Globe Corner Blogs

Like Mark Kurlansky’s other books, including Salt and Cod, his most recent, The Last Fish Tale, explores one subject in great detail. In this case, the book could have easily been called Gloucester.  The narrative explores local Gloucester, Mass from past to present, covering fishing industry issues it has faced and how the city has progressed since then.

This book was particularly relevant to me, as I spent three frigid months last winter living out of a motel there, working on day-fishing boats for my job as a National Marine Fisheries Observer.  Since working at The Globe Corner Bookstore, I appreciate being dry, not being covered in fish slime, and being on solid ground.  Still, I miss Gloucester.  So when I picked up this book recently, I was transported back to that unique town.

The book begins with an event that I wish I had known about a long time ago.  A Gloucester tradition, the St. Peter’s Day festival, which happens every year in June, is a lively week-long event that includes parades and feasts.  The highlight of the festival is the pole-walking contest, which consists of men running across a heavily greased pole to capture a flag at the end.  It’s a highly competitive and brutal sport, with most participants falling two to three stories down into the cold water, often suffering brutal injuries.

Weaving history and modern characters, stopping occasionally to add illustrations, anecdotes, and seafood recipes, The Last Fish Tale portrays an accurate, insightful, and lively view of this unique city.  The culture of Gloucester continues to be shaped by a population involved in the US’s most dangerous profession.  While advances in fishing technology have helped to make the fishing industry safer, Gloucester residents continue to be lost at sea every year, something that very much shapes the city. The book includes what Kurlansky calls “the most famous Gloucester story of all time,” the tale of Howard Blackburn, a man who people say returned from the dead.

The book claims the battle between fish and fishermen has been waging since the profession was created, but the fight is becoming more uneven as fishing technology has honed its ability to trap more and more fish.  The decline of the codfish stocks off of the East Coast may have been a result of the transition to steam or coal powered boats that had the horsepower to tow nets faster and more efficiently through the water.

This book is personable enough to reach a wide audience as well as please audiences who are specifically interested in fisheries management or US history. If you are not familiar with Gloucester, go visit!  Not only is it a thriving fishing village with great independently run shops downtown, East Gloucester also boasts one of America’s oldest artists colonies. You can even get there on the commuter rail from Boston.

Read more: Book Reviews, Fishing, Gloucester, Mark Kurlansky, Massachusetts, The Last Fish Tale


Meghan went around the world in 2006, and is dying to do it again. Meghan loves all things ocean and enjoys scuba diving in exotic locales.

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