Shark Drunk

“An epic fishing trip reels in fascinating sea lore in this briny eco-adventure. . . .  The author ponders everything related to the ocean, including bizarre luminous squids of the inky depths, frolicking orca pods and sperm whales, ancient disquisitions on maritime monsters, flinty islanders who live off the sea, and the close, testy relationships between fishing friends. Strøksnes’s erudition, salty humor, and unfussy prose yield a fresh, engrossing natural history.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Accomplished Norwegian historian, journalist, and photographer Strøksnes invites readers into the fantastical ocean environment of his quest to capture a Greenland shark. . . . readers will happily devour this smorgasbord of delights.”—Kirkus

“Move over, Ishmael. Move over, Jonah. Move over, Izaak Walton and Norman Maclean. Make room for a fish tale, wry and fantastical, weird and melancholy, that must now take its rightful place among our classic existential stories about the denizens of the deep.”—Hampton Sides, bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice

“Some great quests defy any logical explanation but by virtue of their whimsical turns lead to unexpected wonder and enlightenment. Morton Strøksnes’ Shark Drunk is one such quest—the hunt for what might be called the world’s largest “trash fish”—that transports us with humor and insight to forbidding coasts and unexplored depths.”—Peter Stark, author of Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire     

“Shark Drunk is a beautifully crafted, slyly funny meditation on friendship, nature, history, literature, and most of all, the sea. That, and a gripping adventure tale about a hunt for a flesh-eating, razor-skinned sea monster. I don’t know how Morten Strøksnes makes it work, but he does, brilliantly.”—Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi

“The Greenland shark is the bait.  Not quite a red herring, and certainly not the reeking bull flesh used at one point as a lure, this enormous, ancient, toxic shark that Morten Strøksnes and his friend Hugo pursue through the seasons in northern Norway is nonetheless a snare and a delusion. The point is not to catch the fish. It’s the phantasmagoric journey, both ultra-vivid and laconic, through the history and natural history of a remarkable region, its teeming seas and tough, resourceful locals. Hugo, a painter, mixes his paints from oil harvested from the livers of cod they catch while chasing the great shark.  Strøksnes weaves his tale from a dense wool of close observation, fishing yarns, erudition lightly worn, and a helpless, consuming love of the ocean.”—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life

“With the open-minded inquisitiveness of Charles Darwin and the obsession of Captain Ahab, Morten Strøksnes heads out to sea, chasing a monster of the deep known as the Greenland shark. Every page of Shark Drunk feels like a cabinet of curiosities, filled with head-scratching surprises, nuggets of wisdom, and wondrous insights. Gorgeously written and thoroughly addictive.”—Michael Finkel, bestselling author of The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

“Morten Strøksnes has enriched the world with a book of highly unusual originality. . . . As a reader I take the bait and get firmly stuck to the hook.”—Fredrik Sjöberg, author of The Fly Trap

• National Media Appearances, including NPR and print features
• Online Interviews, Reviews, and Literary Blog Coverage
• Men's Magazine and Blog Coverage
• Coverage in and on Outdoor and Nature Publications and Sites
• Online Advertising Campaign, including PBS.org, the Litbreaker Network, and outdoor and nature sites
  
• Facebook Advertising Campaign, targeting fans of outdoor and nature publications, the Discovery Channel, Shark Week, PBS's Nature
• Shark Tank, Maritime Museums, Man vs Wild; fans of Cheryl Strayed, Sebastian Junger, Bill Bryson
• Jacket Blowups Available