Kurlansky, the prize-winning author of *Nonviolence*; *Salt: A World History*; and *The Chosen Few: The Resurrection of European Jewry*, discusses his latest book, *Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell*. The book is described as a 'chatty, free-wheeling history of New York City told from the humble perspective of the once copious, eagerly consumed, now decimated eastern oyster.'
After receiving a BA in Theater from Butler University in 1970, and refusing to serve in the military, Kurlansky worked in New York. He was a playwright, having a number of off-off Broadway productions, and a playwright-in-residence at Brooklyn College. He won the 1972 Earplay award for best radio play of the year.