Loading images...
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World, by Patrik Svensson
€10.00

Quay Books
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 crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating 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 at its best, 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. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant.
“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
More from Quay Books Browse Quay Books All
Odd John, by Olaf Stapledon
€5.00
€11.00
54% off
The Beast of Buckingham Palace, by David Walliams
€7.00
€19.00
63% off
The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film, by W. K. Stratton
€9.00
€25.00
64% off
By The Skin Of Our Teeth, The Art and Design of Morning Breath, by Jason Noto and Doug Cunningham
€8.00
€30.00
73% off
Down Many A Road: The Story of Shell in Ireland 1902-2002, by Bob Montgomery
€9.00
€30.00
70% off
Hello, Peter! (Peter Rabbit), by Beatrix Potter
€4.00
Introducing Jung: A Graphic Guide, by Maggie Hyde, Michael McGuinness & Oliver Pugh
€5.00
€10.00
50% off
The Convictions of John Delahunt, by Andrew Hughes
€4.00
€14.00
71% off