Scan barcode
A review by aimmyarrowshigh
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
5.0
I did put this down for an extended period when I hit the 75% mark -- it can veer into the verbose and many sections feel very padded with insignificant extraneous detail -- but overall, I really enjoyed Close to Shore. It takes place in a time period that I generally think I know extremely well, but I still learned things about the sociopolitics and culture of 1916 America that I'd never encountered before, and that's always a joy. If you like granular detail about architecture, street names, and lineages of ownership, you will like this book. I don't know that there's a single human being mentioned who doesn't get an extensive genealogy or immigration record or anecdote -- which again, is sometimes to the detriment of the pacing and urgency. Like, this guy just got bitten in half by a shark, man! I don't need to know RIGHT NOW about how his grandfather immigrated from this specific village that uses the term 'beast of water' for sharks, or whatever!
The chapters from the shark's "point of view" were... well, to crib from the best book review of all time: "This book gave me more information about [sharks] than I care to have." I worry that in his effort NOT to anthropomorphize the great white, Capuzzo ended up anthropomorphizing it all the more effectively with his empathy for its alien animal instincts.
I kept pulling my feet up while reading this book because the empty air felt like it might have a lost, starving great white shark in it, just waiting to chomp at them. And that's the biggest compliment one can give a book about the real-life inspiration for Jaws, right?
The chapters from the shark's "point of view" were... well, to crib from the best book review of all time: "This book gave me more information about [sharks] than I care to have." I worry that in his effort NOT to anthropomorphize the great white, Capuzzo ended up anthropomorphizing it all the more effectively with his empathy for its alien animal instincts.
I kept pulling my feet up while reading this book because the empty air felt like it might have a lost, starving great white shark in it, just waiting to chomp at them. And that's the biggest compliment one can give a book about the real-life inspiration for Jaws, right?