Shucked : Life on a New England Oyster Farm

Bill Buford's Heat meets Phoebe Damrosch's Service Included in this unique blend of personal narrative, food miscellany, and history.

In March 2009, Erin Byers Murray ditched her pampered city girl lifestyle and convinced the rowdy and mostly male crew at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to let a completely unprepared, aquaculture-illiterate food and lifestyle writer work for them for twelve months to learn the business of oysters. Part love letter, part memoir, and part documentary about the world's most beloved bivalves, this is an in-depth look at the work that goes into getting oysters from farm to table.

Follow Erin's full-circle journey through the modern-day oyster farming process in this dynamic story about the people who grow our food, and the cutting-edge community of weathered New England oyster farmers who are defying convention and looking ahead. The narrative also interweaves Erin's personal story—the tale of how a technology-obsessed workaholic learns to slow life down a little bit and starts to enjoy getting her hands dirty (and cold).

A book for oyster lovers everywhere, but also a great read for locavores and foodies in general.