Since the days of the Persian Empire, caviar has meant status, wealth, prestige, and sex appeal. Today it sells for $100 an ounce or more, and aficionados will go to extraordinary lengths to get their fill of it. That’s just the problem.
In Philosopher Fish Carey immerses himself in the world of sturgeon, the fish that lays these golden eggs. Ancient, shrouded in mystery, inexplicable in several of its behaviors, the sturgeon has a fascinating biologic past—and a very uncertain future. Sturgeon populations worldwide have declined 70% in the last 20 years, most drastically in the Caspian Sea, and the beluga sturgeon, producer of the most coveted caviar, is an endangered species. This new edition brings the story up to date.
“Prized for its caviar-potential roe, [the sturgeon] is currently hot among both international smugglers and ecological preservationists, and right on their dorsal fins is Carey. A lyrical and humane writer, the ecojournalist patiently tracked down hatchery biologists, luxury-food buyers, wildlife agents, and others whose livelihood depends on the sturgeon. He weaves their intersecting stories into one engrossing narrative.”
“Hard to imagine that a story about fish eggs could be ‘fast-paced,’ not to mention prophetic. But this piece of environmental journalism is both….As for the subtitle, don’t be skeptical: this really is a book about desire. It’s about how Americans balance supply and demand, how ‘we discipline ourselves to measure our desires against finite means.’ As such, it’s a book about America in microcosm. Caviar, as it turns out, is not just tasty. In Carey’s hands, it’s luminous.”
“In The Philosopher Fish, environmental journalist Richard Adams Carey takes readers on a wild upstream adventure. He shows how the delicacy has been wiped out of gourmet stores, and the sturgeon quite nearly off the planet. It’s a rags-to-riches-to-rags tale, delivered in lyrical prose.”
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