Part essay, which wasn't bad although not nearly as good as John McPhee. Part travelogue, which was also fairly good. Part science lesson—how much plastic is in the sea, how sea currents are being studied. There was too much of that, most of it rather dull. And part the author's attempt to attach some meaning to the ducks and his travels, which was just silly. He waxes poetic, or tries to, when the container ship he's on travels within 200 miles of where the ducks fell off the ship. He ends with a look at paternal themes in Moby Dick because he happens to have a son.

In short, it was an interesting idea, but the author didn't carry it off. It could have been an interesting magazine article, but it didn't make for a very exciting book.