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confusingoctopus's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Suicide
kteddycurr's review
2.5
I liked the content but not how it was told. I'm unclear what I was supposed to take away from this. The biography of David Star Jordan was interesting but with very wishy washy opinions, almost as if the author still doesn't know what to make of the story but doesn't want to admit it. There was some growth and intentional revealing of new information as it went, but I left thinking "ok so what did you then do with that." The personal stories were shallow, not in terms of what they were about but in terms of depth of material.
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
🐟 David Starr Jordan was a very successful fish taxonimist in the early 20th century. Despite multiple personal and professional tragedies, he was known for pushing ahead with a superhuman positive outlook. In search of his secret, Lulu investigates his life, but this is truly a tale of "never meet your heros" as she discovers what the basis for his belief system was and the lengths he went to uphold it.
🐟 This was entertaining, shocking, and enfuriating. I'm a zoologist by education so the fish content was particularly interesting to me - and it's true, fish don't exist! Some background knowledge of the history of taxonomy (and how ideas around evolution and how it works have changed) would definitely come in handy, but I do think this is perfectly readable for someone with little to no knowledge of the subject as the author does a great job of explaining key concepts.
🐟 There's actually quite an insane turn that this takes and a large part of the second half could be intensely triggering to some. There is very little build up to it so it could come as a shock, and I don't particularly like how it's treated as some sort of plot twist. I had a feeling that there would be a "racism" reveal as that was (and is) par for the course in old white biologists, but I didn't expect the book to actually end up focusing so much on the history and fallout of the eugenics movement. However, I think it made for a great read as I was starting to wonder how the rest of the book would be filled with a simple biography. I learnt a lot of shocking information particularly about how widespread forced sterilisation has been up until very recently (and likely is still around) and I liked how the author points out the logical fallacy that props up eugenic beliefs.
🐟 Overall a great read for me though and just good and interesting non fiction.
🐟 I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher.
🐟 This was entertaining, shocking, and enfuriating. I'm a zoologist by education so the fish content was particularly interesting to me - and it's true, fish don't exist! Some background knowledge of the history of taxonomy (and how ideas around evolution and how it works have changed) would definitely come in handy, but I do think this is perfectly readable for someone with little to no knowledge of the subject as the author does a great job of explaining key concepts.
🐟 There's actually quite an insane turn that this takes and a large part of the second half could be intensely triggering to some. There is very little build up to it so it could come as a shock, and I don't particularly like how it's treated as some sort of plot twist.
🐟 Overall a great read for me though and just good and interesting non fiction.
🐟 I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher.
rosegold3n's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The book has an interesting mix of biography, personal accounts, and historical speculation. It was not what I thought it would be going in but that’s what ultimately made it compelling enough to finish and think about after finishing.
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
4.0
When Curtis Sittenfeld tells you to read a book you read the book. It’s partly a biography of taxonomist David Starr Jordan who discovered and identified more fish than anyone and lived a complicated life. It’s partly Miller’s memoir about her mental health, the mistakes she has made and her search for meaning. And it’s partly a natural world adventure story. It’s a book of chaos and order that spoke to my existential angst. The ending somehow manages to unravel the whole book and make you look at it anew. This is a book for readers of Orlean, Roach and Krasnostein, readers who like their non-fiction to be deeply interesting and hard to classify while still resonating.