Beautiful Swimmers
Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay

“Beautiful swimmer” is how the Greek term Callinectes translates into English; and Callinectes sapidus is the scientific name for the Chesapeake blue crab, the amazing little animal that serves as a key object of study for William Warner in his book Beautiful Swimmers. Natives or residents of the Ch......more

I had long taken the Chesapeake Bay for granted until my grandparents began talking in earnest about selling their boat. On a trip down there this summer, they recommended this book as a way of coming closer to the bay. As the title indicates, Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake B......more

This book of non-Fiction is written with such care of the subject, and the grace of the language and discriptions of everything from the beautiful swimmers (chesapeake blue crabs) themselves, to the history of the Chesapeake bay, the crab-pot watermen to the pickers and packers. Warner truly takes t......more

Beautiful book on an unlikely subject As a kid in Marblehead, Mass. I liked to catch crabs off the rocks. When I grew up a bit, I learned to eat them too---a very succulent food that I still love. But, I must confess that I never thought of reading books about them until one day I ran across William......more

Whenever, as a child, I had the audacity to tell my parents I was bored, as if it were their job to entertain me, my dad would respond, "Only boring people get bored." Those words have burrowed deep. I've had to challenge my reflexive contempt towards others' boredom, and I almost immediately feel sh......more