Mark Kurlansky





Mark Kurlansky

Author profile


born
in Hartford, Connecticut, The United States
December 07, 1948

gender
male

website

genre


About this author

Mark Kurlansky (born 7 December 1948 in Hartford, Connecticut) is a highly-acclaimed American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. He is especially known for titles on eclectic topics, such as cod or salt.

Kurlansky attended Butler University, where he harbored an early interest in theatre and earned a BA in 1970. However, his interest faded and he began to work as a journalist in the 1970s. During the 70’s he worked as a correspondent in Western Europe for the Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and eventually the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. He moved to Mexico in 1982 where he continued to do journalism. He wrote his first book, A Continent of Islands, in 1992 and went on to write several books throughou...more


Average rating: 3.73 · 31,148 ratings · 3,605 reviews · 25 distinct works · Similar authors
Salt: A World History
3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 17,147 ratings — published 2002 — 30 editions
Cod: A Biography of the Fis...
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 6,708 ratings — published 1997 — 33 editions
The Basque History of the W...
3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 3,008 ratings — published 1991 — 56 editions
The Big Oyster: History on ...
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 1,394 ratings — published 2005 — 21 editions
The Food of a Younger Land:...
3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 avg rating — 1,066 ratings — published 2009 — 13 editions
Nonviolence: Twenty-five Le...
by
4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 512 ratings — published 2006 — 11 editions
The Last Fish Tale: The Fat...
3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 avg rating — 309 ratings — published 1998 — 15 editions
Edible Stories: A Novel in ...
2.69 of 5 stars 2.69 avg rating — 253 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions
Choice Cuts: A Savory Selec...
3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 2002 — 9 editions
The Eastern Stars: How Base...
2.96 of 5 stars 2.96 avg rating — 156 ratings — published 2010 — 11 editions
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“In every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable have true value. The search for love and the search for wealth are always the two best stories. But while a love story is timeless, the story of a quest for wealth, given enough time, will always seem like the vain pursuit of a mirage.”
Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History

“Man wants to see nature and evolution as separate from human activities. There is a natural world, and there is man. But man also belongs to the natural world. If he is a ferocious predator, that too is part of evolution. If cod and haddock and other species cannot survive because man kills them, something more adaptable will take their place. Nature, the ultimate pragmatist, doggedly searches for something that works. But as the cockroach demonstrates, what works best in nature does not always appeal to us.”
Mark Kurlansky, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World

“modern people have seen too many chemicals and are ready to go back to eating dirt.”
Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History

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