Globe Corner Blogs

The Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky

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.

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Jess Caught Fish! --photo by Jess

Up until about a month ago, I had never given much thought to the numerous fishing guides and fish photography books dispersed throughout our store. To be honest, fishing always seemed boring — a kind of waiting game that culminated in a slimy scaled creature with a hook through its mouth, a flapping tail, and an odor that was, well, fishy. But, like with so many other things in life, my preconceived notions were dramatically changed when I had the opportunity to actually go fishing for brook trout in Vermont.

I do have to admit that my first fishing excursion was undoubtedly “fishing-lite,” and any serious fisher, or fan of The Deadliest Catch for that matter, will find my account laughable. Nevertheless, the nerve-wracking yet exhilarating feeling of the first little bite at the end of my rod grabbed and kept my attention. With my eyes fixed firmly on the stream and my thoughts on the fish resting just below its surface, I felt myself fishing.

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