Reddit reviews The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell

I was almost finished reading "The Big Oyster" by New Yorker Mark Kurlansky and wanted to get to the end before posting this.

I, along with 132 Amazon readers, rate it 4.4/5 stars. It is the history of our New York region, INCLUDING Long Island, from a unique and really interesting perspective: that of the oyster.

I saw it recommended on another Reddit thread, and being a personal history buff who prefers to read about history from angles other than just those that quote dry dates and events, found it really enjoyable, informative and fun.

The author starts with a naturalist's perspective of the whole New York harbor at the time of Henry Hudson and brings us up to the present day. There is considerable mention of the oyster beds of the north shore and the Great South Bay, of the native Americans of our area and their middens (including some middens that are still buried in Manhattan).

I found out how Peter Stuyvesant lost his leg, that the Lenape Indians believed that each star in the sky is a footprint made by a loved ones walking to heaven after death (now I look at the Milky Way differently), that the oyster filled the harbor and every entrance to LI sound and Great South Bay with massive oyster reefs & was a main source of food for the poorest of the poor, etc.

It was a treat to read about the history of our area from a completely fresh perspective. If you want to check it out, just get it from your library (or request it.) 61% of the Amazon readers rated it 5/5 stars.