A review by j_m_alexander
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

A book that defies categorization and is also about categorization to a certain degree. Part history on taxonomy and a very particular obsessive taxonomist, David Star Jordan, part memoir detailing why the author was particularly interested in the subject herself, toss in a murder mystery and musings on the subjects of our biological understandings, psychological hubris and positive illusions, as well as existentialism and chaos -- and what do we have? An interesting non-fiction that is very hard to describe. Clearly the research took Miller down many different paths, but in the end the one I found most appealing was her personal one, the path of the researcher and the seeker herself, the path of personal discovery.

When I give up the fish, I get, at long last, that thing I had been searching for: a mantra, a trick, a prescription for hope. I get the promise that there are good things in store. Not because I deserve them. Not because I worked for them. But because they are as much a part of Chaos as destruction and loss. Life, the flip side of death. Growth, of rot.


From the voice of Lulu Miller, who many know from NPR programs Radiolab and Invisibilia, we get an engaging tapestry, pulling together multiple connected threads into something that is far more than the sum of it's parts and much more than a simple story or history, it has shades and layers and depth - plus she is so very clever when it comes to turns of phrase (a lot of "oh, I see what you did there" moments). There is the tension and release we crave from any narrative alongside the body of information we expect from well-researched reporting. I would certainly recommend this, particularly to those that I know have enjoyed Miller's radio work, but I can not properly tell a reader what they are in for - it's more of a ride than expected, enjoy it!
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