Reviews with content warning for Racism - Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

I had no idea where this was going for most of this book. It seemed in the beginning like a stream of consciousness about “chaos” as the author worked through some thoughts on dependency (her dad, her ~curly haired~ ex-boyfriend). (All of her thoughts there are totally valid, I just don’t get a lot of enjoyment out of reading them.) I did not understand her obsession with David Starr Jordan at first, but then she started telling us all of the shitty things he did and I REALLY did not understand why he deserved a book that wasn’t focused on setting his reputation straight. When someone uses his power to cover sexual assault with threats and potentially murders someone (and definitely gaslights the hell out of her after her death), I’m simply not interested in the psychology behind why he did it. He did it and he was wrong. In my opinion, the author’s desperation to find out why Jordan was like this felt like she was trying to find an excuse for him.

The last ~1/4 or so of the book truly saved it for me. Miller felt like she was unequivocally calling Jordan a bad person, and she even got a little vindictive - deservedly. The threads of the story finally started to make some sense and I could find a point to why she wrote this. I am in awe of Anna and Mary’s strength for getting through what they did; they’re a great model of what women (and all humans!) can be, no matter what depraved narcissists have said. I also didn’t know that “fish” wasn’t considered a scientific classification any longer, so it was equally as interesting as it was satisfying.

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imstephtacular's review

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challenging informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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emilily's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

Wow... this is one of those books that cannot be described in a way that does it justice.

On the surface, this book may seem like it's about David Starr Jordan, and his dark legacy as an ichthyologist-turned-eugenicist (and maybe also murderer?). But in truth, it is so much more. This book is about human knowledge, its limitations, and the evolution of how we understand the world around us. With traces of philosophy, memoir, nature writing, historical critique, and sociology, there is something in this beautifully hopeful book for everyone. And yes, it will make you reconsider if fish actually exist (I have been converted to believing they don't).

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avrowland96's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.25

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