Egg: A Dozen Ovatures (Paperback)

People have invested eggs with so much significance that Lizzie Stark’s exploration of eggs in history is divided into a dozen different thematically organized chapters. Their breadth is a reminder of how much attention we pay to eggs. Among the paths Stark follows are: The egg as a cosmic signifier in religion and cultural identity Egg collectors, plenty of whom have plunged to their death in pursuit of rara ova Times of egg scarcity and the lengths to which people will go under such duress Egg money and the ways that poultry and eggs have allowed women to carve out forms of financial independence Culinary egg prowess as demonstrated by Jacques Pépin The preferred texture of egg dishes Decorated eggs, a practice older than human history The author of two previous books without food content and a writer for various national publication, Stark writes with an eye toward contemporary issues—issues surrounding the development of human eggs surface at several points—and a grasp of cul