Books

“Deeply researched but conversational and even funny, Cultured is the guide we need to make sense of the hope and hype of microbiome science and what it means for our everyday lives.” —MARYN MCKENNA, author of Big Chicken, Superbug, and Beating Back the Devil

“This enthralling book sounds the clarion call to end the senseless onslaught of warfare waged against our microbial symbionts. It is time to embrace the world within us and feed the ferment that keeps us happy and healthy.”  —KEN ALBALA, Professor of History, University of the Pacific

“Entertaining and eye-opening.” —BOOKLIST

“Katherine Harmon Courage’s reportage on what the mollusk is teaching us about robotics, invertebrate intelligence and camouflage is excellent” —NATURE

“Katherine Harmon Courage’s first book Octopus! is crammed with funny, weird, memorable stories about human interactions with cephalopods that start out strange and only get stranger.” —NBCNews.COM

“In journalist Katherine Harmon Courage’s intimate, expansive portrait of these mysterious creatures, she reveals their role in everything from military research to tasty cuisine.” —PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

“A pleasant, chatty book on a fascinating subject.” —KIRKUS

“[A] well-written, accessible book”. —LIBRARY JOURNAL

“The octopus is like an alternate experiment in intelligent life—sophisticated, alluring, and wholly alien. In her fresh, deeply reported book, Katherine Harmon Courage makes this creature a little less mysterious, but no less marvelous.” —CARL ZIMMER, author of A Planet of Viruses and The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution

“What is it like to be an octopus? We need to imagine that our arms, all eight of them, can think and that our skin can see. Despite our obvious trouble understanding this invertebrate, no one doubts its intellect. A delightful book about a fascinating creature!” —FRANS DE WAAL, author of The Bonobo and the Atheist

“According to this book, octopuses can sprout temporary horns. Horns! Seriously, you need to read this book.” —WILL TRACY, editor in chief, The Onion

“I love Octopus! What creature is more beguiling, expressive and enigmatic? Katherine Harmon Courage’s breezy, accessible book introduces us to a top predator, a shape-shifter, a sea mystery that no one can resist.” —SY MONTGOMERY, author of Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest

About Octopus!
Octopuses are the most fascinating animals you could imagine. They change colors, use tools, predict the World Cup, and can kill sharks (sharks!). Also they make killer apps­­ (of the eating sort).

To learn more about them, I ventured out on the high seas with Spanish fishermen to catch octopuses, met a Brooklyn distributor named Vinny who tumbles octopuses for some of the fanciest chefs, and spent time with scientists in Italy who are building a robot octopus.

Dive into the mysterious world of the Octopus!