num_pages: 319
description: A journalist's quest to find a wild Asian arowana  the world's most expensive aquarium fishtakes her on a global tour through the bizarre realm of ornamental fish hobbyists to some of the most remote jungles on the planet. A young man is murdered for his prized pet fish. An Asian tycoon buys a single specimen for $150000. Meanwhile a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. Delving into an outlandish world of obsession paranoia and criminality The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other. Treasured as a status symbol believed to bring good luck the Asian arowana or dragon fish is a dramatic example of a modern paradox: the mass-produced endangered species. While hundreds of thousands are bred in captivity the wild fish has become a near-mythical creature. From the South Bronx to Borneo and beyond journalist Emily Voigt follows the trail of the arowana to learn its fate in nature. With a captivating blend of personal reporting history and science Voigt traces our fascination with aquarium fish back to the era of exploration when intrepid naturalists stood on the cutting edge of modern science discovering new species around the globe. In an age when freshwater fish now comprise one of the most rapidly vanishing groups of animals she unearths a surprising truth behind the arowanas rise to fameone that calls into question how we protect the worlds rarest species. An elegant examination of the human conquest of nature The Dragon Behind the Glass revels in the sheer wonder of lifes diversity and lays bare our deepest desireto hold on to what is wild.
language: English
title: The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World's Most Coveted Fish
publisher: Scribner