Mark Kurlansky is an acclaimed American author, well-known for his works in history, science, fiction, and non-fiction. He has written, edited, or contributed to twenty books, which have been translated into twenty-five languages and won numerous prizes. Some of his most notable works include "Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World," "Salt," "1968," and "The Food of a Younger Land," all of which were New York Times best-sellers.
Kurlansky was born and raised in Connecticut and pursued his higher education at the BA level, which he completed in 1970. After graduation, he worked as a playwright in New York and held several other jobs, including those of a dock worker, commercial fisherman, pastry chef, cook, and paralegal. These diverse experiences have significantly contributed to his understanding of various subjects and have enriched his writing.
In addition to his New York Times best-sellers, Kurlansky has also written "Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea," which won the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His work has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Award for Food Writer of the Year, and the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award for Food Book of the Year.
Standalone Novels
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
The Big Oyster
2005
2
Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue
2005
3
Battle Fatigue
2011
4
Cheesecake
2025
Collections
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
The White Man in the Tree and Other Stories
2000
2
Edible Stories
2010
3
City Beasts
2015
Picture Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
The Cod's Tale
1997
2
The Girl Who Swam to Euskadi
2005
3
The Story of Salt
2006
4
World Without Fish
2011
Non-Fiction Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
A Continent of Islands
1992
2
A Chosen Few
1994
3
Cod
1997
4
The Last Fish Tale
1998
5
The Basque History of the World
1999
6
Choice Cuts
2002
7
Salt
2002
8
1968
2003
9
Nonviolence
2006
10
The Eastern Stars
2010
11
What? Are These the 20 Most Important Questions in Human History or Is This a Game of 20 Questions?
2011
12
Birdseye
2012
13
Ready for a Brand New Beat
2013
14
International Night
2014
15
Frozen in Time
2014
16
Paper
2016
17
Havana
2017
18
Milk!
2018
19
Bugs In Danger
2019
20
Salmon
2020
21
The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing
2021
22
The Importance of Not Being Ernest
2022
23
Big Lies: From Socrates to Social Media
2022
24
Big Lies: From Socrates to Social Media (With: Eric Zelz)
2022
25
The Core of an Onion
2023
The Food of a Younger Land Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food
2009
2
The Food of a Younger Land: The South Eats
2009
3
The Food of a Younger Land: The Far West Eats
2009
4
The Food of a Younger Land: The Middle West Eats
2009
5
The Food of a Younger Land: The Southwest Eats
2009
6
The Food of a Younger Land: The Northeast Eats
2009
Akashic Noir Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
San Francisco Noir
2002
2
Seattle Noir
2003
3
Bronx Noir
2003
4
Brooklyn Noir
2004
5
Brooklyn Noir 2
2005
6
Chicago Noir
2005
7
Dublin Noir
2005
8
Manhattan Noir
2006
9
Miami Noir
2006
10
D.C. Noir
2006
11
Baltimore Noir
2006
12
Twin Cities Noir
2006
13
London Noir
2006
14
New Orleans Noir
2007
15
Los Angeles Noir
2007
16
Wall Street Noir
2007
17
Havana Noir
2007
18
Detroit Noir
2007
19
Queens Noir
2008
20
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth
2008
21
Toronto Noir
2008
22
Las Vegas Noir
2008
23
Trinidad Noir
2008
24
D.C. Noir 2
2008
25
Manhattan Noir 2
2008
26
Paris Noir
2008
27
Istanbul Noir
2008
28
Boston Noir
2009
29
Rome Noir
2009
30
San Francisco Noir 2
2009
31
Portland Noir
2009
32
Delhi Noir
2009
33
Phoenix Noir
2009
34
Los Angeles Noir 2
2010
35
Mexico City Noir
2010
36
Richmond Noir
2010
37
Orange County Noir
2010
38
Indian Country Noir
2010
39
Moscow Noir
2010
40
Lone Star Noir
2010
41
Philadelphia Noir
2010
42
Haiti Noir
2010
43
Copenhagen Noir
2010
44
Pittsburgh Noir
2011
45
San Diego Noir
2011
46
Barcelona Noir
2011
47
Cape Cod Noir
2011
48
New Jersey Noir
2011
49
Staten Island Noir
2012
50
When They Are Done With Us
2012
51
Mumbai Noir
2012
52
Long Island Noir
2012
53
Venice Noir
2012
54
Kingston Noir
2012
55
St. Petersburg Noir
2012
56
Kansas City Noir
2012
57
Boston Noir 2
2012
58
USA Noir
2013
59
Manila Noir
2013
60
Buffalo Noir
2013
61
Dallas Noir
2013
62
Haiti Noir 2
2013
63
Singapore Noir
2014
64
Prison Noir
2014
65
Tel Aviv Noir
2014
66
Tehran Noir
2014
67
Belfast Noir
2014
68
Helsinki Noir
2014
69
Rio Noir
2014
70
Providence Noir
2015
71
Chicago Noir: The Classics
2015
72
Memphis Noir
2015
73
Zagreb Noir
2015
74
Marseille Noir
2015
75
Beirut Noir
2015
76
New Orleans Noir: The Classics
2016
77
Stockholm Noir
2016
78
Brussels Noir
2016
79
Mississippi Noir
2016
80
St. Louis Noir
2016
81
Prague Noir
2016
82
San Juan Noir
2016
83
Oakland Noir
2017
84
Trinidad Noir: The Classics
2017
85
Atlanta Noir
2017
86
New Haven Noir
2017
87
Montana Noir
2017
88
Buenos Aires Noir
2017
89
Montreal Noir
2017
90
Berlin Noir
2018
91
São Paulo Noir
2018
92
Santa Cruz Noir
2018
93
Lagos Noir
2018
94
Marrakech Noir
2018
95
Baghdad Noir
2018
96
Vancouver Noir
2018
97
Sydney Noir
2018
98
Hong Kong Noir
2018
99
Amsterdam Noir
2019
100
Milwaukee Noir
2019
101
Houston Noir
2019
102
Nairobi Noir
2020
103
Columbus Noir
2020
104
Santa Fe Noir
2020
105
Alabama Noir
2020
106
Berkeley Noir
2020
107
Addis Ababa Noir
2020
108
Tampa Bay Noir
2020
109
Miami Noir: The Classics
2020
110
Accra Noir
2020
111
Belgrade Noir
2020
112
Palm Springs Noir
2021
113
Paris Noir: The Suburbs
2022
114
Denver Noir
2022
115
South Central Noir
2022
116
Cleveland Noir
2023
117
East Jerusalem Noir
2023
118
West Jerusalem Noir
2023
119
Honolulu Noir
2024
120
Sacramento Noir
2025
121
Hamburg Noir
2025
Jewish Lives Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
1
Medallions
1946
2
Medallions (By: Diana Kuprel, Zofia Nalkowska)
1946
3
Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt (By: Robert Gottlieb)
2010
4
Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt
2010
5
Moses Mendelssohn
2010
6
Moses Mendelssohn (By: Shmuel Feiner)
2010
7
Emma Goldman
2011
8
Emma Goldman (By: Vivian Gornick)
2011
9
Hank Greenberg
2011
10
Solomon (By: Steven Weitzman)
2011
11
Solomon
2011
12
Leon Trotsky
2011
13
Leon Trotsky (By: Joshua Rubenstein)
2011
14
Franz Kafka
2012
15
Franz Kafka (By: Saul Friedländer)
2012
16
Walther Rathenau (By: Shulamit Volkov)
2012
17
Walther Rathenau
2012
18
Moshe Dayan
2012
19
Moshe Dayan (By: Mordechai Bar-On)
2012
20
Jacob
2012
21
Jacob (By: Yair Zakovitch)
2012
22
Bernard Berenson
2013
23
Bernard Berenson (By: Rachel Lara Cohen)
2013
24
Primo Levi (By: Berel Lang)
2013
25
Primo Levi
2013
26
Becoming Freud
2014
27
Becoming Freud (By: Adam Phillips)
2014
28
Lillian Hellman
2014
29
Lillian Hellman (By: Dorothy Gallagher)
2014
30
Rav Kook (By: Yehudah Mirsky)
2014
31
Rav Kook
2014
32
Jabotinsky (By: Hillel Halkin)
2014
33
Jabotinsky
2014
34
David (By: David J. Wolpe)
2014
35
David
2014
36
Leonard Bernstein (By: Allen Shawn)
2014
37
Leonard Bernstein
2014
38
Ben-Gurion (By: Anita Shapira)
2014
39
Ben-Gurion
2014
40
Mark Rothko
2015
41
Mark Rothko (By: Annie Cohen-Solal)
2015
42
Einstein
2015
43
Einstein (By: Steven Gimbel)
2015
44
Léon Blum
2015
45
Léon Blum (By: Pierre Birnbaum)
2015
46
Peggy Guggenheim ( By: Francine Prose)
2015
47
Peggy Guggenheim
2015
48
Proust (By: Benjamin Taylor)
2015
49
Proust
2015
50
Groucho Marx (By: Lee Siegel)
2016
51
Groucho Marx
2016
52
Disraeli (By: David Cesarani)
2016
53
Disraeli
2016
54
Barbra Streisand (By: Neal Gabler)
2016
55
Barbra Streisand
2016
56
Louis D. Brandeis (By: Jeffrey Rosen)
2016
57
Louis D. Brandeis
2016
58
Moses
2016
59
Moses (By: Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg)
2016
60
Warner Bros
2017
61
Warner Bros (By: David Thomson)
2017
62
Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films (By: Molly Haskell)