Written by: Mark Kurlansky
This book is almost 14 hours long and is all about the history of salt. How awesome is that? Although crazy long, it was actually really interesting and there really is a pretty amazing story to be told. For basically ever prior to refrigeration, which is actually super new relatively, the only way that humans were able to preserve any food more than a couple days was with salt. And even during those two days most food tasted pretty awful and took salt to make it palatable. These humble white crystal played a huge role in the formation and expansion of human civilization. Wow. Still though, it was a lot of talk about salt. A LOT of talk. About salt. Also a bunch of recipes, and that part was pretty boring. I’m just not sure I can recommend it, and simply could not bring myself to read his follow-up smash hit, “Cod”.
Length: 13.75 hrs
2/2003: It took me about 2 weeks to get through this book, which was really a lot of time to listen to a dude talking about salt. I almost lost it a couple of times but managed to power through.
