically_Acclaimed

    Critically acclaimed

  • Illustrated icon, Brainy

    Brainy

  • Illustrated icon, Writers_Life

    Writer’s life

Synopsis

Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery.

Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson writes a book about this unusual animal.

In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel’s point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea.

Blending memoir and nature writing, Svensson’s journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death.

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Nonfiction
View all
Dead Wake
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Girl Who Smiled Beads
Thick
The Sky Is Falling
Small Fry
Too Much Is Not Enough
All That You Leave Behind
Doing Justice
Falter
The Players Ball
Bitcoin Billionaires
Leaving the Witness
City of Omens
Eyes in the Sky
On The Clock
Wild Game
My Friend Anna
Trick Mirror
Tightrope
Evicted
Big Friendship