Join members of the Earthplace naturalist team in discussing topics of environmental issues, sustainability, nature or science. This month's book is The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination With the Most Mysterious Creature In the World by Patrik Svensson. This event is scheduled to be at Earthplace, 10 Woodside Lane. Please watch the website for changes.
Reservations are suggested for this in-person event. Copies of the book are available at the patron service desk at the Westport Library.
One of TIME Magazine's "100 Must-Read Books of 2020," The Book of Eels is a memoir and a portrait of the unusual, misunderstood and captivating animal.
Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have 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. 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.
View a review from The New York Times.
Community Partner: Earthplace
