Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis

"With deep reporting and smart writing, Andrew Reeves not only illuminates the long, strange tale of the Asian carp in North America but also shows us its underlying truths. This is a story about cities and water, food and soil, humans and other species -- and one fantastically troublesome fish." -- Michelle Nijhuis, science journalist and winner of the aaas Kavli Science Journalism Award "The definitive narrative of carp in America... A must-read for those who love the Mississippi River watershed and the Great Lakes, for those interested in 'invasive' species, for sportfishers and environmental historians." -- Emma Marris, author of Rambunctious Garden "This detailed account of the invasion of Asian carp into North American waterways reads like a Kurt Vonnegut novel or science fiction. Yet the carp's unbelievable progress splashes another clear warning about how so-called solutions have become the chief cause of our problems." -- Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Empire of the Beetle Intelligent investigative writing meets experiential journalism in this important look at one of North America's most voraciously invasive species Politicians, ecologists and government wildlife officials are fighting a desperate rearguard action to halt the onward reach of Asian carp, now within a handful of miles from entering Lake Michigan. With writing that is both urgent and wildly entertaining, Andrew Reeves traces the carp's explosive spread throughout North America from an unknown import meant to tackle invasive water weeds to a continental scourge that bulldozes through everything in its path. From aquaculture farms in Arkansas to the bayous of Louisiana; from marshlands in Indiana to labs in Minnesota; and from the Illinois River to the streets of Chicago, where the last line of defense has been laid to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, Overrun takes us on a firsthand journey into the heart of a crisis.