Maine stands as the most exceptional of the northeastern states through a combination of poverty, large size, small population, and its unique conjunction of forest and seashore. Few visitors fail to notice and admire the boats and buoys along the coast, the direct evidence of lobstering. Piles of lobster traps and related paraphernalia clutter the shore around docks and lobstermen's houses. Such things, along with the crustaceans themselves (in life and in plastic), likewise denote the state's second most common entrapment device, the tourist trap. Despite the pervasiveness of these sights, few "from away" know anything about what it means to lobster. "Lobstering and the Maine Coast," the exhibit at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, and its accompanying catalog, aim to provide "a comprehensive view of the social, political, economic, and technological history of this most salient of Maine's maritime activities." For a maritime museum to devote a major permanent exhibit to so current a topic, one in which local residents are still active and which raises strong and often emotional opinions, strikes me as rare and healthy. To attempt to provide so broad an interpretation of a way of life, as opposed to simply displaying traditional types of boats, offers a still greater challenge. The exhibit's opening lines acknowledge the close association of Maine and lobstering, noting that what observers "do not see is the hard work, long hours, and danger" inherent in the endeavor. The visitor can move fairly quickly through descriptions of habitat and species to depictions of the development of commercial lobstering. Excellent historical images are combined with artifacts and a re-creation