Ellen Ruppel Shell’s Slippery Beast is witty, smart, extremely well reported, and full of good storytelling. The writing manages to be both elegant and colloquial at the same time. This book masquerades as a study of eels, and, for sure, there is plenty to learn about the lifestyles of eels, but, in fact, Slippery Beast touches on many topics of human concern, from commerce to government to living communities, from Aristotle to Darwin to Freud.

Every now and then, if writers get lucky, they find a seemingly small subject that provides a keyhole view of a vast, surprising landscape. Ellen Ruppel Shell has found that in eels, and through eels, nearly forgotten worlds of food, centuries-long mysteries of biology, huge battles over Indigenous rights, heroic ocean quests, vicious international criminal syndicates, and an amazing four-hundred-year-long scientific dispute. A masterful group portrait of obsession, Slippery Beast joyfully introduces readers to a millennia's worth of eel thieves, eel scientists, eel farmers, eel historians, eel chefs, and all the other eel fanciers who have long made these enthralling creatures a shockingly big—if slimy—part of the human story.

The eel may be loathed or loved, but Ellen Ruppel Shell takes us on a deep dive to discover why this fish—yes, it is a fish—fascinates and frustrates humanity like no other. Where eels come from and where they go remains hotly contested, while their mating habits and gender-bending ways continue to baffle scientists. Ruppel Shell takes us from the beaches of Bermuda to the rocky Norwegian coast in a quest to understand not just the eel’s many mysteries, but the men and women drawn to this enigmatic creature by passion or profit—or both. This enthralling account, as Ruppel Shell says about the eel itself, ‘never fails to surprise.’

"The enigmatic eel has captivated scholars from Aristotle to Rachel Carson to Freud—and now, to the list of eel aficionados, add Ellen Ruppel Shell. In this rollicking book, Ruppel Shell tells the epic story of an ancient creature, artfully weaving the centuries-long scientific quest to understand the eel's mysterious life cycle with the madcap modern fishery that threatens its future. As wide-ranging and beguiling as its subject, Slippery Beast is guaranteed to make you an eel enthusiast—and to forever change the way you think about the unagi on your sushi platter."

If you are not already enchanted by eels, this anomalous situation will be resolved after a few pages of this spellbinding book. Ellen Ruppel Shell will astound you, delight you, distress you, and make you fall in love with these mysterious, shape-shifting creatures, and with the many ways eel and human lives intertwine.

2024-05-09
An electric foray into the eel.

Eels have puzzled scientists for ages and continue to today. To date, nobody has witnessed the creature reproduce; nor has anyone seen an eel egg or pregnant eel in the wild. “How is it that we can track Higgs bosons and black holes in outer space, program machines to think, cure cancer of various sorts, yet—despite our best efforts—not find a way to breed the American eel?” So asks Ruppel Shell, author of Cheap and The Job, executing an impressive deep dive into “the eel question.” Stretching her research from centuries-old discoveries in natural science to contemporary advancements in aquaculture and trade, the author jumps among science, history, and economics in a way that dazzles with facts that occasionally overwhelm. Some readers will be frustrated to learn about the global market for eels before the fundamental details about their biology. Scientists now understand that Atlantic eels follow magnetic isolines to trek to the Sargasso Sea, where they spawn and die. Their eggs float back to the coast and grow into elvers (juvenile eels), which conclude their journey in freshwater lakes and streams. Because eels cannot reproduce in captivity, elvers have become a hot commodity for the booming eel industry in Asia (where eel is widely consumed). They are a necessary starting point for farms, which look to fishermen in places like rural Maine to catch and ship the goods. Elvers now sell for an extraordinary $2,000 per pound, and Ruppel Shell deftly explores the recent uptick in criminal activity and regulatory efforts that surround this slippery payload. By combining legal intrigue, a vision of untapped riches, and still-unsolved scientific mysteries, the author fashions a curious history that brims with wonderment.

An unsuspectingly thrilling account of one of marine life’s most enigmatic creatures.