Floating Gold

A fascinating modern hunt for a treasure from a most surprising source -- a whale's stomach.
Journalist and biologist Christopher Kemp discovers, after reading an odd news report, a hidden world of money, intrigue and amazing wealth. A lump of something turns up on a beach in NZ, the lump so strange it may well have come from out of space. But it's not a dead alien, it's ambergris. Ambergris is a by-product of sperm whales, used for centuries as a perfume, medicine and aphrodisiac. It appears on beaches all over the world and depending on what state it's in, can be mistaken for all manner of things. For those in the know, it's an amazing source of wealth - ambergris trades for US$20 a gram, which is nearly as much as gold but it's harder to find and it cannot be mined. Christopher Kemp travels from the shores of NZ, to the Smithsonian and New Nedford Whaling museum; he meets amateurs, professional hunters, scientists, elusive vendors who traffic ambergris, people who won't confess to have found any, and strangers denying what they are looking for. As he discovers more about ambergris' origins, its uses present day and historic, the outrageous lengths people have gone to find it and the intriguing efforts people go to in order to keep what they know about ambergris a secret, the more his infectious obsession grows.

"Christopher Kemp holds no world records (well, except hands-down for the best book ever written about ambergris), but after a childhood in Birmingham he found himself at the University of Otago, on the South Island of New Zealand, where he began his obsessive quest for ambergris. . . .You probably haven't spent many sleepless nights wondering where ambergris comes from or what it smells like, but I know that "Floating Gold" will enchant and surprise you with its answers to these and countless other questions, and you will now be able to dazzle your uninformed friends who otherwise would know nothing about how faecal impactions and French perfume go together."
--Richard Ellis "Times (UK) "
"Following on the scent of what must be the strangest known natural substance, Christopher Kemp's adventure-filled journey into the often-bizarre world of ambergris takes us from whale innards to remote islands. A compelling narrative, a detective story, and a wonderful window into history and obsession, "Floating Gold" has struck a rich oceanic seam. With its mixture of scientific rigor, evocative travelogue, and eccentric personalities, Kemp's book finally uncovers the secrets of this elusive and extraordinary stuff. His book lingers like the smell of ambergris itself."

--Philip Hoare, author of The Whale
"In this wonderful--and surprisingly gripping--book, Christopher Kemp examines the curious history of one of the world's rarest and most magical substances. This is natural history done well."

--Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein


"Ambergris! Perhaps nature's strangest and rarest gift--one could walk the shores for a lifetime and come up empty-handed. Christopher Kemp's lovely quest tale put me in mind of an afternoon, several years ago, when I opened a dusty letter in the archive of an old whale scientist: suddenly the room burst with the smell of violets, musk, and fresh-hewn wood. To the sheet was taped a little dab of greasy gum, with a note reading, 'Could this be it?' Indeed it was! Would that a little piece of the magic could be tipped inside every copy of "Floating Gold". Read it, for it's as close as one can get without the stuff itself."



--D. Graham Burnett, author of The Sounding of the Whale: Science and Cetaceans in


"Christopher Kemp's delightful pursuit of all things ambergris has resulted in a wonderful and engagingly personal book on one of the world's most mysterious and alluring substances. "Floating Gold" is a fascinating tale of obsession, the limits of science, avarice, suspicion, secrecy, and the desire to create the perfect perfume. It's a pleasure to read."



--Eric Jay Dolin, author of Leviathan: A History of Whaling in America


"In this wonderful--and surprisingly gripping--book, Christopher Kemp examines the curious history of one of the world's rarest and most magical substances. This is natural history done well."



--Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein


"Occupying a near-mythical niche somewhere between truffles and unicorn's horn, ambergris is one of the rarest, most valuable substances in nature. It is also one of the most poorly understood--until now. With "Floating Gold", Kemp has assembled the first comprehensive picture of a unique substance--an essence, really--that has inspired obsession and jealous secrecy for centuries and that, to this day, remains as precious as gold. With humor, insight, and the dogged determination of a Victorian scientist, Kemp takes us around the world and into the arcane and obsessive demimonde of ambergris seekers, traders, and high-end parfumiers. In so doing, he illuminates a world previously known to only a handful of people."



--John Vaillant, author of The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
"Christopher Kemp's delightful pursuit of all things ambergris has resulted in a wonderful and engagingly personal book on one of the world's most mysterious and alluring substances. "Floating Gold" is a fascinating tale of obsession, the limits of science, avarice, suspicion, secrecy, and the desire to create the perfect perfume. It's a pleasure to read."--Eric Jay Dolin, author of" Leviathan: A History of Whaling in America"



--Eric Jay Dolin
"Ambergris! Perhaps nature's strangest and rarest gift--one could walk the shores for a lifetime and come up empty-handed. Christopher Kemp's lovely quest tale put me in mind of an afternoon, several years ago, when I opened a dusty letter in the archive of an old whale scientist: suddenly the room burst with the smell of violets, musk, and fresh-hewn wood. To the sheet was taped a little dab of greasy gum, with a note reading, 'Could this be it?' Indeed it was! Would that a little piece of the magic could be tipped inside every copy of "Floating Gold". Read it, for it's as close as one can get without the stuff itself."--D. Graham Burnett, author of "The Sounding of the Whale: Science and Cetaceans in the Twentieth Century"



--D. Graham Burnett
"Occupying a near-mythical niche somewhere between truffles and unicorn's horn, ambergris is one of the rarest, most valuable substances in nature. It is also one of the most poorly understood--until now. With "Floating Gold", Kemp has assembled the first comprehensive picture of a unique substance--an essence, really--that has inspired obsession and jealous secrecy for centuries and that, to this day, remains as precious as gold. With humor, insight, and the dogged determination of a Victorian scientist, Kemp takes us around the world and into the arcane and obsessive demimonde of ambergris seekers, traders, and high-end parfumiers. In so doing, he illuminates a world previously known to only a handful of people."--John Vaillant, author of "The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival"




"Following on the scent of what must be the strangest known natural substance, Christopher Kemp's adventure-filled journey into the often bizarre world of ambergris takes us from whale innards to remote islands. A compelling narrative, a detective story, and a wonderful window into history and obsession, "Floating Gold" has struck a rich oceanic seam. With its mixture of scientific rigor, evocative travelogue and eccentric personalities, Kemp''s book finally uncovers the secrets of this elusive and extraordinary stuff. His book lingers like the smell of ambergris itself."--Philip Hoare, author of "The Whale"

Christopher Kemp is a frequent contributor to Salon, and a molecular biologist, and FLOATING GOLD is the story of his quest to find ambergris. He is English and now lives in the US.

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