Mark Kurlansky

about the author

Mark Kurlansky

New York Times Bestselling-Author of Cod, Salt, and The Food of a Younger Land

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling and James A. Beard Award–winning author of many books, including Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; 1968: The Year That Rocked the World; The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell; The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America’s Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town; and Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea, as well as the novel Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue.

Kurlanksy had two books published in 2009 by Penguin: The Last Fish Tale, a colorful depiction of America’s oldest fishing port, Gloucester, Massachusetts; and The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food—Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation’s Food Was Seasonal, Regional, and Traditional—From the Lost WPA Files.

He is the winner of a Bon Appétit Food Writer of the Year Award as well as a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award for Best Book, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in New York City.

Learn more about this speaker

Edible Stories Review
The Guardian

"Profiles in Courage"
The Boston Globe

"Tasty Little Stories"
The Economist

"Discoveries"
Los Angeles Times

Edible Stories is a Christian Science Monitor Top Pick
The Christian Science Monitor

"Potluck"
The New York Times Book Review

Mark Kurlansky discusses Edible Stories with Miami New Times
Miami New Times

Mark Kurlansky discusses Edible Stories with , Part 2
Miami New Times

"Eastern Stars: Baseball, Dominican style"
USA Today

Review of The Eastern Stars
Los Angeles Times

Review of Eastern Stars
The New York Times Book Review

"The Eastern Stars: Q.& A. With Mark Kurlansky"
The New York Times

Review of The Eastern Stars
The Christian Science Monitor

Mark Kurlansky discusses The Eastern Stars
WNYC's "Leonard Lopate Show"

"The Eastern Stars: Baseball has been very, very good to this Dominican town"
The Seattle Times

"The Story Of Baseball And Sugar In A Small Town"
NPR

"Cod author Kurlansky adds baseball to the menu"
Reuters

"Dominican town's big break: baseball"
The Denver Post

"The Exchange: Mark Kurlansky"
The New Yorker

"Of Arkansas Chicken* and Pot Wallopers**"
The Washington Post

"A Return To America's Gustatory Past"
NPR's "Fresh Air"

"Olive Oil"
Bon Appetit

"Eat Your Broccoli"
Bon Appetit

"Kurlansky's Food of a Younger Land: We were what we ate"
USA Today

"America eats, belatedly"
The Economist

Excerpt of Food of a Younger Land
The Wall Street Journal

"Eating in America"
The Boston Globe

"Down-Home-Cooking Nation"
Slate

"25 Books You Can't Put Down"
O, The Oprah Magazine

Mark Kurlansky discusses Food of a Younger Land
Wisconsin Public Radio

Excerpt of Food of a Younger Land
O, The Oprah Magazine

"A moment with ... Mark Kurlansky, food anthropologist"
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"What to Read This Summer"
New York

Mark Kurlansky discusses Food of a Younger Land
WNYC's "The Takeaway"

"Mark Kurlansky unearths some old, tasty American recipes"
The Houston Chronicle

"Fish in water"
The Australian

"A fishing story"
The Boston Globe

Review of Salt
Kirkus Reviews

An Interview with Mark Kurlansky
The New Yorker's "Book Bench" blog

Review of Salt
The New York Times

Featured Book

The Eastern Stars

"Phenomenally prolific, Kurlansky is drawn to seemingly limited subjects...He's found a journalistic sweet spot in the convergence of the sugar industry and professional baseball in a country with one of the worst economies in the Americas."

—NPR

Speaking Topics

Environmental Topics

  • The Decline in Fish Stocks
  • The Fishing Crisis
  • The Future of the Oceans

Food Topics

  • The History of Fishing
  • Food Writing
  • Salt
  • American Cooking

The Year 1968 Around the World, and Why It Was a Global Phenomenon

The History of the Basques

The History of Nonviolence

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