Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea & of the Beachcombers, Oceanograp Hers, Environmentalists & Fools Inclu Hardcover - 2011

Summary

Media reviews

"The book [is] by turns light-hearted and serious but always a pleasure to read ... Moby-Duck is highly readable and, importantly, alive with a sense of intellectual curiosity. Indeed, what Melville did for whaling, Hohn has done for plastic bath toys lost at sea."
-The Boston Globe

"Hohn cleverly uses the deceptively whimsical premise of chasing a little plastic duck to provoke a massively complicated and thought-provoking conversation. Who knew spilled bath toys could be so important?"
-Chicago Sun-Times

" ... he writes always entertainingly, often gorgeously."
-Dallas Morning News

"Donovan Hohn ships out with an engaging Moby-Duck ... an exploration in every sense [Moby-Duck] will remind readers of the best of John McPhee and Ian Frazier. And maybe, even, of the weird and wonderful Herman Melville himself."
-The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer

"... entertaining but also philosophic ... [Donovan Hohn's] quest is puckish, profound and as irresistible as the yellow bath toy itself."
-People

"... dazzling ... Hohn seems to have it all: deep intelligence, a strikingly original voice, humility and a hunger to suss out everything a yellow duck may literally or metaphorically touch."
-The New York Times Book Review

"Adventurous, inquisituve and brightly illuminating...[Moby-Duck] works as a lively travelogue as well as a voyage of discovery and philosophical inquiry."
-Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"Delightfully wide-eyed...A gladdening, artful journey of discovery."
-Kirkus (starred review) END