Mark Kurlansky

Mark Kurlansky (born 7 December 1948 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. He is especially known for titles on eclectic topics, such as cod or salt. Kurlansky's newest book, Ready For a Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America, will be released July 2013 from Riverhead Books.

Kurlansky attended Butler University, where he harbored an early interest in theatre and earned a BA in 1970. However, his interest faded and he began to work as a journalist in the 1970s. During the '70s he worked as a correspondent in Western Europe for the Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and eventually the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. He moved to Mexico in 1982 where he continued to do journalism. He wrote his first book, A Continent of Islands, in 1992 and went on to write several books throughout the 1990s. His 1997 book Cod was an international bestseller and was translated into more than 15 languages. His work and contribution to Basque identity and culture is recognized in the Basque hall of fame.

Kurlansky as a teenager called Emile Zola his "hero", and in 2009 Kurlansky translated one of Zola's novels The Belly of Paris whose theme is the food markets of Paris.

His 2009 book The Food of a Younger Land, details American foodways in the early 20th century, with the lengthy subtitle, "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."

Bibliography

Nonfiction

• A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny (1992), Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5
• A Chosen Few: The Resurrection of European Jewry (1995), ISBN 0-201-60898-7
• Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997), ISBN 0-8027-1326-2
• The Basque History of the World (1999), ISBN 0-8027-1349-1
• Salt: A World History (2002), ISBN 0-8027-1373-4
• 1968: The Year that Rocked the World (2004), ISBN 0-345-45581-9
• The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell (2006), ISBN 0-345-47638-7
• Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea (2006), ISBN 978-0-224-07791-0
• Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea (2006), ISBN 0-679-64335-4
• The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town (2008), ISBN 0-345-48727-3
• The Food of a Younger Land (2009), ISBN 1-59448-865-7
• The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris (2010), ISBN 1-59448-750-2
• Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man (2012), ISBN 978-0-385-52705-7

Fiction

• The White Man in the Tree, and Other Stories (2000), ISBN 0-671-03605-X
• Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue: A Novel of Pastry, Guilt, and Music (2005), ISBN 0-345-44818-9
• Edible Stories: A Novel in Sixteen Parts (2010), ISBN 1-59448-488-0

Children's Books

• The Cod's Tale (2001), ISBN 0-399-23476-4
• The Girl Who Swam to Euskadi (2005), ISBN 1-877802-54-9
• The Story of Salt (2006), ISBN 0-399-23998-7
• Battle Fatigue (2011), ISBN 978-0-8027-2264-5

Editor

• Choice Cuts: A Savory Selection of Food Writing From Around the World and Throughout History (2002), ISBN 0-345-45710-2

Translator

• The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola, Mark Kurlansky as translator. The Modern Library, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8129-7422-5

External links

• http://www.markkurlansky.com