Jack Sasson circulated a very fascinating essay by Ben Shattuck Swallowed by a Whale–a True Tale? in which he investigates the validity (or otherwise) of modern claims that individuals have survived being swallowed by a whale (I have actually seen a couple of the anecdotes referenced in contemporary commentaries). It is quite a fun read–he channels one of my favorite contemporary essayists, John Jeremiah Sullivan, in a literary approach to his historical investigation.
↧