Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
For the category Wild Animals of the 2022 NONFICTION READER CHALLENGE , I chose Cod, by Mark Kurlansky, 1999. The sub-heading of the book attracted me. I’ve read a number of non-fiction books about an item that ‘changed the world,’ such as coal, cotton and cement. I understand there is also a book about figs that claims the same thing. For some reason, I find such minute histories to be extremely interesting. Although I felt there was not enough support for how the codfish changed the world, I learned more information about the fish and the fishing industry than I ever thought I would know. This book was the winner of the Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards as the Special Award Food Book 1999. I hadn’t known about that award, but it turns out that I had read one of the winning books ( Toast: The story of a boy’s hunger , by Nigel Slater). However, it was discontinued in 2008. I also like reading about the history of foods, for some reason. Even if they were not claimed to have ch...