All About Blue Crabs: And How to Catch Them

Rating:
Summary: Blue Delicious, by fermed
Review: I bought this book as a result of a small argument with a friend during the last (2002) soft shell crab season in the Washington/Baltimore area; I knew that somehow the casting off the crab's hard shell by the female had some sort of reproductive significance, but I could not recall what it was, and I was soon downed in the argument when it was pointed out that both males and females shed their shells (true), and that they certainly did not mate in a state of shell-less nudity (also true.)

And so this little book clarified not only the mating ritual (the female mates only once in her life, in soft shell nakedness, and later perishes) but also the life cycle of these delicious critters, the catching of them, and their culinary preparation. It is a short little tract (less than 100 pages) but it is replete with facts that guarantee you'll never be downed in an argument about blue crabs. It gets a top rating because the book does not pretend to be anything it is not. Short, full of information, useful.