The Story of Sushi Audiobook By Trevor Corson cover art

The Story of Sushi

An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice

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The Story of Sushi

By: Trevor Corson
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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Everything you never knew about sushi: its surprising origins, the colorful lives of its chefs, and the bizarre behavior of the creatures that compose it. Trevor Corson takes us behind the scenes at America's first sushi-chef training academy, as eager novices strive to master the elusive art of cooking without cooking. He delves into the biology and natural history of the edible creatures of the sea, and tells the fascinating story of an Indo-Chinese meal reinvented in 19th-century Tokyo as a cheap fast food. He reveals the pioneers who brought sushi to the United States and explores how this unlikely meal is exploding into the American heartland just as the long-term future of sushi may be unraveling.

The Story of Sushi is at once a compelling tale of human determination and a delectable smorgasbord of surprising food science, intrepid reporting, and provocative cultural history.

©2007 Trevor Corson (P)2010 Audible, Inc. Animals Biological Sciences Food & Wine Gastronomy Outdoors & Nature Science World Thought-Provoking

Editorial reviews

Trevor Corson is not a writer as much as he is a seafood expert, and both The Secret Life of Lobsters and The Story of Sushi have quickly achieved best seller status on the strength of the interesting information they carry. Sushi has only been a part of American cuisine for a few decades, and there are surprisingly few comprehensive perspectives that treat the history, the cooking, and the art. Corson's book amply fills this void, as long as you are listening to it as a piece of reportage more than a novel with a plot.

Whatever faults there are in the writing, the telling does not compound them. Brian Nishii has as few narration credits as Corson has author credits, but you'd never know it. He handles the many facets of this book with energy and agility. One strand running through the book is a straightforward factual account of the history of sushi, both as traditional Japanese cuisine and as modern American trend. A second strand is the more scientific description of the different varieties of seafood and their assorted properties. The third strand attempts to humanize the difficulty of the art of making sushi by following a class of beginners through sushi school.

Tokyo-born Nishii nails all the pronunciation with ease and fluidity. Fans of sushi will be relieved and possibly embarrassed to learn the proper way to order and eat their food. The helpful tips abound, from the fat content of each fish to what you are really eating when you eat wasabi to the importance of the radish garnishing your plate. There is also a heaping dose of amusing facts. For example, the phrase "mac daddy" actually comes from the idea that the skin of the mackerel is very shiny, and salmon is actually a white fish that turns pink for the same reason flamingos do.

Nishii also deftly handles the Japanese-Australian accent of a pop star turned sushi school chef, a strange and delightful sound to the American ear, delivering a relatively satisfying gem of a portrait amidst Corson's cast of flat characters — the timid depressive who can't do anything right, the 17-year-old kid taking this class to impress girls, the beautiful stoic from Finland who executes each roll to perfection, the hard-working sous chef destined to find a job right after graduation, et cetera. The more informative two-thirds of the book certainly make up for Corson's missteps in the sushi school thread, and Nishii's voice work will reassure you that next time you sit down at the sushi bar, you'll be at the head of the class. —Megan Volpert

Critic reviews

"The combination of culinary insights and personal drama makes for one of the more compelling food-themed books in recent years." ( Publishers Weekly)
Educational Content • Fascinating History • Authentic Japanese Pronunciation • Informative Details • Entertaining Narrative

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What made the experience of listening to The Story of Sushi the most enjoyable?

How Sushi started, how difficult it is to do it right and how Americans changed Sushi,

Who was your favorite character and why?

The young trainee

Which character – as performed by Brian Nishii – was your favorite?

The teacher

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It's not as easy as it looks

How Americans changed Sushi

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Who knew there was so much to know about sushi? While the trite story about the personal life of the main character is distracting, the overall information and history about sushi outweighs those negatives. You'll never look at raw fish the same!

Fascinating

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Follows a girl as she goes through an American sushi school. I expected to have more information about how sushi originated. You do get information here and there in between what the girl learns in class. Nevertheless, a fine story

More like the Story of Sushi in America

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What did you love best about The Story of Sushi?

the understanding and level of detail the Japanese have put into the understanding of taste and health.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The New Zealander. I like his driving ways.

Have you listened to any of Brian Nishii’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the intricate taste of sushi

Any additional comments?

You will enjoy the book. you learn about sushi and that what we generally have in america is not traditional Japanese sushi

I never thought a sushi book would be interesting!

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I found this book highly entertaining. It covered a large range of topics related to sushi, from the evolution of fish to how sushi bar became popular in 1960s California. The story that creates the structure of the book, following students at a sushi academy, is useful when it is used to be informative - when the students run into problems, and these problems are used to explained things further. The educational passages are the best bits. Whenever the story tries to hit an emotional note, it fails. However, this is not much of the book. I am very glad I listened to this book.

Sushi is Interesting

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