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Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay Paperback – March 21, 1994

4.8 out of 5 stars 243

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The classic Pulitzer Prize-winning study of the Atlantic blue crab and the people of the Chesapeake Bay who have depended on it for generations.

 

For decades, William Warner's exploration of the Atlantic blue crab and the Chesapeake Bay has delighted thousands of readers and become a modern American classic. Nature enthusiasts and fans of fine literature alike will find
Beautiful Swimmers a timeless and enchanting study in the tradition of Rachel Carson and Annie Dillard.

 

In these pages, we are immersed not only in the world of the Chesapeake's most intriguing crustaceans, but in the winds and tides of the Bay itself and the struggles of the watermen who make their living in pursuit of the succulent, pugnacious blue crab.

 

"This is a book of rare grace and meditation, one that ranges from adventure to zoology, with no small measure of mystery and history." --Miami Herald

 

"Beautiful Swimmers is wonderful to read and a distinguished addition to our literature." --Larry McMurtry

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A reader's treat."―Time

"William W. Warner's book on blue crabs is called
Beautiful Swimmers, and beautiful is the word for it. Other words for it are elegant, moving, informative, and provocative...His book, so meticulously researched and gracefully written, is a small work of art and a large joy for the reader."―Sports Illustrated

About the Author

William W. Warner (1920-2008) won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1977 for Beautiful Swimmers. He was a longtime administrator for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and his writing appeared in the Atlantic Naturalist and the New York Times.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (March 21, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316923354
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316923354
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 243

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
243 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023
If your are from Maryland or just love crabs, believe me this is a fascinating , lovely book. Nature never ceases to amaze.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2013
The blue crab (Callinectus sapidus, the beautiful savory swimmer) is among the most truly named of species. Swimming together, locked in love's embrace, the graceful pairs of jimmies and sooks will swim across the Chesapeake Bay if needed be to find proper eel grass for her nuptial moulting. The lady's fingernails (big claw ends) turn red at this time. And cooked with crab-boil, mounded on brown butcher paper, steaming hot, melted butter at hand, nothing is finer, more savory eating.

"Beautiful Swimmers" is William Warner's magnificent story of the blue crab, the women and men who go down to the sea in low-gunn'ld boats well before dawn to work their crab pots, the way of life of their communities and forebears, the great Chesapeake Bay itself, and the impacts of urbanization on this way of life. Warner spent several years and many many hours with the watermen learning about the crabs, then a significant part of the Bay's economy and its ecology. His research shows in each chapter, yet nothing is academic, "quaint," or preachy.

Warner's writing is is a joy to read, aloud if possible, or silently. It is crystalline, free of hyperbole or hysteria while presenting the impacts on the Bay of urbanization & our hunger for crabs, tenderly appreciative of the crab itself, and honoring as they should be honored, the communities and the people whose lives require complex skills, deep attention to wind and water, and enormous courage. For some years, I sailed now & again from a small island community (Cobb Island) on the Potomac, where people lived by crabbing in summer and oystering in winter. Warner has nailed it: this is what it feels like, this is what the crabs are like, and lordy, lordy, this is how they taste served hot at Captain John's.

Written in the 1970s, "Beautiful Swimmers" is, of course, a picture of that not-so-long ago time. One hopes Warner has contributed to preserving the waters, the eel-grasses, the communities, and the blue crabs themselves, beautiful & savory. Perhaps things have changed for the better.

A book to read, to enjoy, to learn from, to admire. I have no negatives or yes-buts, other than noting my appreciation of the reprints so "Beautiful Swimmers" remains available and mentioning readers may find enjoyment of the first/earlier editions' maps and splendid line drawings.
18 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2020
This book is a delight. It is the story of the Maryland Blue Crab that lives in the Chesapeake Bay. Boring, you say? Not so, I say. The book has all the scientific information about Callinectes sapidus (beautiful swimmer), the official name of the Maryland Blue Crab, and the science is very interesting and well written. But, this is a love story about romantic crabs. Did you know that the jimmy (the male crab) carries the sook (the female) on his back all the way across the bay for mating? It could take two days for them to make it to the other side. This book also gives us insights into the hard lives of the watermen who catch these crabs for our consumption. They deserve our admiration, too.
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2022
This is a fantastic book from a gifted author.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
But it!
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2013
Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay Hardcover by William Warner
and drawings by Consuelo Hanks

I love this book! I ordered this second hand from Amazon, delivered free with Prime and it came lovingly wrapped and inside a zip lock bag, where it remains for safe keeping. A wonderful saga reported in this Pulitzer Prize winning book detailing the lives and exploits of the fishermen and crabbers of the Chesapeake Bay Area. The author writes wonderfully and with honest sympathy of the hard but worthwhile lives of the Bay Fishermen. If you would like a wonderfully written intreaging story of the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay this will be your fantastic escape into their lives and struggles to make a living from the Bay waters.
8 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2022
Such an amazing book. My dad abs husband are waterman on the chesapeake bay so it is such an awesome read for us
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2022
Wonderful little book. So happy to have it in my life again!

Top reviews from other countries

Colin Mair
5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2015
What a delightful book. But I am biased, as I have friends in Annapolis, and visit occasionally. I have sailed on the Chesapeake Bay, and so am fascinated to find out more about it. But I do think that it is intrinsically very appealing, well written and with interesting descriptions of the people as well as the history of crab and other fishing.
2 people found this helpful
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may
5.0 out of 5 stars If you enjoy crab or oysters, you must read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2019
A well researched book now of historic value as over 40years old.