Part H Is for Hawk part The Soul of an Octopus The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the
world's most elusive fish?the eel?and a reflection on the human condition Remarkably little is
known about the European eel Anguilla anguilla. So little in fact that scientists and
philosophers have for centuries been obsessed with what has become known as the ?eel
question?: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature
altogether? Even today in an age of advanced science no one has ever seen eels mating or
giving birth and we still don't understand what drives them after living for decades in
freshwater to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a
mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature history and modern marine
biology as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father Patrik Svensson crafts
a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual utterly misunderstood and completely captivating animal.
In The Book of Eels we meet renowned historical thinkers from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to
Rachel Carson for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who
spearheaded the search for the eel's point of origin including Danish marine biologist
Johannes Schmidt who led research efforts in the early twentieth century catching thousands
upon thousands of eels in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea.
Blending memoir and nature writing at its best Svensson's journey to understand the eel
becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our
roots and destiny both as humans and as animals and ultimately how to handle the biggest
question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and
enchant. A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize National Bestseller Winner of the
National Outdoor Book Award Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in
Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book One of TIME's 100 Must Read Books of the Year One of
The Washington Post's 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of the Year One of Smithsonian Magazine's 10
Best Science Books of the Year One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year A
New York Times Editor's Choice
