I quite enjoyed this book. It's an interesting mixture of narrative, history and science all related to sushi. I especially enjoyed the science and history, and while the narrative provided a framework for this information, it felt kind of juvenile at times. ( )

This is an excellent book. It is full of details, well researched to answer your questions. Unlike many books of this style, it shows real intelligence. It isn't just a list of facts, though. It also follows a class at the California Sushi Academy as they cram to learn how to make sushi. This plot line gives the story direction and movement.
There is an appendix with information on sushi-eating etiquette, and an accompanying website, http://www.trevorcorson.com/sushi/beh... , with pictures and more information. The paperback version is called "The Story of Fish." ( )

Not quite as zany as his book on lobsters, granted, but interesting read none the less. ( )

I really enjoyed the information about the history of sushi and the variety of fish that is used. As usual, Trevor Carson makes a story out of a non-fiction topic that leaves the reader learning more about a subject than they realize.

I rated this with 3 1/2 stars because of the sections on the student he chose to follow. Her story did not add anything to the book and I was tempted to skip those sections.

Overall, a very interesting book -- especially for sushi lovers. ( )

After hearing Trevor Corson speak on the radio about sushi, I picked up his book because I wanted to learn more about one of my favorite foods. The Zen of Fish follows a new student through a sushi course at the California Sushi Academy. Mixed in with the story of the student and her classmates are historical facts and other information about things related to sushi such as fish, knives, rice, and etiquette.

While I was reading the book, I couldn't help feeling annoyed by the passages about Kate, the student going through the school. She's inept, clumsy, ditzy, and just not that interesting. I was more interested in the actual tidbits of information about sushi than Kate's classes.

I would have rated this book higher if it only contained the informational passages about the Japanese cuisine. Those parts were interesting and worth reading for anyone who likes sushi, but the other parts felt like a waste of time. Corson might have been trying to get readers to relate to Kate, but he would have been more successful if he had chosen a stronger student from the class to follow. ( )

Amazing, amazing, amazing book! Not just a historical run-down on sushi, this is also a story of students at an American sushi school. Each real-life character is given thorough treatment, from their awkward beginning to their graduation day.

There's a lot of history of sushi in here as well, along with accompanying dishes. Miso, sake, rice and other ingredients are explained fully, along with a great many different sea creatures. Unfortunately, one of my favorite pieces of sushi, inari (rice stuffed in a tofu skin) doesn't make an appearance.

This was a really entertaining read, and I'm glad I noticed it propped up on an end cap at B&N. I must have gone in there and skimmed the pages three or four times before I bought it online. The hardback is a slightly pricy $25 (I bought mine "gently used" for half the cost), but the paperback edition will be released within a few months. I'd definately recommend it to anyone who loves food. ( )

I adored this book. It probably helps that my favorite food in the world is sushi, so reading about it only enhances the joy. There were so many interesting facts regarding the history of sushi, the lives of fish, and the story of the students training to become sushi chefs. The three areas were nicely woven together. ( )

In terms of recorded history, the emergence of sushi as a culinary delight in the United States is still a relatively recent phenomenon. Sushi's surging popularity has propelled it from hot spot metropolitan sake bars into local grocery store cooling bins. The story of sushi, however, reaches back much further than the freshest milk.

In The Zen of Fish, Trevor Corson carefully wraps morsels of history and humor into bite sized chapters that taken together tell "the story of sushi, from samurai to supermarket." From the procurement of the freshest ingredients in the early morning fish markets to the fostering and attentive care given by each chef to their personal set of knives, Corson prepares a delicious and enlightening tome. The author's mastery of description spices the mind with the dancelike movements of sushi chefs as they prepare meals for the enthusiastic sake toasting guests lining the Hama Hermosa bar in Hermosa Beach, California. During the morning hours, the back room of the restaurant plays host to the California Sushi Academy, where we follow the trials of aspiring sushi chefs through a semester of training at the hands of their demanding instructor, Zoran. Most prominent among these characters is Kate, whose spunk and wit will have you rooting for her as an underdog amongst a handful of finely captured characters, each with their own substory.

A wonderful read that will unearth the foodie in you, The Zen of Fish entertains and educates. ( )

It is a very good idea: present thoroughly all the interesting bits of data and information on Sushi - history, how to do eat, how to eat it, how to behave in a Sushi bar and all that - and do that by wrapping it inside a little story, as for example an American girl´s experiences with a several-month California training course for Sushi chefs.
The information provided is very interesting and near-encyclopedic and the story is nicely written.
And yet, somehow in the middle of the book I started to get a bit bored. Maybe my interest in all things Sushi just was not as deeply founded and far-reaching as both I and Mr. Corson had thought, maybe the book is lacking a bit of pep after all. Better be a Sushi aficionade before you read this - although you might not need the book then after all.
I think it would not be unfair to compare The Zen of Fish with Douglas Coupland´s Microserfs, would it? And in that comparison Zen suffers very, very badly. I wanted to start working at Microsoft right after reading Microserfs (although the author´s intention was certainly not to recruit me), I might be going to a Sushi bar some time - and yet I might not. ( )

The Zen of Fish is an appropriate title. Like small decorative servings of visually appealing sushi, Trevor Corson playfully dishes out many short chapters full of descriptive appeal, encyclopedic knowledge and witty banter, a written "documentary" of the sushi experience in easily digestible portions. The variety of information about sushi is varied, but like the ubiquitous bed of white rice it is served on, a consistent human-interest narrative holds everything together, popping one short satisfying chapter down after the next. Reams of encyclopedic information are interesting, but when wrapped around a person and a story, it becomes an unforgettable experience.

Gratefully, Corson has added an appendix on how to go about ordering and eating Sushi "correctly", and he covers at least a dozen different fish types that make knowing what to order beyond the standards easier. Fun and educational book, highly recommended. ( )