“Why Fish Don’t Exist”: This Book Will Mesmerize You

I am rarely completely blown away by books I read, but “Why Fish Don’t Exist” by Lulu Miller absolutely did it:

On the first glance, it is a non-fiction investigation into the life of David Starr Jordan, a taxonomist who discovered and documented 50+ new fish types in the late 19th / early 20th century. Jordan was obsessed about his craft and the fish, and continued doing what he was passionate about despite any life challenges.

As the book progresses, though, it becomes an autobiographical novel about Lulu Miller herself, and her search for the meaning in life. A story about living in an unpredictable chaos with no “divine” purpose. — which is what our life is.

We barely know the world around us, even the simplest things under our feet. That we have been wrong before and we will be wrong again. That the true path to progress is paved not with certainty but doubt, with being “open to revision”.

This book is so unique and develops into something you would never have expected in the beginning.

I don’t want to write much more about it not to spoil anything – but I do truly wish that you pick up this book and enjoy it like I did.

Beer of the day is actually my favorite beer of this spring. It is an XPA brewed in my now local brewery Moonwake in Leith, Edinburgh.

It is delicious, crisp, citrusy but not overly so. I like (and will post about) other beers by Moonwake, but their XPA is my absolute favorite: