Harry Mount
Why Ask If Shad Do It?
The Big Oyster: New York in the World – A Molluscular History
By Mark Kurlansky
Jonathan Cape 307pp £17.99 order from our bookshop
Next time you eat an oyster, you may or may not like to know that you’re eating the oyster’s brain, stomach, intestines, liver, heart, muscle, gills and lips. Oh, and that thin salty water all these things are floating in? That’s oyster blood.
People who like oysters are a robust breed – the sort who like their beef blue and their Bloody Marys fiery – and will actively like the idea of swallowing bits of anatomy. They also tend to be a pretty well-off, sophisticated breed nowadays. Even though oyster consumption is on the up, and oysters are flourishing in British waters, they are still the staple diet in Green’s of St James’s, not in McDonald’s.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'Feminists have been caricatured so often that it’s worth recalling the many obstacles placed in the path of women campaigning for equal rights.'
@polblonde on @helenlewis's new book about difficult women throughout history.
http://ow.ly/Is9c50ywe7G
'Too many historians sneer at our forbears; scolding them if they follow the customs of their own day ... tut-tutting if the poor things are detected having a little fun.'
From the archive, Mary Clive on medieval travellers.
http://ow.ly/yk8a50yrjSG
'Reading Taylor’s book has also made me join a book club. I did not like the January book; I did enjoy drinking gin while saying why.'
@clamorousvoice explores the history of women readers.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/she-readers