Why Fish Don’t Exist is a bit of a mess and all over the place, but at its core, it’s a beautifully written book about happiness, science and what it means to be human. 

Miller explores her lows in life and her consequent search for happiness, success and the answer to the question “Do we matter, and if we don’t, how to go on?”. She does this through the memoirs of David Starr Jordan — an ichthyologist in the 19th century.

While the storyline in the beginning is quite clear (“How did Jordan manage to keep getting up after the many traumatic experiences in his life?”) the story quickly unfolds into a way wider array of philosophical questions. The question of ego, positive mindset, eugenics, whether fish exist… the book contains little gems of writing all over, but the structure and “answers to the big questions” presented throughout the book are a little bit lost on me.