I just finished this great book! “The Zen of Fish” is written by Trevor Corson and the author has descibed it as “documentary nonfiction”.

The story is a mix of facts and historic reference and partly about some real students at the school I took a basic sushi class at the California Sushi Academy. It might have been a reason why I became over the top exited when reading the book, but I think the book reads like a great novel that I learned a lot from.

Since I love sushi, I am already on my second time reading it - this time focusing solely on the facts of fish that are so thoroughly described. The book covers in detail information about the process of sushi making, takes us through sushi history, gives us facts and names on important inventions in the industry and on peculiarities like how the flavors are looked at differently in Western and Japanese science. It also reveals some sushi secrets and teaches proper sushi etiquette.

I do think maybe you have to be into sushi to enjoy it as much as I did, though.
But it’s a great book!

Trevor Corson says:

I’m confident that people who love sushi will love The Zen of Fish, but I also hope it will appeal to people who don’t necessarily know much about sushi. Many readers of The Secret Life of Lobsters told me they weren’t interested in lobsters per se, but that the human story in the book, and the easy style in which the book was written, made even the finer points of lobster life fascinating. This touched me, because I think a writer can receive no higher praise. To my mind, a writer’s job is to serve his or her readers by entertaining and teaching at the same time — and in the process, taking them to places they might not otherwise go.

With my new book The Zen of Fish, I have tried even harder to take a complex, dense — and in this case, somewhat exotic — subject and make it accessible and fun through a compelling human drama. I hope you’ll take a peek at my new website for the book, www.ZenOfFish.com, which features the characters, story, and surprising facts to be found inside. Then come back and see what other readers have to say about the book on Amazon, and give it a try!