Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm

This book begins with what it says it is going cover, a woman decides to chuck her fairly shallow (by her own account) life as an entertainment blogger where she basically tells hipsters what to like and where to go, with little critical assessment needed, and instead see what it takes to work on an oyster farm on the Mass coast for a year. Her account is fun, realistic of the work involved and interesting. And though she is not an oyster expert, some good information comes through in a way that is engaging. I have given it three stars to reflect that for a little over half of the book it is definitely worth a read. And I would recommend it even if you are planning to just read the first half. But only three stars here is for a reason.About 2/3s way through she basically reverts to writing about all her encounters with the "fabulous" elite of celebrity chefs and restauranteurs. At this point she simply gushes over her subjects and her being included in whatever scene she is lucky enough to be part of. We get to read breathless lines like: "...a very special appearance from super chef Daniel Boulud, who, during one of his swings through the party, jumped behind the raw bar to shuck oysters with us....Boulud was a party animal whose presence ... turned the crowd from vaguely entertained to hog wild."or"By now I was fully enamored of his style of cooking; by opening a Latin-inspried restaurant he'd completely stolen my heart."I mean, really?At that point it will occur to you that perhaps you have picked up a different book for your read on the train to work; what happened to the book about working on an oyster farm? How did we get back to this pampered woman, when she was beginning to show such promise as a serious person? I can't answer that, but I hope she can really learn to stop writing as if she is on the staff of Boston Magazine. There is potential there.

I enjoyed the book, easy read, inspirational if you’re interested in oyster aquaculture. Note Duxbury maritime school is not the “largest maritime school on the east coast”

I have been sailing in Duxbury bay since 1974. I have watched in amazement and curiosity as oyster farming has grown. It is clearly very hard work and includes trial and error and some luck. Weather is always unpredictable. The harbor is buzzing with all the oyster farms and boating. It sometimes is a challenge to avoid the oyster buoys. The book was educational and a reminder of what a great place we live.

This is a really great book. I heard the author on NPR and was intrigued. I could not find it in my local library so bought it on my Kindle. Well worth the money. I have never tried oysters before but have been really wanting to since reading the book. However, having never "shucked" an oyster before (and the fact that I live far from good seafood in my little town) I will wait until I can get them at a good seafood restaurant. Loved the details about "oyster poop" and the day-to-day work on the farm. The book was easy to read with a lot of good information on oyster farming. I would recommend this book to others.

Honest, engrossing read... wonderful to learn the backstory of Island Creek oysters recently relished in Seattle (thanks to The Walrus and Carpenter hosting Boston Chef Jeremy Sewall)! This frontline account opens my eyes to the many ways oysters are farmed in this country, thus producing the wide range in flavor profiles. Now I'm itching to read everything that's been written on oysters! And it goes without saying, also itching to sample the fruits of the each merroir producing these luscious fleshy pearls! The author also went on to co-author with Chef Jeremy "The New England Kitchen", published just recently.

Everything you never knew about the oyster industry. A real page turner, believe it or not. Especially if you are from Massachusetts!!

... of totally changing your life, dropping your career and heading off in a totally new direction (I suspect most of us have), then this book will probably be a fun read. At the same time, if you're a fan of oysters, restaurants or curious about how that half shell got to your plate, then there's some interesting stuff for you, too.While this book is much more about "do something crazy, change your life" than oyster farming, you get enough of both for it to be a fun and interesting read.

This was recommended by my cousin. Bought it because I respect her book opinions. It was an autobiographical view of a point in time- interesting from a non-shucker (but oyster appreciator) viewpoint. I kept wishing it had more of the author's soul in the book. I enjoyed her firsthand experiences but it was a little too timeliney and dry for me. Not a book that you would read twice. The girl does have grit, though.