Out Of My Shell

by S. Peter Dance

"Out of my Shell" is a new book by the author of "A History of Shell Collecting," "Rare Shells," and (as co-author) the best-selling "Compendium of Seashells." Peter says in his Forward, "For many years I have accumulated notes connected in some way or other with molluscs and their shells, intending to use them in articles or books, but most have remained unpublished in any form. Now I have edited some of them, adding occasional dashes of autobiography and some illustrations." He discusses the forms and colours of shells and tells stories about rarities, such as the golden cowry and the Glory-of-the-Sea cone. He investigates shells in fiction, shells with royal connections, and places named after shells. Striking a more sombre note, he explains how an album of shell watercolours, destined for a London auction, made him overlook 9/11; and describes how illegal Chinese immigrants died while hunting for cockles.

An entertaining assortment of photos and drawings, several of them the Author's own work, enchance the appeal to this unique book.

212 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you get past the painfully classic "self-published" cover,* this books is indeed a delightful "diversion for shell lovers."

This is not a guide- or handbook dryly (but to us weird shell lovers, fascinatingly) describing shell after shell; it is instead a series of anecdotal shell-based articles/essays covering such diverse topics as shells and royalty, shells on stamps, shells and architecture, snail-racing, weird uses of shells, shell crafts and myths, etc.—just a whole bunch of cool stuff. As Shana describes it in one of the few other reviews, it's "perfect café or toilet reading," which is high praise indeed. Along the way, you'll also learn the difference between such terms as conchology and malacology; operculated and unoperculated, sinistral and dextral, chitinous and calcareous…all great stuff—but again, mainly to those who are already conchological weirdos.

For any regular scuba diver, after the first 20-30 dives, there is a realization that they better find a more specific underwater hobby pretty soon, or the "ooh and ahh" of looking at rocks and fish is gonna fade pretty fast. Some get into photography (expensive); some take up spearfishing (okay I guess, if you're into hunting/fishing in general); some get into wreck diving (crazy) or even cave diving (batshit crazy). Or…"ooh, look at the pretty shell!" Except not really; shells on the ocean floor are generally not pretty (much less readily visible) at all, but in fact really well-camouflaged; usually encrusted in seaweed or coral or general ocean gunk—and so actually finding the shell is hard enough…but that's only the beginning. Then there's the matter of removing (and in my case, often cooking/eating) the animal, and then the endless hours with wire brushes and dental picks required to make your gunky ocean shell (boo) look like a shiny display shell (yay).

In a basically unrelated note, Dance's tragic description of the Chinese immigrant cocklers who were drowned by the incoming tides at Morecambe Bay makes me want to reread Simon Lewis' excellent Bad Traffic: An Inspector Jian Novel, part of which involves this well-known incident—great book; you should look for it, (and Lewis should write the long-promised sequel!).

* Dance does note in one of his later essays that other than the operculum of the Blue-Star Shell, there are few to no other examples of "true blue" in the shell world…so maybe that's what he was going for with the cover. But still—yikes.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect cafe or toilet reading. It's filled with brilliant little stories and facts about shells, shell collecting and the history of shell collecting. It's fun and it fills your head with useless, but lovely information.

[Mlg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book about shells both historically and in collections. Great little stories about everything shell related.