Description: "What, then, draws oyster farmers to the water's edge at dawn or in the dead of night? What makes them work so hard, often in miserable weather, to keep their oysters fat and fit? What makes the rest of us clamor for that small tidbit of flesh, cradled by the smooth inner nacre of an oyster's thickly sculpted shell? One answer's obvious: the ambrosial taste of the world's most edible shellfish."

Heaven on the Half Shell is the true story of oyster farming in the Pacific Northwest. Entertaining text and engrossing historic and contemporary photos present the efforts of pioneering aquaculturists, scientists, field technicians, oyster connoisseurs, and others who have shaped this unique industry over the course of 150 years. Eighteen oyster recipes, ranging from the time-honored Hangtown Fry to nouvelle Pesto Roasted Oysters round out this lively portrait of the bivalve that figures so prominently in the economies and cultures of the Northwest.