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prestonc25's review against another edition
3.0
Rambled around way too much for my taste. And too much time was spent on the various methods of cooking the shad/roe.
ward_louisville's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
steelcitygator's review against another edition
3.0
A good read on the Shad in many facets. From their habits to their hit rate to their anatomy (and the anatomy of fish from the Gulf of Mexico too). It's part fishing memoir, part science book, part history book, it's eclectic if nothing else. There's even technically a cookbook chapter that finishes the work.
The history parts were interesting and insightful though if you come to the book looking for mostly that based on the title and don't connect with the other parts you'll leave disappointed. The fishing memoir bits are very good, I've admittedly not read many hunting or fishing memoirs at this point but I hope the others on my TBR are like this.
If I had to do a negative it would be two points. Firstly, sometimes it feels it struggles to hold a cohesive thread between and even in chapters. Secondly, the last official chapter feels preachy as hell. A bit of bad taste in the mouth preachy rather than the feel something growing inside you preachy.
But that's minor gripes, I highly recommend this work if for it's interesting takes on North American fishing culture and sport and it's interesting and rare historical look if nothing else.
The history parts were interesting and insightful though if you come to the book looking for mostly that based on the title and don't connect with the other parts you'll leave disappointed. The fishing memoir bits are very good, I've admittedly not read many hunting or fishing memoirs at this point but I hope the others on my TBR are like this.
If I had to do a negative it would be two points. Firstly, sometimes it feels it struggles to hold a cohesive thread between and even in chapters. Secondly, the last official chapter feels preachy as hell. A bit of bad taste in the mouth preachy rather than the feel something growing inside you preachy.
But that's minor gripes, I highly recommend this work if for it's interesting takes on North American fishing culture and sport and it's interesting and rare historical look if nothing else.
lafate's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Note: the book itself is 5 stars. The narration needs a sound engineer. It might be better read in paper or ebook.
I really enjoyed this book and generally enjoyed the author reading it, but what is going on in the studio afterwards? They did nothing to get rid of noises made by McPhee while reading. The 3 stars for performance is on the audiobook producer!
I loved the book. I knew nothing about shad and gave never eaten any. No shad come up the river near where I live - it has been dammed since the 1630s. The dam itself is historic.
McPhee is a genius at making what could be a boring subject interesting. He weaves his experiences, science, environmental concerns, history, and the fishing experiences of others into this book. He talks about George Washington's troops, fish brought out west, the roe of the female shad, fish hatcheries, and more. Sometimes there is a little humor that comes in a McPhee book.
After listening to the book I'd like to try eating shad, but not roe. He's got recipes at the end for anyone who wants to try cooking.
If you can handle the lack of audio engineering, listen a little faster for better results, then enjoy the book.
jayrothermel's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book. McPhee's personal passion for fishing, rivers, and paddling his own canoe is braided skillfully with the shad and its impacts.
jessferg's review against another edition
2.0
My major complaint about this book is that it isn't for the non-fisherperson. The absence of any illustrations/photos/diagrams or even a glossary left me floundering (pun intended...) and while I can figure out the difference between darts and flies etc. (at least enough to proceed with reading) I really have no idea what a shad looks like after over 300 pages of clearly well-researched information. (I mean, I get it's a fish....)
While there is some interesting information here, the book is essentially one long fish tale that will leave the layperson cold. The most interesting chapter deals with the trouble of "history" (specifically here, how in 1778 Washington's army was "saved from famine" by an early shad-run) which brings to light a lot of the issues surrounding passed-down stories and helps clarify the reality of situations based on hard evidence.
I do wish there had been some more discussion regarding the breeding/restocking programs and how they are/are not disrupting natural Darwinian adaptations and what that ripple effect looks like on an entire ecosystem. But maybe that's another book.
Long story short: I can't recommend this book except to fisherfolk - who I think will enjoy it immensely.
While there is some interesting information here, the book is essentially one long fish tale that will leave the layperson cold. The most interesting chapter deals with the trouble of "history" (specifically here, how in 1778 Washington's army was "saved from famine" by an early shad-run) which brings to light a lot of the issues surrounding passed-down stories and helps clarify the reality of situations based on hard evidence.
I do wish there had been some more discussion regarding the breeding/restocking programs and how they are/are not disrupting natural Darwinian adaptations and what that ripple effect looks like on an entire ecosystem. But maybe that's another book.
Long story short: I can't recommend this book except to fisherfolk - who I think will enjoy it immensely.
ericwelch's review against another edition
3.0
I have to admit to being a huge John McPhee fan. His books and essays are always interesting and Founding Fish about the American shad is no exception. McPhee always does his homework, seeking out the knowledgeable and then going further to double-check even their information. For example, one little tidbit is the myth surrounding the role of shad in saving the Revolutionary Army at Valley Forge. The prevailing wisdom, cited in numerous sources is that the shad run was early that winter and without the abundance of fish the army would have starved. Often cited as a source is a letter purportedly by Nathan Hale who, McPhee, points out had died in September of 1776, and so could have had little knowledge of Valley Forge events. (I was pleased to see that the Valley Forge Historical Society does not perpetuate the myth(http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/youasked/044.htm.)
The idea that early settlers also feasted on fish appears doubtful even though they were plentiful. Archaeological studies reveal few fish bones except among slave diets. It appears that, coming from beef loving England, they were eager to have a beef laden diet in the colonies as well. Washington caught thousands of shad at Mount Vernon, but used them mostly as fertilizer and slave food. It's a bony fish, and like the lobster, took many decades to be accepted as "upscale" in restaurants.
Like salmon, the shad is anadromous (running upstream,) but differs in that while the salmon dies after spawning at the end of its run, the shad can make the trip up and back to the ocean several times.
Only McPhee could take such an arcane subject and weave culture, history, physiology, and natural science so ably together.
The idea that early settlers also feasted on fish appears doubtful even though they were plentiful. Archaeological studies reveal few fish bones except among slave diets. It appears that, coming from beef loving England, they were eager to have a beef laden diet in the colonies as well. Washington caught thousands of shad at Mount Vernon, but used them mostly as fertilizer and slave food. It's a bony fish, and like the lobster, took many decades to be accepted as "upscale" in restaurants.
Like salmon, the shad is anadromous (running upstream,) but differs in that while the salmon dies after spawning at the end of its run, the shad can make the trip up and back to the ocean several times.
Only McPhee could take such an arcane subject and weave culture, history, physiology, and natural science so ably together.
darwin8u's review
4.0
'Poor shad! where is thy redress?'
When Nature gave thee instinct, gave she thee the heart to bear thy fate? Still wandering the sea in thy scaly armor to inquire humbly at the mouths of rivers if man has perchance left them free for thee to enter. By countless shoals loitering uncertain meanwhile, merely stemming the tide there, in danger from sea foes in spite of thy bright armor, awaiting new instructions, until the sands, until the water itself, tell thee if it be so or not. Thus by whole migrating nations, full of instinct, which is thy faith, in this backward spring, turned adrift, and perchance knowest not where men do not dwell, where there are not factories, in these days. Armed with no sword, no electric shock, but mere Shad, armed only with innocence and a just cause, with tender dumb mouth only forward, and scales easy to be detached.
-- Henry Thoreau, Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Reading McPhee is like watching a brilliant tennis player you've followed for years. I know his moves. I can even predict most of his methods, but I keep coming back to watch him put it all together. He is masterful. He makes the incredibly difficult work of narrative nonfiction seem effortless. Beautiful prose swims right up to McPhee and jumps into his net or flops right into the pages of his book.
Once again McPhee matches a microhistory (the American Shad) with great characters (biologists, fishermen, sportsmen, presidents, even his wife) present and past, amazing locations and takes you completely through the subject. You emerge from tail of the book knowing the history, the biology, the life, the death, the taste and the debate surrounding America's founding fish. He shows you every single bone in a boney fish. Read and released.
___________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014
When Nature gave thee instinct, gave she thee the heart to bear thy fate? Still wandering the sea in thy scaly armor to inquire humbly at the mouths of rivers if man has perchance left them free for thee to enter. By countless shoals loitering uncertain meanwhile, merely stemming the tide there, in danger from sea foes in spite of thy bright armor, awaiting new instructions, until the sands, until the water itself, tell thee if it be so or not. Thus by whole migrating nations, full of instinct, which is thy faith, in this backward spring, turned adrift, and perchance knowest not where men do not dwell, where there are not factories, in these days. Armed with no sword, no electric shock, but mere Shad, armed only with innocence and a just cause, with tender dumb mouth only forward, and scales easy to be detached.
-- Henry Thoreau, Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Reading McPhee is like watching a brilliant tennis player you've followed for years. I know his moves. I can even predict most of his methods, but I keep coming back to watch him put it all together. He is masterful. He makes the incredibly difficult work of narrative nonfiction seem effortless. Beautiful prose swims right up to McPhee and jumps into his net or flops right into the pages of his book.
Once again McPhee matches a microhistory (the American Shad) with great characters (biologists, fishermen, sportsmen, presidents, even his wife) present and past, amazing locations and takes you completely through the subject. You emerge from tail of the book knowing the history, the biology, the life, the death, the taste and the debate surrounding America's founding fish. He shows you every single bone in a boney fish. Read and released.
___________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014
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