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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
55 Reviews
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4.2 out of 5 stars (55 customer reviews)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars The title almost describes my reading experience., September 28, 2013
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True Crime Reader "nycfs" (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
Having read this book I felt compelled to comment. It was very well-researched, no question about it. The first half was gripping, as the author recounts in present time all the shark attacks as they occured. But as several reviewers wrote, it then got too bogged down in shark research such as which type shark might have been involved, ie: a bull shark or great white. Of course I am joking about the reading experience as I described in the title, but I have to admit it did become difficult to finish. It felt like I was reading a college text book. It should be marketed as such. It absolutely lives up to its subtitle of "A Definitive Investigation..." The author did an incredible amount of research, but it was just not what I expected. I would like to note that I read Capuzzo's Close To Shore last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I merely assumed that Twelve Days of Terror would be as good or better....I was disappointed. If you want to read an account of the 1916 Jersey shark attacks, I recommend Capuzzo's book. It's more streamlined, and mostly focuses on the attacks while leaving much of the shark research for other books. All in all, not a bad book, but you have to really be into shark research to enjoy it.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Very good blend, February 11, 2013
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Emil Siri "Emil" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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In summary, it's a good reaD. The auther blends narrative with excellent overviews of the early 20th Century science, medicine, and sociology. The organization of the material could be cleaner, but that's on his editor, in my view.
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4.0 out of 5 stars First half is great, November 18, 2011
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T. Dotts (Pottstown, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
The first half of the book is a good adventure story. I wanted to spend more time with the victims and onlookers and less time with the second half of the book. The second half brings up some interesting facts, but more than I needed after enjoying the novel-like feel of the first half.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Days of Terror, October 4, 2011
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autumn - See all my reviews
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After reading "Close to Shore" I was interested to read more of the shark attacks in 1916 off the NJ shore. This book is well written and well researched. Pictures are also included which I liked. It has also prompted me to order the movie also, with the same title as this book, at this time it has not arrived but I am looking forward to it. This book is another "can't put it down book." I recommend it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars New Jersey Shark Attacks, 1916, July 7, 2011
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Eileen Muirhead (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews
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Very informative and entertaining review of the horrible shark attacks in NJ in 1916. It still boggles belief that these attacks occurred. The only problem is, it can make you hesitant to ever go in the ocean again.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Jaws- A Real-Life Horror Story, April 8, 2011
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Mr. C. T. Brand "Dark Matter" (Norfolk, U.K.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
Having been thoroughly entertained, and terrified, by the original movie, I only recently discovered, following a TV documentary, that it was based on a true story. Needless to say, I tracked down a copy of the book, and look forward to reading it as and when time allows. An initial scan shows this is a very detailed, and painstakingly researched book. Highly recommended.
My order was dispached very quickly, and received in pretty much 'as new' condition.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Solid Research, Draggy Writing, But Worth a Look, June 25, 2010
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William Alexander "Alexander, Shaun" (Spartanburg, SC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I am going to make this review very brief. Fernicola does a wonderful job, albeit with an esoteric mis-step or two, in researching the "Gold Coast" playground aura that once characterized the Jersey Shore. His research paints a fascinating glimpse into emerging American coastal culture before World War One, and I had no idea this area was so history-rich. That part was a treat. And, his research into the attacks, told in a stark narrative with few sidecar distractions, was both solid and empathetic. He also managed to unearth some really fascinating cartoons and photos of the era demonstrating that the work of this rogue shark was indeed so shocking, it inflamed segments of the then-popular imagination through the still-emerging power of the popular press of the time. It's an interesting mediation on how the tragic started to become entertainment, even as far back as 1916.
The last half of the book, I am sorry to say, was a bit of a chore. Ichthyology can be fascinating, and the discussion of whether or not the 1916 killer was a Great White or a Bull Shark commands some interest, as does the scientific debate and then revision about shark behavior the attacks compelled. But, all of this was so excessively wordy and so inclined to back-track, the book became something of a slog, kind of a slow-motion version of "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel which, essentially, covers the same information ad nauseam. It really needed a trim and edit.
Nonetheless, overall, I enjoyed this book very much, found it well-researched in the main, and in spite of the somewhat ponderous latter half, I am happy to recommend it to the interested reader. Especially the shark mavens out there!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Twice as long as it needs to be!, February 13, 2009
By
Bibliophile777 (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
While the topic of this book is very interesting and the research quite in-depth, I found this book to be very repetitive & much longer than it really needed to be. It was almost as if the author was searching for something more to add to each subtopic but couldn't find anything and so just repeated himself. If you're intereted in sharks or shark attacks at all, you will definitely find this book interesting but beware, you will be reading the same information more than once! Out of sheer stubborness I finished the book but I was relieved when it was over! I'm very surprised that this book has such high reviews!
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5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying Attacks, November 13, 2008
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P. Pease "pfood" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
This book was purchased for my son who is quite interested in sharks and almost any reference to sharks. He loved the book and learned a lot of details about those twelve days.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Don't End Your Book At Chapter 3, June 25, 2008
By
David K. Taggart (Calhoun, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
The "definitive" history of the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. And we get that in the first three chapters.
And then we get endless speculation about what kind of shark or
sharks did the attacking, why it happened, other shark attacks world wide, and author nit-picking with other shark experts opinions -- repetitive and long-lasting stuff.
All in all, a good first draft effort. An editor would have had the author revise and restructure, cut the anecdotes, most of the speculation, and about a hundred pages, add some useful maps to show the scenes of action, and it really could have been something.
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
55 Reviews
5 star:
(32)
4 star:
(10)
3 star:
(6)
2 star:
(6)
1 star:
(1)
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4.2 out of 5 stars (55 customer reviews)
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4.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Days of Terror:A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks, September 2, 2007
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Shannon Mason - See all my reviews
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I really enjoyed this book. Although it will keep me out of the oceans and creeks forever! It was very interesting, and packed full of information. A+
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on the attacks of 1916, July 22, 2007
By
Richard Kelly "Rick K" (Wall NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
being from the area of the attacks and actually just went to the second annual sharkfest in Matawan yesterday, this book really bring the events of 1916 to life. Mr. Fernicola vividly brings you back to the times of the attacks to give you a great feel of what transpired in those fateful 12 days. A great book for anybody interested in sharks and of history in general, especially of the Jesrey Shore.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT READ, March 29, 2007
By
Christopher Miron "isismiron" (pontiac, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
I got to tell you i am not a big history fan but this book puts one of my favorite animals into the perspective (the shark). This book closely defined the attacks during July 1st and the 12th in 1916 that happened on New Jersey's shore line.
This book reads like a novel with plenty of historical facts and scientific learning. The author, Mr. Fernicola has put a lot of structure into this book.
A must read for anyone who has been fascinated with sharks or the history of New Jersey.
The New Jersey Man-Eater makes the New Jersey Devil run and hide.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Great story but I'm not into all the extra details, February 6, 2007
By
T. Burt (MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
I was both impressed and bored with this book at the same time. The story of the 1916 attacks was captivating and well written. I enjoy non-fiction and the first 100 pages did not disappoint. I admire and respect all the research and details, but do not care for that type of reading. Much of the book, especially the second half, was about the physiology of shark species as they relate to these attacks and others. I guess I was expecting more of the drama and excitement and less of the science and research. I certainly respect the author's expertise and this may be the most comprehensive study of the 1916 attacks (although it's the only one I've read, so don't hold me to that).
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars twelve days of terror, September 1, 2006
By
Edward Z. Opyd "edo630" (wheaton il) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
great book couldn't put it down, if you want to read the real "JAWS" this is it.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, March 9, 2005
By
Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
This is an in-depth account of the shark attacks that occurred off the coast of New Jersey and in the Matawan River in July 1916. Four swimmers died. Fernicola does his research, but he doesn't relate what he's come up with very interestingly. Only slightly better is his account of how he tried to determine what kind of sharks they were (probably bull sharks) and why they attacked. Disappointing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Jaws was based on these events, October 14, 2004
By
Randall C. Lazzaro - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
This is a riveting tale whose events led to the creation of Jaws. Fernicola clearly and brilliantly tells this historical tale such that the book must be read in 1 sitting. This book, unlike others which attempt to tell this story of actual events, is based upon the author's meticulous research which even included interviewing the last of the surviving witnesses. It is a must have.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, no comparisons !!, August 18, 2004
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P. Dotoli "screenwriter" (Long Branch, N.J.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
I saw the Animal Planet movied based on Dr. Fernicola's book Twelve Days of Terror and then ran out to buy the book. The movie was good but the book blew me away. The insights about German U-Boats and other events of the times are astounding. Thank God that these horrific attacks inspired a new look at the World War I/Gilded Age period. I bet it's no coincidence that Fernicola is an accomplished shipwreck diver as I see parallels between his German U-Boat findings and the work of John Chatterton who essentially embarrassed prior "researchers" who said the German U-Boat he found off NJ didn't really "exist." Chatterton's find is now the basis of a NOVA special and a new book. If probing researchers halt their efforts because of naysayers, we all lose. The fresh perspective uncovered by Fernicola should be a lesson to all would-be historians.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Bible on the 1916 attacks, August 18, 2004
By
george huber "george" (Nutley, N.J.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
Perhaps every 20 or 30 years, or even only every half century, does a researcher/writer shed new light on historical events such as this. Dr. Fernicola not only brings us the 1916 attacks in an exhaustive fashion, but he has probed events surrounding the World War I period in ways that has never been done before. It's no wonder he his work has been highlighted on ten television documentaries and now the smashing made-for-tv movie.
Cudos to the good doctor and forget about the late-comer lilliputians nibbling at your toes.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Read, May 26, 2004
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cool-m "cool-m" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. Instead of just giving facts about the attacks, the author really places you in the setting and you can vividly imagine life in New Jersey in 1916. I had read about these attacks before, but never in such detail. I also really like how the author gives you every opportunity to formulate your own theory on what shark or sharks were responsible, as well as his own theory at the end. I will read this book again and for a person that doesn't normally read, that's saying something.
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo (Paperback - May 21, 2002)
4.0 out of 5 stars (88)
Buy new: $14.95 $10.96
In Stock
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
3.9 out of 5 stars (112)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Days of Terror
12 Days of Terror by Jamie Bartlett (DVD - 2006)
4.1 out of 5 stars (33)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
55 Reviews
5 star:
(32)
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(10)
3 star:
(6)
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(6)
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(1)
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4.2 out of 5 stars (55 customer reviews)
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5.0 out of 5 stars Highly rated by shark experts, June 18, 2003
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Paperback)
A pity all the reviews that were written when this book initially came out aren't still online. For those who missed those reviews here and in the print media, note that historians and shark experts heavily endorsed this book, especially compared to the Capuzzo book (which came out at about the same time), which some even found laughable for its errors and style, but others (particularly THE NEW YORKER magazine) did enjoy. Both books are very readable, but the more authoritative is this Fernicola text - Dr. Fernicola has put in the time and leg-work getting interviews and spending time with the people and places that were involved - nothing like some good primary sources to give a extra level of validity to one's work. Yes, the book is not a perfect non-fiction text by a professional writer - instead it is a thorough and even affectionate documentation, as one can tell that Dr. Fernicola has a true appreciation and respect for these people and the unique social and political milieu of that period of our history. I personally grew up in the area that is featured, and knew some of the same families, and greatly appreciate how he depicted those persons and communities. The book is generally a fascinating read from a number of perspectives - natural history, history, and sociological/psychological. Because of this variety, I think some of the more recent reviews on this site have maybe been disappointed because they either weren't interested in all those aspects, or were just experiencing something they didn't expect. Everyone I've loaned my copy to has been impressed with the book, and one person even went and bought their own copy and a map so that she could visit many of the locations discussed in the book. Hope you like the book. If you have read the Capuzzo book, you may want to read this book as well for some more in-depth info - though things might then seem redundant - I'd recommend reading this one first, and then the Capuzzo book if you are still interested in the subject, as Mr. Capuzzo is a professional writer with his own particular writing style - just keep in mind that his text does suffer from its share of lapses. In either case, enjoy.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, September 6, 2002
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I think that a book should actually be written about this amazingly researched book. The facts, the presentation, the authentic sources etc. just make this book stand above so many other historical appraoches which attempt to capture unique natural disasters. You have to read it to believe it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, easy to read history of a little known epsiode, July 14, 2002
By
J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
"In Twelve Days Of Terror" Richard Fernicola presents the reader with a comprehensive history of the New Jersey Shark Attacks of 1916. In the process, he paints a fascinating portrait of an era that exists solely as collective nostalgia for many of us today. The attacks are presented within the context of the era, so the reader is brought back to a time before television, when newspapers fought to outdo each other with spectacular headlines and our own shores were more of a mystery than the depths of Africa.
In telling the story of the attacks, Fernicola uses an informal, almost conversational style that is frequently in the first person. While this would be anathema in most history, it is highly effective in this instance. Given that his topic is not widely remembered, and that what is remembered has devolved into pseudo-mythology, this casual style captures the "novel-esque" feel of the story, while presenting the hard facts. Of particular interest was how he set the stage for the attacks: war was raging in Europe, there was a polio epidemic in New York City, submarines were cruising the coast, and the Jersey Shore was a last bastion of elegance and innocence that was about to be shattered. By presenting history in this manner, he creates a big picture view of not only the attacks themselves, but also what they did to the psyche of the nation.
All style and setting aside, however, Fernicola is a medical doctor and scientist who systematically presents the fruits of his substantial research and interviews with witnesses and experts. Each attack is examined in detail: the attack patterns, the nature of the injuries (which are quite gruesome, be warned), treatments offered, etc. Then, after providing the reader with a thorough portrait of the attacks, both individually and as a whole, he builds a case for the species which he thinks committed the attacks, and whether or not it was one or several sharks. While he makes a compelling argument for that a white shark committed the attacks, in the finest tradition of research he both presents, and discusses in detail, competing theories.
I have only two small complaints about this book. The first is perhaps inevitable given the informal writing style, but it bothered me nonetheless. Fernicola frequently will meander off topic as he recounts interesting historical tidbits, only to abruptly return to the topic at hand. The effect can be jarring and there were several passages that I had to reread in order to pick up the flow of the narrative again. The second complaint is that he refers to shark attacks as "vicious" at least fifty times over the course of the work. I find this troubling since "vicious" implies a malicious premeditation that a shark is obviously incapable of. The complaint isn't just semantics either, given the already terrible reputation that sharks enjoy among most people.
Ultimately though, those are minor complaints about an otherwise fascinating book. Fernicola has written a history that is as informative as it is easy to read. In particular, this makes for a great summertime read; the author paints such a wonderful portrait of the shore that this currently landlocked New Englander felt as if he was right on the ocean. You'll probably want to avoid "Twelve Days of Terror" if you have a weak stomach, but most people, whether they are interested in marine biology or not, will find this an excellent read.
Enjoy!
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Shark Attacks the Jersey Shore, April 15, 2002
By
Acute Observer (Egress XI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
This is a history of the shark attacks that occurred in July 1916. The "Introduction" provides a snapshot of that era, and there is a great selection of photographs. The advantage of the Jersey Shore was not just the cool sea breezes; it was a haven from hay-fever, and the noxious smells of the city.
Page 4 tells of the attack on Charles VanSant, who went into the sea with a dog. The signs say "No Dogs on the Beach" because swimming dogs attract sharks! Academic experts considered such shark attacks as impossible in these waters. Resort owners talked down any fears of more attacks, which caused lost business. Then attacks in Matawan creek created a bigger sensation. People bought dynamite from hardware stores and threw it into the creek to kill the shark. People were warned against swimming near inlets of deep channels.
Page 98 quotes statistics that minimize the chance of a shark attack: only 5 to 10 deaths each year. But another book pointed out that newspapers are more likely to report "injured while swimming" than a "shark attack". I remember the event in the summer of 1949 near Asbury Park when a young man was "injured while swimming" (no mention of a shark); he died a few days later.
They are called "man eaters" because Caucasian males aged 15 to 24 years account for the vast majority of victims (p.101). This also correlates to drowning deaths. Warm-blooded sharks tend to feed on calorie-rich fatty seals and whales; humans are nutrition-poor (p.116).
1916 was the first year that sewage was piped into the coastal waters off NJ. This could feed small creatures, and the larger ones higher on the food chain. Fishermen disposed of fish parts close to shore; "chumming" is known to attract predators. Heavy rains could also wash out food for sea creatures. This may be one reason why shore resorts use holding tanks during the tourist season.
Since the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972, the number of marine mammals has increased in California, along with white shark attacks (p.262). An example of "unintended consequences"?
How would the press deal with a shark attack? Since the loss of tourists means a loss of advertising revenue, any bad news could be censored. They could print articles about spotting dolphins off the beach - proof that no sharks were around (p.270). A classic example of thought-control: people would see what they were told to expect.
Science does not believe in the "rogue shark" theory, altho rogues occur with lions, tigers, and elephants. This behavior may be caused by an ailment. The last chapter explains why the great white shark caught off South Amboy was responsible for the attacks in Matawan creek and elsewhere.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Note to Self: No Swimming on the Jersey Shore, April 4, 2002
By
heysquid "reader, watcher, listener, geek" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
A few months ago I finally watched 'Jaws' for the first time. I was only 6 when it came out and I have a deep-seated (possibly genetic?) fear of huge, efficient predators with big sharp teeth--particularly predators that you don't see coming--so it took me a while to get around to the movie. There was brief mention of some shark attacks that had occurred off the NJ coast in the early 1900s. Just after I saw 'Jaws' a friend of mine got another book about the same events, 'Close to Shore', and my interest was piqued, and then I found this one. I read 'Twelve Days of Terror' in less than 24 hours (I haven't yet read 'Close to Shore'). Dr. Fernicola presents the sequence of attacks, the possible 'suspects' and diverse theories for _why_ the attacks might have happened in a highly readable text. He talks about the contemporary lack of understanding of the animals' behavior and physiology (experts of the day thought that sharks' jaws were too weak to bite through human bone) and the influence WWI may have had (did German U-boats somehow cause sharks to attack American swimmers?). He discusses certain ecological and environmental practices such as pumping sewage into the water and throwing the offal from fishing boats directly into the ocean that may have attracted some types of shark closer to the shore than they would normally have come, thereby bringing them into contact with humans. He also covers the socio-economic backdrop for these events--prosperity and increased leisure time allowed more people to take vacations and go swimming, thus bringing humans into contact with the sharks. Mostly, I was drawn in by the way he gave such detailed background information on each of the victims, tracking down friends, relatives, witnesses and neighbors and getting the human side of the story. In an inherently sensational narrative such as this, it would have been easy just to label these five men and boys as unfortunate people who were killed (or in one case, maimed) by a shark. The author fills out their lives, their families, their work, their personalities. I found this to be one of those books where I just couldn't put it down.
A few little things kept this from being a five-star book. More than once while reading I got a sense of deja vu, as though certain sections had essentially been rephrased and put into the book again. Also, Dr. Fernicola's occasional use of the vernacular seemed somewhat jarring. It's one thing to use colloquial language when writing fiction or while quoting a source, but in the actual text of a well-researched and otherwise well-written work of non-fiction it can be distracting. Finally, I ran across a number of spelling and usage errors that should have been caught before the book went to print (okay, I know those are the editor's problem, not the author's, but it diminished my enjoyment of the book). Despite these few complaints, however, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested either in the 1916 NJ attacks specifically or in shark attacks, shark behavior and shark-human interaction in general.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW !!, February 8, 2002
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
This is easily the finest shark attack book ever written. Clearly written and filled with exciting drama and facts... No equals. I can't wait for the CBS movie!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough..., January 24, 2002
By
History Buff "owen11" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Although I'm not sure that I agree with the author's conclusion, I completely appreciate the amount of study he has put into these events. The details are phenomenal, and he points out the differing views of many other experts on his own journey. It's an interesting read, if nothing else; if you're a shark buff, you really should have it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars DEFINITIVE CASE STUDY, December 10, 2001
By
bruce john patience (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Having recently finished "Close to Shore" - another book about the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks -I was keen to read Richard Fernicola's "Twelve Days of Terror". The respective writing styles are quite different with the former book adopting more of a novelistic approach while the latter offers a detailed scientific analysis of the attacks . For those who are new to the subject the first book will provide an excellent introduction to this extraordinary historical event. If you really want to get all the facts, however, you need to read Dr Fernicola's definitive case study but you should understand that there is alot of very detailed information which could prove to be a bit "Heavy Going" unless you are a serious student of shark research.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Good research, Spotty Writing, December 1, 2001
By
Andrew Olmsted (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
In July 1916, five people along the New Jersey coast were mauled by a shark (or by sharks), four of them fatally. Dr. Fernicola has devoted many years of his life to researching the attacks, and this devotion to research is a mixed blessing in the book. He uses the data he has gathered to make a compelling argument for the identity of the attacker(s) and the reasons behind the attacks. However, Fernicola's writing style tends to try and bring in far too many details about his research that have, at best, tangential relevance to the shark attacks. The book therefore tends to meander from topic to topic, with frequent discourses into how he found witnesses, German sabotage in the United States, and so on. These forays detract from the book, and make it a more difficult read than it should be.
In all, Fernicola has laid out a convincing argument to explain the 1916 attacks. He would have done better, however, to get a better editor before releasing the book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous German Insights, November 13, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Obviously I read this book to learn more about the 1916 shark attacks but I had no idea I would learn of untouched German scientific/military attributes. The author must have easily spent thousands of hours and read thousands of primary sources to glean so many new facts about the tumultuous times. It is no wonder that would-be(or wanna-be) historians do "double takes" when Fernicola reveals astounding facts of the period. That always seems to happen when earlier researchers simply rely on out-dated/traditional texts(written by scholars for hire or hoobyists)to determine what was "history." This book looks at things in a novel light and SHEDS light on un-noticed events of the time eg. Franz Von Rintalin the German Dark Invader and the U-Boats(seen and unseen). This is history LIVE. It is history that is recorded out of the way people of the TIME saw it. It's not just some product of an armchair geezer getting bonked by what he always thought was true. This is all true....and scary...
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
55 Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars finally finally, October 17, 2001
By
Marsha Bennett (Taylor, Wyoming) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Finally the world will see the Twelve Days of Terror on the screen in all it's Glory. Fernicola has sold the film rights to his masterpiece to CBS and left all the competition behind. His book provides so much material that the only person who should be blamed for not finding it intriguing are the shallowest of readers. I just hope they include Fernicola as a character. Obviously he's now part of the story. Plus did you see what he looks like on MSNBC....HMMMM
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Truth, Errors, and Mishmash, October 17, 2001
By
Frederick H. Kasten (Johnson City, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
If Fernicola had stuck to the facts, his book would be worth a higher rating than a two. I think that his attempt to intermingle social history with the shark incidents is interesting. Unfortunately, his investigation of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks is a mishmash of facts, errors, and fanciful views. One imaginative section deals with a supposed linkage between German espionage in America, U-boats along the East Coast, and the shark attacks. I will deal with this later. Then there are glaring errors in at least one section.
First of all, during the summer of 1916, only one German merchant submarine appeared on the East Coast, not "U-boats in multiple U.S. ports." Fernicola may be confusing the friendly visit made to a New England port several months later by U-53. Fernicola refers again to visits on the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts during this time by two German U-boats, the "Deutschland" and the "Bremen." The "Deutschland," an undersea unarmed freighter arrived in Baltimore on July 10, 1916 and returned to the States on November 1. Actually, the "Bremen," the other merchant sub mentioned by Fernicola, never reached the American seaboard, as it was lost at sea soon after departing Germany.
The author would have you believe that the submarines were to carry condensed milk and foodstuffs back to Germany. This was only one of many rumors as to the submersibles' intended cargo. The fact is, it became well-known before her departure from Baltimore in August that the "Deutschland" would carry much- needed metals and crude rubber as a valuable military cargo.
Let me mention a few more inaccuracies. Contrary to Fernicola's thinking, the captain of the "Deutschland" never refused an inspection by U.S. officials. If this had happened, the sub would have been promptly interned. American officials made a thorough investigation of the vessel in port to determine whether it carried torpedoes, torpedo tubes, or deck guns. Within two days, it was announced that the submarine was truly a civilian cargo-bearing vessel, lacking armament, and would be treated like any surface merchant ship of a belligerent nation that entered an American harbor. This is contrary to the impression left by Fernicola that the government seriously considered detaining the boat permanently because it might be a warship. The author emphasizes the fact that she "carried two small-caliber guns." not realizing that the Captain and officers of most merchant ships routinely carry on board small arms, especially during wartime. Also, the author states that the sub moved north and stopped in Bridgeport, Connecticut on its way back to Germany. This is another piece of fiction.
These and other errors may derive from an effort to put out the book in a hurry to a country where shark attacks were big news in 2001. There were many rumors, mixed with facts, published in 1916 newspapers about the shark attacks, German espionage, and sightings of U-boats off the Atlantic coast. But the unverified snippets selectively-chosen are fuel for gossip, and should not underlie a serious book of non-fiction. Even the major newspapers, which Fernicola said he examined, carried well-written, factually-based articles. It's a pity that Fernicola never consulted the authoritative book by Dwight Messimer, "The Merchant U-Boat: Adventures of the Deutschland, 1916-1918."
The large number of errors detected in this section of the book makes me wonder how careful the author was about the rest of the volume. The other major problem I have with this work concerns the attempt to invoke conspiracy in the summer shark attacks. The author tries unsuccessfully to associate the shark attacks with German espionage and marauding U-boats on the East Coast. Furthermore, Fernicola spins out a web of fantasy trying to convince readers that the enterprising Germans used "a diabolical new device to cause innocent swimmers to become lunch for marauding sharks." There is not a shred of evidence presented for such fiction. Such writing may help to sell books but it detracts from good expository writing and scholarship. I cannot recommend this book to serious readers.
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8 of 12 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Truth, Errors, and Mishmash, October 17, 2001
By
Frederick H. Kasten (Johnson City, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
If Fernicola had stuck to the facts, his book would be worth a higher rating than a two. I think that his attempt to intermingle social history with the shark incidents is interesting. Unfortunately, his investigation of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks is a mishmash of facts, errors, and fanciful views. One imaginative section deals with a supposed linkage between German espionage in America, U-boats along the East Coast, and the shark attacks. I will deal with this later. Then there are glaring errors in at least one section.
First of all, during the summer of 1916, only one German merchant submarine appeared on the East Coast, not "U-boats in multiple U.S. ports." Fernicola may be confusing the friendly visit made to a New England port several months later by U-53. Fernicola refers again to visits on the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts during this time by two German U-boats, the "Deutschland" and the "Bremen." The "Deutschland," an undersea unarmed freighter arrived in Baltimore on July 10, 1916 and returned to the States on November 1. Actually, the "Bremen," the other merchant sub mentioned by Fernicola, never reached the American seaboard, as it was lost at sea soon after departing Germany.
The author would have you believe that the submarines were to carry condensed milk and foodstuffs back to Germany. This was only one of many rumors as to the submersibles' intended cargo. The fact is, it became well-known before her departure from Baltimore in August that the "Deutschland" would carry much- needed metals and crude rubber as a valuable military cargo.
Let me mention a few more inaccuracies. Contrary to Fernicola's thinking, the captain of the "Deutschland" never refused an inspection by U.S. officials. If this had happened, the sub would have been promptly interned. American officials made a thorough investigation of the vessel in port to determine whether it carried torpedoes, torpedo tubes, or deck guns. Within two days, it was announced that the submarine was truly a civilian cargo-bearing vessel, lacking armament, and would be treated like any surface merchant ship of a belligerent nation that entered an American harbor. This is contrary to the impression left by Fernicola that the government seriously considered detaining the boat permanently because it might be a warship. The author emphasizes the fact that she "carried two small-caliber guns." not realizing that the Captain and officers of most merchant ships routinely carry on board small arms, especially during wartime. Also, the author states that the sub moved north and stopped in Bridgeport, Connecticut on its way back to Germany. This is another piece of fiction.
These and other errors may derive from an effort to put out the book in a hurry to a country where shark attacks were big news in 2001. There were many rumors, mixed with facts, published in 1916 newspapers about the shark attacks, German espionage, and sightings of U-boats off the Atlantic coast. But the unverified snippets selectively-chosen are fuel for gossip, and should not underlie a serious book of non-fiction. Even the major newspapers, which Fernicola said he examined, carried well-written, factually-based articles. It's a pity that Fernicola never consulted the authoritative book by Dwight Messimer, "The Merchant U-Boat: Adventures of the Deutschland, 1916-1918."
The large number of errors detected in this section of the book makes me wonder how careful the author was about the rest of the volume. The other major problem I have with this work concerns the attempt to invoke conspiracy in the summer shark attacks. The author tries unsuccessfully to associate the shark attacks with German espionage and marauding U-boats on the East Coast. Furthermore, Fernicola spins out a web of fantasy trying to convince readers that the enterprising Germans used "a diabolical new device to cause innocent swimmers to become lunch for marauding sharks." There is not a shred of evidence presented for such fiction. Such writing may help to sell books but it detracts from good expository writing and scholarship. I cannot recommend this book to serious readers.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Jaws, October 10, 2001
By
R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
_Jaws_ did not entirely spring from the imagination. In fact, the script pays tribute to one of its main sources. After studying up on shark attacks, the police chief (who is worried about them) tries to convince the mayor (who is worried about his town's tourist income) by explicitly referring to the rogue shark attacks of New Jersey in 1916. In _Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks_ (Lyons Press), Richard G. Fernicola, MD cannot help drawing parallels between the movie and the historic attacks. His reassembling of the story is fascinating. Fernicola has published about them before, but they seem to be an abiding hobby for him, as the current book represents a couple of decades of research. He has also researched television documentaries on the subject, and on killer sharks in general. He might not make his enthusiasm completely contagious to the reader. It is clear that he is not a professional author, but he has marshaled his facts and presents them as might a congenial avuncular story teller, with a tale to chill your blood.
No one in the 1916 waves was worried about sharks. Before that time there had been no documented shark attacks in temperate waters. Fernicola describes the increasing doom as a shark (and he gives evidence that the havoc was produced by just one) makes its killing way north along the coast. The climax of the killing (as in the movie) was when the shark swept into Matawan Creek, a small tidal inlet where it was spotted by the crusty old salt Captain Thomas Cottrell. He did all he could to warn his fellow citizens, who didn't believe him, and were surprised that he should be showing such a splendid sense of prankish humor. The most exciting writing in _Twelve Days_ is the Captain's dash of warning the town, and it's limited success.
It must be said that _Twelve Days of Terror_ is on the most part not an exciting book. Once the twelve days are past, there is a good deal of scientific information and speculation. For instance, Fernicola, who practices pain management, gets to explain why being dismembered by a shark may not be the most painful of deaths. He has described in detail the wounds of the five killed by the shark, and the one person who lived. He describes the surprising theory of the time that U-boats of Germany (with which the US was not yet at war) had disturbed the waters or the sensing systems of the sharks to bring them in close, perhaps deliberately. He has often injected himself into the story, telling about his interviews and how he got to see newspapers of the period; while this might be distracting from his story, it also helps note that as history, it is fading into a past of imperfect documentation. For instance, he explains how excited he was to find a woman who was an eyewitness to the attack on the second victim, and how he scheduled a taped interview for the very next day, by which time she had quietly died in her sleep. This theme is throughout the book. The hero of the Matawan Creek attacks, who himself died from shark wounds, had only days before taken a out a life insurance policy, giving as payment a suit from his shop rather than cash. His parents used the money to buy a stained glass window in his memory, but the church has since been torn down, and no one knows where the window has gone. The area around Matawan has changed irrevocably. There were no further deaths after the twelve days, and soon America had a war to worry about, and shark fever subsided. It has not really gone away, and novelists, moviemakers, the nightly news, and even historians can tell us shark tales, and make us shiver.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars best shark read.... ever, September 16, 2001
By
Marsha Bennett (Taylor, Wyoming) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
You asked for one, just one shark book/story which we could read and treasure other than JAWS. In Twelve Days of Terror you got it. Enough said....
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5.0 out of 5 stars pulse pounding prose, September 13, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I just couldn't put Twelve Days of Terror down. Now I'm reading it again. It seems as if there's enough excitement and information in the book that it's almost obligatory for a second and third read, like a damn good movie. Experience the dramatic splendor with me and my friends....
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5.0 out of 5 stars smashingly unique/timely terror, September 12, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Who woulda thunk it, a shark attack book of monumental porportions that not only describes the unparalleled attacks of 1916, but also sheds perfect light on the bizarre events of 2001 in Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina. Fernicola is almost clairvoyent as he even includes several paragraphs on world terrorism(which we all know too well)....
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3 of 7 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Great Material, Unreadable Prose, September 9, 2001
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tabbymac (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Mr. Fernicola is badly in need of an editor. Unfortunately, he does not seem to have one, and his book is testament to this on a paragraph by paragraph basis. Filled with mangled phrases, bizarre digressions, lack of narrative coherence, dreadful historical generalizations, pointless personal anecdotes and sappy sentimentality of the most jarring kind. Imagine the worst kind of local history writing - complete with small town boosterism and infatuation with staggeringly boring local trivia. Now imagine it spread out over 330 pages. Avoid at all costs. Really.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Brigantine review, August 18, 2001
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"swjedi8844" (New Jersey!) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
This was by far the best read of the summer. I first became aware of the book at the beginning of the summer in our paper's Sunday book review. The other book " Close to the Shore" was also mentioned but "Twelve Days" seemed to be the more " definitive" account and was it ever! My husband and I both enjoyed the historical context that the book was written. It has changed the way I view sharks. Prior to this, I thought of sharks as the "perfect eating machine" as stated in the movie "Jaws". However, I now realize there is much, much more involved in their behavior. I especially enjoyed the attention to statistical accounts world wide that put the 1916 attacks in a place of importance. As a postcard collector, I will now be hunting down any cards from 1916 that may mention the attacks. Thanks Dr. Fernicola, for such an interesting and informative book!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars fantabulous/tremengous, August 14, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I read the dime a dozen accounts of the 1916 shark story then, after a minute of reading Twelve Days of Terror, I knew I had found the one author on the planet that could have given us everything that we wanted: A book that is almost a divinely inspired thorough dramatic investigation of the perplexing events. Personal interviews, gritty detective work, and historic time travel flare bring this work of brilliance to our door step. Anyone can re-write about the Hindenburg, the Titanic, and the 1916 events, but no person other than Dr. Handsome Fernicola could have done what is in Twelve Days of Terror(or In Search of the Jersey Man-eater for that matter). My only question is, why has Dr. Fernicola not "spoken up" about the duplication of his previous work which goes uncredited in Close to Shore ???
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, but not what I expected., August 6, 2001
By A Customer
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
First off, due praise must be given to the author. This book is extensively and painstakingly researched. That is readily apparent throughout the book. The author has scoured old newspapers and photographs, and conducted his own interviews with witnesses and family of witnesses/victims.
The fist hundred pages or so is a wonderfully written, detailed description of the events of those twelve days in 1916. The author's attention to detail and extensive research give a robust picture of not only the victims' last days and the events of the attacks, but also a very interesting description of what the New Jersey shore was like in the day.
My only complaint with the book is that I expected it all to be that way. Unfortunately, the next two hundred pages delivery a scientific analysis of different shark species, their attack styles, an analysis of the wounds, a comparison/contrast with other shark attacks around the world, etc. for the purpose of determining what species of shark(s) most likely attacked the victims, and why the attacks occurred at all.
Again, all this was extensively researched, but not what I expected. Perhaps the fault, then, is my own. Nonetheless, the prospective reader should be aware of what this book is about.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A thorough account of the New Jersey shark attacks, August 5, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I bought this book along with Close to Shore (another book on this same topic). 12 Days of Terror is an interesting and thorough description of the shark attacks that held NJ and the country hostage in the summer of 1916. Each victim is described both as far as their life before and after the attacks. Dr. Fernicola has done extensive research on these attacks and the descriptions and pictures are chilling. This book is a more scientific description with more clinical data than Close to Shore (which is written more like a novel). Having read both books...I liked them both. That may be because I'm from New Jersey and had heard the story of the "New Jersey Shark" from childhood. The point is made both in the book and in the movie "Jaws" that "Jaws" the story, was taken from the New Jersey shark attack story. I'll never again pass mile marker 119 on the Garden State Parkway without looking toward the Matawan Creek and remembering how far from the ocean those last attacks took place. The subject is facinating!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars no equals---no comparisons, July 30, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
When I heard about the 1916 attacks I could not imagine that someone had actually spent twenty years deciphering and dissecting the perplexing events. This is one of those bombshell exploration books that comes about every decade or so. No doubt this is the bible on the NJ attacks but the author seems to be a scientist as well, and a darn good one at that ! The book gave me background and new light to pierce the tragic events of this summer in Florida. No comparisons can be made at what I learned from this tingling beach read !
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for those truly interested in sharks., July 29, 2001
By
James L Rowe Jr - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Richard Fernicola is a doctor, not a professional writer. His
narrative does not have the polish of the best-seller or the
ultimate summer beach book. What it does have is information.
Lots of it. And while not slick, it reads well enough. There are
chapters you will not be able to put down, and when it comes to
the description of the actual attacks of 1916, Dr. Fernicola's
medical training gives him the ability to paint graphic and
gripping pictures in the reader's mind. This is an author who
not only knows his subject, but knows it well and places it in a
wider context. Dr. Fernicola knows sharks. He uses the 1916
New Jersey incidents as a platform to instruct the reader in
our knowledge of sharks both then and now, and succeeds
admirably. Buy CLOSE TO SHORE if you want a good read. Buy
TWELVE DAYS OF TERROR if you want to learn something from an
author who truly appreciates the shark as a marvelous work of
nature, in spite of the fact that it occasionally takes a bite
out of humanity. (This book has a wonderful selection of period
photographs of the principals involved in the events of 1916
which very effectively ground the incredible text to historical reality.)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Sharkfest!, July 25, 2001
By
Shannon Richie (Northumberland, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
This is a must buy for any shark enthusiast. Generally, the book is easy to read, has ample illustrations, and is a pleasantly presented analytical presentation of the 1916 attacks. At times, the style is somewhat rambling in nature, and a few of the anecdotes are not well integrated into the rest of the narrative. A few parts tend to be repetitive, but this can also be helpful for the general reader for reinforcement of some of the concepts.
It is not the easiest thing to do to tie together U. S. cultural history with shark biology, but Fernicola has done a pretty good job of it here. He has also made a pretty good case for which type of shark should probably be implicated in the 1916 attacks. Definitely a good summer read!
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars 2 Stars for the 20% of the Book Worth Reading, July 11, 2001
By
heyporcupine "heyporcupine" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
The first 70 pages, detailing the local history and the actual shark attacks, were interesting and engaging to this Jersey shore enthusiast. Afterward, the author lurches through a mind-numbing, ambling, confusing discussion of what kind(s) of shark might have been responsible for the attacks. I wondered at various points whether Dr. Fernicola might have been paid by the word. In any event, buy this book (if you must--I'll give you my copy for free!) for the history. Watch "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel for a coherent analysis of shark behavior.
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4 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars twelve days of terror, June 15, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I will be thinking of this book each and every time that I go swimming at the NJ shore.At any given time I did not realize how dangerous sharks could be until I read this book. It reminded me of the shark attacts that occured in Matawan Creek in 1916. Does DR.Fernicola have an e-mail address? I would like to know if there is anything in print about the Matawan Creek shark attacts.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars simply incredible, June 11, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
For the first time, I have seen in print an exhaustive narritive of the most perplexing mystery of the twentieth century. It is unfathomable to imagine how the pieces to this complex puzzle could have been put together so masterfully. The witness interviews were the most riveting aspect of the book and I dare say they made me feel like I was part of the drama. The book was a cross between Titanic and Perfect storm, but the difference was, every word is apparently true and authentic. I'm getting a stack of the books for Father's Day !
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars MORE HORRIFYING THAN "JAWS" BECAUSE IT REALLY HAPPENED, June 8, 2001
By
Co Wilson "coboa" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I found this book to be fascinating! As a "shark enthusiast", I am always interested in books about them. This book about the 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey is the best I've read on the subject. It provides the reader with great details of the events and the photographs take you farther into the lives of the unfortunate victims because it puts faces to names. I never go far into the ocean anyway, but after reading this book I'm afraid to go into a swimming pool!
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9 of 15 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Talky, Manages to Take A Gripping Story and Make it Boring, May 30, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
The title of my post is perhaps unduly harsh, but the parts of the book dealing with the actual series of incidents that took place in 1916 are remarkably poorly narrated. The author jams in a great deal of material that would better belong in footnotes and his exposition scenes seem to go on forever. Then there is just material that doesn't belong in a book titled "Twelve Days of Terror" at all. Do we really care to hear anecdotes about the author's attempts to find the gravestones of the victims or how one potential interview subject kicked off (i.e. died of old age) before he could get to her house? I sure don't.
Don't get me wrong. The book's sections that deal with "sea tigers" are fascinating. I, for one, did not know that dolphins are afraid to tangle with bull sharks and that seals will sometimes leap into a fisherman's boat in a desperate effort to evade being eaten by the predators of the deep. That stuff is interesting and germane. But going on endlessly about the history of some small town in New Jersey is definitely not.
I think I should have bought "Close to Shore."
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo (Paperback - May 21, 2002)
4.0 out of 5 stars (88)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
3.9 out of 5 stars (112)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Days of Terror
12 Days of Terror by Jamie Bartlett (DVD - 2006)
4.1 out of 5 stars (33)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
55 Reviews
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(32)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, May 24, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Could not put it down. Read the entire book in 3 commutes to NYC. As a Jersey shore resident, I was totally taken by the true tales of the past. The depiction of the Jersey beach communities of that era made me want to be there. (Its kind of a cross between Somewhere in Time, Titanic and Jaws) The detective work made me feel like I was in the story. It'll be tough to swim in the ocean again......
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Facinating...don't read this at the beach, May 21, 2001
By
Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
The shark attacks off the New Jersey shore were doomed to fade into almost urban mythology. Richard Fernicola has painstakingly researched the twelve days of horror that held a nation in its grip. The first strike, July 1 was on an unsuspecting Charles Vansant, in which eyewitnesses report the agressor shark actually held on,and or followed its prey into the shallows. Fernicola has gathered all the available accounts (since eyewitnesses were dead, he turned to family members, newspaper archives and books)and has pieced together an account of the mounting terror until July 12, the deadliest day (two killed and one maimed) and last reported killings. This is an engrossing look into a time when not much was known about sharks and when newspapers were depended upon to deliver the news. It also gives a detailed look into sharks and their history as man eaters. The most interesting portion of the book, after the actual accounting of the people involved and the attacks themselves, is the medical renderings of each victim's wounds and an accounting of the actual cause of death. This is an engrossing book, and it is well researched. It is a time capsule of sorts, reopening the time when there was belief that a mackeral had inflicted the wounds, that the Germans were attracting the sharks with some new secret gadget, when a day at the beach was a simple day at the beach.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Days of Terror: Twenty Years of Research, May 16, 2001
By
Jim Foley (Oakhurst, NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
During the summer of 1916 five people were attacked by a shark (or sharks) along the coast of New Jersey's Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Four of those five, including a 12-year old boy, were killed. The fifth victim narrowly escaped the jaws of death, suffering severe wounds to his leg.
These freak attacks occured within 12 days of each other during a time in American history when the foremost expers believed that sharks did not possess the necessary strength to break a human bone...Panic and near hysteria followed...
Sixty-five years after the attacks, a young college student heard about the attacks during a train ride home for the holidays. The incident of the attacks and the contraversy between the leading shark experts piqued his interest. Curiosity developed into passion and that passion for the answer resulted in twenty years of investigating and a book that is one of the most thoroughly researched accountings I have ever read.
Twelve Days of Terror is a novel, a diary, a medical journal, a detective story, and most assuredly the definitive investigation of the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. The author utilized his medical school training in evaluating the evidence and spent countless hours interviewing eye-witnesses to the tragic events. Unfortunately, those eye-witnesses are now all gone, but for the field notes of the author, their story was doomed never to be told. This book is a MUST for every beach-goer this summer. It will not only intimately acquaint the reader with everything they wanted to know about shark attacks, but it will also provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scene politics and social aspects of the early 20th century.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFYING!!, May 14, 2001
By
"doug1592" (Webster, new york United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
Being a huge shark fan since I was 5,over the years I have done extensive reading and research on many different species and attack senarios,but none can compare to the infamous July of 1916 off the New Jersey coast.The circumstances and vicious nature of these attacks are so bizzare that they are almost unbelievable.But as they say,many times fact is stranger than fiction. This book is easily the best and most factual accounting of these 12 days,and also delves very deeply into shark behavior,attack circumstances,the (not widely accepted) rouge theory,and the the types of shark that are considered the most dangerous to man. A fantasic book for both shark and history buffs alike!! I cannot recommend it highly enough!! Excellent!!
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome.....Reads like a Novel!, May 12, 2001
By
Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks (Hardcover)
I was always interested in the story of a Great White Shark attack along the Jersey Shore. It is mentioned in all the shark books, referenced in Jaws, and shown on the Discovery channel. It is a story I have always been interested but could never find any whole books about. And what did I see in the book store??? Not one but TWO books on the subject.
So now the the question was which one to buy. I read parts of both and quickly discovered that Dr. Fernicola clearly seemed to know more about sharks and the subject. Not to knock the other book, but Fernicola's book shows a deeper knowledge of sharks and the incident of 1916.
Needless to say, it only took 3 days to read this entire book. It is so interesting. He does a great job describing the times and historical background. He does a great job telling about the attacks. He does a great job discussing sharks and theories about sharks.
The book is well written. It has great information on the 1916 attacks and the times they took place in. It is also a great lesson on sharks in general.
I have family on the Jersey shore and it amazes me that this could take place there. Plus in a creek miles from the ocean...YIKES!
This was a book I read cover to cover and immmediatly passed on to friends.
Anyone who likes sharks, shark week on TV, or JAWS will love this book.
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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12 Days of Terror
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
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5.0 out of 5 stars I needed another copy., June 1, 2013
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Monica M. McKenna - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I recommended this book, and now someone wants to read it. I don't dare give this person MY copy, so I ordered a new book. Problem solved.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, April 22, 2013
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Sleepyshoe (Cocoa, FL.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
A true story I believe, it will keep you out of the water..... Well written and holds your attention until the end. Good, fast shipping and exactly as described, brand new. A good deal altogether.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence, August 22, 2012
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M. Betts (Foster, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This was a well written story of the "Jaws" type but in this case based on true facts of a shark that becamse a "man" eater. Gruesome and savage in some places, soft and comforting in others. Worth a read!
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5.0 out of 5 stars Better than "Jaws"..a true story, July 12, 2012
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A. Rademacher "Lady of mystery" (Milford, Pa USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This is a very well written book. It is hard to put down for even 5 minutes. The author gives great scenarios of life in the early 1900's. One really gets to know the young shark and what their life is all about.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore, October 29, 2010
By
Susan - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo's Close to Shore presents a fascinating rendition of the Jersey Shore of 1916. His ability to intertwine the story of the 1916 shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey with the life of a shark results in an engrossing tale combining history with science in an entertaining way. This work of non-fiction reads like a fiction novel, and educates the reader about a time when the Jersey Shore was a vacation spot for presidents and Edwardian professionals.
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4.0 out of 5 stars When a Shark Went Down the Shore, December 2, 2009
By
Acute Observer (Egress XI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close To Shore by Michael Capuzzo
Michael Capuzzo is a journalist who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize four times. He worked for newspapers and magazines, and lives in rural New Jersey. Ocean bathing became popular in NJ in the early 20th century. In July 1916 there were shark attacks along the Jersey Shore. This is a story about that event with other historical facts about that era. The book has a `Selected Bibliography' but no Index. There are no photographs of the items mentioned here (p.12). [Some of the details in the movie `Jaws' echo the facts of the 1916 shark attack.] The map of NJ for 1916 shows the railroads but only the Pennsylvania Railroad is named (p.xiii). What were those "mysterious and deadly plagues" in Philadelphia (p.3)?
Part One describes the culture and background of that era. The "man-eating shark" was said to be a fisher-man's fable by skeptics and scientists (p.19). Clean air was believed to be an antidote for polio (p.34) or other ills. That was an era where most men owned only one suit (p.42). White bread was a pure factory-made food that lacked wheat germ (p.43). The shark bit Charles Vansant once, then waited for death (p.96). Modern treatment could have saved his life (p.102).
Part Two tells about the next attacks. Why would a shark avoid a long-distance swimmer (p.135)? A lone swimmer is defenseless against a shark attack (p.143). Charles Bruder died from a grade-one shark injury (p.153). A "famed expert" doubted the idea of man-eating sharks because there was no documentary evidence (p.178)! Dr. Sir Victor Coppleson theorized a "rogue shark" was responsible for recurring attacks (p.182). A steel net protected the Asbury Park bathing beach and people returned to normalcy (p.197).
Part Three concludes the story. The incoming tide carried the shark into Matawan Creek where it attacked swimmers (pp.233-245). The shark in Matawan Creek prompted men to get their rifles and shotguns to hunt the sea monster (p.250). A $100 bounty was offered to the person who killed the shark (p.251). Dynamite was thrown into the creek so the explosions would kill the shark (p.253). Small fish were killed (p.254). John Nichols the icthyologist arrived at Matawan Creek (p.256). The funeral for Stanley Fisher left the whole town in mourning (p.261). But the sea monster escaped (p.262). A full moon is associated with shark attacks (p.266). Shark sightings caused a panic (p.269). Beach hotels suffered great losses when people stayed away (p.274). Nothing could be done (p.275).
On Friday July 14 two men went fishing off the small port of South Amboy (p.281). They were surprised by netting a big fish (p.281). Michael Schleisser clubbed the shark with an old oar handle (p.282). The stomach contained bones that appeared to be human (p.292). The controversy continues (p.297). The `Sources and Acknowledgments' explain the origins of this book. Capuzzo explains where he got his background facts on Charles Vansant (p.303).
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2.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore: Close to a great book, September 14, 2009
By
Joey Bensonhurt "JoeLoser" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This books' written words were mesmerizing. But the fact that photos and a decent map of the area are non-existant is INEXCUSABLE! Had one crappy, poorly detailed 100 year-old map of the area where the attacks took place, and that's it! Booooooo!!! Book would have been so much better if author had included photographs of not only the shark's victims, but others prominantly mentioned in the book as well. And 1916/present day photographs of Spring Lake, and Matawan creek (the scene of the shark attacks) would have been an obvious touch. Capuzzo, you are a lazy !$#! All the reseach you put into this book; how could you fall down on the job like this? Thankfully, some ambitious types have done your job for you on the internet. You can see what Spring Lake, Matawan Creek looked like in 1916 as well as today on Youtube. Close, but no cigar..........Such a waste for an otherwise splendid book.......
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, September 12, 2009
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James M. Deluca - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo writes a great story about these actual events. His research into the era and the people that were effected was tremendous. He never second guessed or used his own opinion about the incidents. He also made the comparisons to what we know today and what they did not know then about sharks. As you read the book you can basically see the movie Jaws's inspiration.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Terrorized on the Beach, September 2, 2007
By
Michael J. Muller "Adirondack Reader" (Queensbury, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
For a sea shore vacation in 2007 I brought a few books to read "on the beach". This one turned out to be a fascinating and well presented historical narrative of the 1916 white shark attacks along the New Jersey shore. Well to say the least I was riveted to my beach chair and did not venture too far into the surf while I was reading this book. The author has done a great deal of historical and scientific research in this excellent historical narrative. Once you've read this one you'll be sure to loan it to a friend as there is much about this book that provokes exciting discussion. Even if you cannot read it at the beach... it will keep you riveted to your easy chair uneasily anticipating whatever is about to happen "next".
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5.0 out of 5 stars brings the past back to life., February 11, 2007
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fluffy, the human being. (forest lake, mn) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
from looking on amazon, it appears there is a kids version of this book that has been published (which seems strange to me given the subject matter, but okay), so, if you are an adult, be careful that you get a proper copy of this. but do get a copy. this book brings the eastern seaboard and the shark attacks that occurred there in 1916 vividly to life. the author evokes the time and place as well as could be expected from the reader, and gives a completely interesting narrative of this series of shark attacks. an excellent history piece of non-fiction writing that i highly recommend.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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(47)
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5.0 out of 5 stars Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Water, February 5, 2007
By
kasha "LJ" (PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
There was so much about this book that I enjoyed. To numerous to mention...but I will say, Mr. Capuzzo certainly interpreted that Nature positively owes us nothing, providing an amazing juxtaposition of those early Victorian Days down at the Jersey Shore, when women were not allowed to show their bodies in public, to a primitive medical knowledge, not to mention... primordial data of the ocean & sharks at that particular time.
This true account chronicle was brought to life, with a brash intrusion to feeling safe and the misunderstanding of the utility of force behind the jaws of sharks and the ability of some of their species to adapt to fresh water. Found this shark to be a decisive strategic eating machine offering no negotiations.
You should read this simply to imagine how things were then, and how far we've come to now.
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3.0 out of 5 stars On the whole a good book., December 19, 2006
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Suppresst "suppresst" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Mr. Capuzzo chooses to approach the 1916 phenomenon of mulitple shark attacks along the eastern seaboard almost from a cosmic perspective. This is a little annoying, since one finds oneself wondering what cosmic issues like "evolution of the species" have to do with a few shark attacks. However, on the whole this is excusable since the shark attacks described therein truly have had lasting significance. One aspect of this book I took exception to is Capuzzos breathless homage to the forces of evolution that supposedly created the magnificent eating machine, known as the Great White shark. As a creationist (someone who believes God designed and created the world) it troubles me that Capuzzo is so arrogant as to ascribe the glory of the shark to an impersonal force, as opposed to where the glory really belongs. If Capuzzo is so sure that nature formed the shark, then why can't he point to the fossilized remains of countless transitional forms between the shark as we know it today, and it's earliest ancestor? He can't, of course, because no such fossils exist. No, throughout history the shark has always been as it is today, for the simple reason that that is how the God of glory made them.
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4.0 out of 5 stars The true story of Jaws..., August 4, 2006
By
JR Pinto (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Most shark enthusiasts have heard of the Jersey Shore attacks of 1916. They were the inspiration for Jaws and are referenced in the movie. Michael Capuzzo's book is a non-fiction novel (think In Cold Blood) of those attacks. Nowadays, the popular opinion is that these attacks were not the work of one shark. Capuzzo's book is daring because he asserts that they were all the work of one rogue great white shark. For those of you who follow such things, you know that the notion of a "rogue shark" - a deliberate man-eater - has fallen out of fashion. Yet, Capuzzo makes a compelling argument - after all, is it MORE likely that these freak attacks were the work of different sharks?
The book does not try to sensationalize the attacks - it doesn't need to. Just reading a straightforward account is frightening enough. When the shark cruises upriver to feed on boys who feel they are completely safe, the story has the feel of a nightmare. The thing is - it really happened.
Even aside from the shark attacks, this book is a fascinating history of the Jersey Shore. Back then, the Jersey Shore was the American Riviera; the wealthiest city-folk flocked there to escape from the heat. As the shark went rampaging up the coast, Woodrow Wilson was a few miles away at his summer white house in Long Branch, running the country from a bank office in Asbury Park. Close to Shore is valuable glimpse into a bygone era.
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4.0 out of 5 stars horror looms invisibly.............., May 28, 2006
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jeanne-scott (Virginia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo tells the horrifying yet intriguing story of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks. The author does not just give the facts of the terrifying attacks but surrounds them with the a vivid feel for the lifestyle of this era of innocence. From the wealthy, with their styles and extravagant vacations to the working class cooling off in a creek on their lunch hour, Michael Capuzzo draws the reader into this time period. Then, at an exclusive resort, a shark attack claims a victim, one of at least five victims to die, in a string of well documented attacks by a Great White Shark.
The shark becomes a figure in this story, how it ended up here, why it reacted the way it did and that in fact, it is just a shark doing what that species does. While the attacks continue, the warnings go out, at first in a manner that is less than urgent. Then, finally, when the full scope of the events are realized the search for the killer shark is begun in earnest. By then, of course, it is too late.
The "scientific" knowledge of shark behavior during the early 1900's was more or less anecdotal. The fact that summering at the shore did not become a trend until this time may have proven to be why the incidence of shark attacks was almost non-existent and also why people had such a difficult time accepting the idea that sharks posed such a lethal danger.
In this book you are dropped into the middle of 1916, a summer of abundance..........and the horror looms invisibly at the waters edge.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars This booked got me reinterested in history, September 6, 2005
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T. Krolick "tom149" (Naperville, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close to Shore was the first book of my post-academic adult life to make me interested in history. Capuzzo does a wonderful job of describing America at the start of the 20th century. The political, social, and economic changes that would shape the world I grew up in are revealed. I gained new insight. Oh, and by the way, a shark attacked some people. As you can see from my perspective, the significant part of the book is not the shark. The shark provides a fantastic backdrop to display an era. Read this book because you are more interested in the era than in sharks.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars "The most frightening animal on earth", July 4, 2005
By
Jeremy W. Forstadt (Pawtucket, RI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo has the soul of a novelist; this is not only evident in the dramatic episode which forms the prologue of CLOSE TO SHORE, but also in the flowery and descriptive narrative which occurs in abundance throughout the rest of the book. Based around (and one might be tempted at times to add "loosely" here) a series of shark attacks which plagued the New Jersey shoreline in the summer of 1916, CLOSE TO SHORE is as much a history of the Edwardian Era in America as it is a recounting of the shark attacks themselves. Taken as a broad history, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding reading experience.
That being said, I can certainly understand the complaints of some that Capuzzo is excessive in his "period history." In particular, at times he delves deeply into the biography and genealogy of characters that are, at best, only tangentially connected to the events surrounding the actual shark attacks. In addition, the author takes considerable license in ascribing thoughts, emotions, and motivations to his characters in a novelistic fashion. My criticism, however, remained mild through the opening chapters despite several warning signs. Again, if you allow yourself the explanation that you are truly witnessing the history of a place and a time, then the book actually works quite well.
The history, after all, has a purpose. Americans, in 1916, felt that they were on the cusp of a truly modern age where man had finally obtained physical and moral dominance over his environment. Yet, it was also an age of innocence or even naiveté. In subsequent decades, humankind would gain a greater recognition of their insignificance and powerlessness in the face of greater forces. The Great Depression, the World Wars, the Galveston flood, and other events would soon strip this innocence violently away, but in the summer of 1916, Americans were blissfully unaware of what the century ahead would hold for them. The shark of 1916 would be one of the first agents of the changes to come in our national psychology.
However, when the chapter which, by its title, suggested the shark's long awaited appearance turned out to be merely an account of the courtship between of the shark's parents, the thoughts of Aristotle on the topic of shark mating, and the water temperatures of Long Island Sound, Capuzzo began to lose me a bit. And when the following chapter returned to the languid and fanciful descriptions of various Edwardians filled with their noble thoughts as they strolled along the boardwalks of their seaside towns, I realized (with some genuine terror), that I was approaching a quarter of the way through the book and had yet to see any blood. I am a huge fan of works exploring broad historical contexts, but enough is enough! I was ready for some shark attacks.
And, as long as we were taking our slow walks down the boardwalk, I would at least have expected the history to be accurate. Some of the facts splashed around exposed a shocking carelessness of the author, even to my unpracticed mind. To give just one small example, Capuzzo casually refers to the Winston Churchill of 1916 as "a young war correspondent," when, in fact, by that time Churchill's career had already included his serving as First Lord of the Admiralty for several years (1911-1915) while 1916 saw him commanding a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front (he once had been a young war correspondent, but that had been during the Boer War of 1899. Furthermore, the quote attributed to the "young correspondent" was not actually written until 1923). These are minor facts to the story, but are numerous enough to disturb me even on my first unconscious reading.
In short, there is much to be enjoyed in CLOSE TO SHORE, but the book is flawed through its lack of direction and the loose fact-checking of the author. I would warn lovers of history or of natural history, that it is entirely possible that this book will be a disappointment to them, unless they also have a healthy love of the novel and a forgiveness of bending the truth for dramatic purposes.
Jeremy W. Forstadt
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An Easy Read..., June 30, 2005
By
Shannon Richie (Northumberland, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Capuzzo's Close to Shore is a quick read for anyone who wants to get acquainted with the famous 1916 New Jersey shark attacks, which resulted in 4 deaths and mass panic along coastal New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area. Capuzzo's book reads somewhat like a novel, and can be read in conjunction with Richard Fernicola's Twelve Days of Terror, also an outstanding book on this topic (but with greater technical detail).
Capuzzo's strength is his research into the cultural background of the eastern U. S. seaboard during this time period. One feels immersed in the history of the time period, which helps us to understand the panic that occurred when the coastal bathing areas suddenly became places of fear rather than relaxation.
This item is a good summer read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun story - slice of life and shark biology, May 11, 2005
By
Pistol Pete "Pete" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close to Shore is an entertaining story of the New Jersey shark attacks in July of 1916. I really didn't know what to expect out of this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Capuzzo gives us a nice slice of life - what people were doing and thinking about in 1916. He also gives us quite a few details on sharks - specifically the great White Shark. I didn't realize I was so ignorant about sharks until I learned so much about them. I will be much better prepared the next time I meet a shark. :) The only complaint I have about the book is that Capuzzo is a little wordy - too many adjectives can slow a book down. I appreciated the descriptions, but sometimes enough is enough. Overall though, I would recommend for anyone looking for a good book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Starts slow; builds interest, March 12, 2005
By
David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This is a book that starts very slowly. The subject is a series of shark attacks of the coast of New Jersey that killed four men and injured several others, which *might* have been committed by the same, rogue shark. The author seems to believe this, and recounts the book as if it's so. The principle problem is that there's little evidence of what happened, beyond the immediacy of the attacks themselves, and the author spends considerable time with the backstory, working in everything from the function of a Victorian drawing room to women's roles in the household in the era, bathing costumes that were perhaps to racy to be beach-legal, and the mythology surrounding sea monsters. This fills the first third of the book, until someone gets eaten by a shark, and then the action picks up and the book gains some momentum.
The interest that the book holds is in the idea that a shark could become the killer that the people at the time thought it was. If the author's theory is true (and it does seem plausible) the same shark attacked several people, and then, driven by hunger, swam up a creek in New Jersey and killed a pair of people 17 miles from seawater. This behavior is really unusual for sharks, but the author says that shark experts he talked to think it plausible, and it makes for a good story. The book does sort of taper off at the end, because (as you might expect) the shark's fate is something of a mystery.
I enjoyed this book pretty well, though as I said, it took some time to get going. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject, and those who read slice-of-life books recounting eras of the past.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow...Capuzzo makes history fun!, August 31, 2004
By
LaDeBoBo (Aurora, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Are you interested in a real-life story that is just as thrilling as Jaws? If so, check out Michael Capuzzo's Close to Shore. Since I am originally from Jersey, I was very interested in learning about the NJ shark attacks of 1916...so I decided to order this book. I was highly impressed!
Close to Shore is a careful, well-researched account of the events that occurred in Beach Haven, Spring Lake and the Matawan Creek area during July of 1916. But don't get the impression that this is just some dull, tedious historical book. Capuzzo wrote this book in the style of a suspenseful page-turner and it is just as exciting to read as Peter Benchley's classic novel, Jaws. Not only will you learn about the attacks, you will also get a perspective of the time period and some information on how sharks behave.
If you are looking for a good shark story, then this true tale is just the thing for you!
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars FAR MORE RIVETING THAN JAWS, July 2, 2004
By
D. McAllister "MRD" (Somewhere in the Field) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
CLOSE TO SHORE provides a fascinating look at not only the first documented shark attacks in the history of the United States, it also provides a look at the culture of the Eastern Seaboard at the turn of the century. In a very wellwritten account, author Michael Capuzzo, recaps the beliefs of the day about open-sea swimming and sharks. He discusses the almost maniacal craze that possessed some to swim with sharks in order to prove that sharks were harmless and their own bizarre machismo.
Capuzzo also adds further flavor and perspective by discussing the norms of the day regarding swimming attire, the culture of New Jersey's nouveau riche, other news stories of the period and the limitations of the physicians of the day regarding the brutality of wounds inflicted by great white sharks.
Far more riveting than Benchley's JAWS, CLOSE TO SHORE brings the true account of July 1916 along the Jersey Shore where three adults and a boy were attacked and killed as helpless witnesses looked on in horror.
Capuzzo masterfully tells the morbid tale from not only the human perspective, but also, by using information and facts from modern shark experts, from the perspective of the shark and its instincts. The book switches back and forth from human to shark in a way that wonderfully builds the account and the real-life suspense of the events involved. In fact, CLOSE TO SHORE is a wonderful resource regarding sharks generally. Capuzzo's research seemed so complete that at times I felt like I was reading a biology primer on sharks.
CLOSE TO SHORE proves to be a compelling page turner that you just can't miss!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Summer Read, June 12, 2004
By
N. Bernadsky "ski429" (Conway, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I was initially turned on to Close to Shore when I read an excerpt of it in a magazine (I think. I can't quite remember where it was.). Not usually a non-fiction fan, I was intrigued by the subject matter, and the tone of the book.
I've read a few of the previous reviews, and I would like to respond to aspects of this book that some readers found detrimental. First, a lot of people have complained about the lack of action in the beginning of the book, and the overall tone. As a reader who for the most part sticks to fiction, I found the pace and tone to be just right. I enjoyed learning some of the backgrounds of people involved in this event, as well as getting a glimpse of what the Jersey coast was like in 1916. I wasn't expecting page after page of shark attacks, and if that's what you want, Close to Shore is not the book for you.
Mr. Capuzzo does an excellent job of filling out the individuals and places touched by the shark roaming the East Coast that summer. What could have come off as a dry, text-book style tome is instead a glimpse into the lives of the famous, infamous, and unknowns of the time. I enjoyed this book as much for the social history as the terrifying experiences it revolves around.
One note, and the reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5: I was disappointed by the lack of pictures. Not gory pictures of attack victims or eviscerated sharks per se, but photos of the Engleside, or the E&S, or of those who experienced this summer in the most intimate ways. Surely there were year book pictures of young Charles Vansant, photos of the boardwalks, snapshots of the townspeople and vacationers. Mr. Capuzzo mentions all of these, but unfortunately does not include them for us to see for ourselves. Granted, I have a vivid imagination, but knowing the reality of these people and places would have made Close to Shore all the more immediate and engaging.
Other than that, I recommend Close to Shore for a little beach or poolside reading. Approach it like a good summer novel, not a case-by-case account of shark attacks and you should be fine.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars THE TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED JAWS, April 15, 2004
By
K. Jump (Corbin, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
In 1916, in a society in which many of the features (good or bad) of modern America that today we take for granted were just being timidly born, the New Jersey shore was an idyllic Eden that offered rest and tonic to tourists and vacationers from across the country. But every Eden has its serpent, in this case the seas's most terrifying "monster"--a man-eating shark. Michael Capuzzo's book is the real-life saga of how the people of the Jersey Shore struggled to deal with this new, unfathomable horror, as well as the story of the shark itself and how it may have ended up in such an unlikely locale and how its bloody ambushes were orchestrated. Sadly, information we can all get from the Discovery Channel today was unheard of in 1916, and a great many scientists and leaders of the day refused to believe a shark was even capable of such brutal behavior, never mind having any idea what to actually do about it. Capuzzo masterfully recreates the time and place of the tragedy, putting the reader right there with the persons who lived it out in their homes, offices, and even in the deadly water itself. The author's research is daunting, but the writing itself is miraculously unemcumbered, flowing with a grace and energy most novelists would envy. It is, in many ways, a better book than Peter Benchley's "Jaws," which was actually based in part upon this very incident. "Close to Shore" works on multiple levels--historical document, real life drama, and a study of human nature in the face of unmitigated horror. The end of the book does leave the reader with some questions, so it may well also be a steppingstone to further research. Highly readable, informative, thrilling and engaging, "Close to Shore" is an easy book to recommend.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly fascinating account, April 20, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Im not sure why all the negative reviews on here for this book but to each his/her own. I found this book engaging, interesting and always entertaining. The author does a great job at creating the period in history, which is very important. He also does an incredible job of describing the shark attacks themselves. There really arent that many but the settings are so well done that its like you are really there experiencing the whole thing. And it is very very well written. One of the best and one I will read again.
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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Don't go in the water because I don't know what's in it!, October 13, 2002
By
"magnumite71" (Greenwood, IN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I picked this book up because I thought it might be interesting to read about an account of a series of documented shark attacks on the East Coast in 1916. Looking for that "Jaws" fix, if you will. Well, I didn't get it. The book is good, but as several of the prior reviewers state it is almost as much of a social history as an account of shark attacks. The first attack doesn't even occur until about 100 pages into the book. Probably the best thing about the book is the last third is fairly exciting; however, in the last chapter the author admits some of the things the prior reviewers complain about; i.e., Was it a Great White? Was it a shark at all? etc. So that's somewhat of a letdown, especially when the author has gone to such great lengths to describe the Great White's movements and reasoning.
All I can say is I wouldn't buy it. I checked it out from the library after seeing it in a local bookstore and I'm better for it. This book tries to be several things at once and doesn't achieve any of them very well. In addition, I can't say I care for the author's writing style, either. The book is probably best suited for a middle school student because it might spark an interest in history or ichthyology, and it's an easy read.
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7 of 14 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Shark book left me in the deep end., September 14, 2002
By
Matt Staggs (Flowood, MS United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
The purple prose of this potboiler makes what would seem to be an intriguing subject nearly unbearable. It's as if Edgar Allen Poe wrote copy for Spiegel. The first couple of chapters are cluttered with signifiers, lest you forget that you are reading a story set in the year 1916. The author has a fetish for anthopomorphizing everything, from houses to the shark of the story. In addition to the tedious nature of the telling of this story, it is perhaps unforgivable that the essential premise of this book is likely incorrect, noticable even to the most casually informed reader, that a great white shark left the ocean for a environmentally hostile freshwater creek. Did it not occur to the author that this is a highly unlikely theory, and would constitute a nearly freak occurence in the natural history of this animal, particularly when there is another species of shark that regularly engages in this behavior and is a known attacker of humans, and is thus a more likely culprit: the bull shark. The bull shark is regularly found far upstream in even great rivers such as the Mississippi, and attacks by this creature are well documented. I understand the author's desire to ride on the coattails of Jaws, but remember Occham's Razor: the simplest solution is often the correct one.
For more insight on this book and it's author, try to catch the National Geographic's "Big Picture" documentary about this book and it's questionable premise, which poses the same competing and far more likely theory about the shark attacks of 1916.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars great writing/poor accuracy, September 6, 2002
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo is an excellent writer and I wasn't certain why the book had to be semifictionalized. For example, why was the summer Whitehouse transplanted(artificially) from Asbury Park to Spring Lake ? Was it to make the second attack closer to the Woodrow Wilson summer offices ? It's just that the true story is so fantastic on its own without the need for embellishment.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Well told, but it's a story -- not a history, August 26, 2002
By
I. Westray (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book is a wonderful example of a well-framed historical subject. It's not a history, though. Michael Capuzzo uses the 1916 shark attacks on the New Jersey coast as a lens through which to describe the America of that year. His pacing, the way he alternates between the shark and the people of the time, and his adroit use of primary sources all serve the book well. It's a fluid read... if only I trusted it.
"Close to Shore" is nonfiction in the sense that "The Perfect Storm" was nonfiction -- it's based on true events, and it's not really a novel, so where do you put it at the book store? It belongs in a category with television shows like "Walking with Dinosaurs" -- which presented dinosaurs in faux documentaries, speculating about an awful lot along the way. I loved "Dinosaurs," don't get me wrong. The problem is you're never sure with this kind of stuff where the established truths leave off and the speculation begins. Here, too, it's about 1916; you don't go into the exercise with as much skepticism about what we can possibly know about a stegosaurus.
The glaring, enormous example of that problem in this book is: There's no way to know for sure that the shark -- or sharks -- responsible for the 1916 attacks was a great white, and there's a lot of evidence to the contrary. There's no way to know that it was an individual shark at all, to start with. More to the point, several obvious traits of the attacks, and especially the Matawan Creek attacks, fit the profile of bull shark attacks a whole lot better than they do the great white. Bull sharks, to mention the most obvious problem with the great white idea, routinely travel and can even live in fresh or brackish water like the water of Matawan Creek. People get attacked by them in circumstances like that, often in murky water. It's among the most common shark attacks. Great whites, by contrast, don't have the organ that lets bull sharks retain salinity in fresh water. They can't go there. It's not just that, though -- basically ALL the Matawan creek attack details point to bull sharks. The twisting style of the initial bite, the way the shark grabbed at feet and limbs and pulled, the apparent time it took with its first victim at the bottom of the creek, the murky water it struck in, the reported color of the shark itself -- all those things are characteristic of bull sharks. They just don't fit the great white profile. It's a huge reach to picture a great white doing anything like what this shark supposedly did. Richard Ellis, in his excellent Encyclopedia of the Sea, summarizes current opinion by saying most experts think these attacks were made by a bull shark (or sharks). In any case, as Capuzzo admits, the "rogue shark" idea has fallen into disfavor with scientists -- but the entire shark side of this story is predicated on that idea.
Unfortunately, unlike a true history, Capuzzo's book can't stop and speculate: were the attacks on the shoreline by different sharks than the ones 11 miles inland? Was this a great white or a bull shark? More than one shark? Instead the author continues through the whole book describing the actual thoughts, leaving alone the movements and actions, of a single juvenile great white. He's using the shark as a sort of literary character, and he doesn't want to break character. That's what'll make you think of "Perfect Storm," in which we're given the actual thoughts of people who didn't return from the storm. How does the author know what they thought? Here we know what the shark is thinking. That's too far. What sharks in general might think would be okay. What this one particular shark felt as it was swept north on the warm waters of the gulf stream? That's a real reach. It detracts from the story. Where's that line between what he knows and what he's making up?
Anyway, this is a very easy and entertaining read, and I'm not dying to puncture the balloon. The human side of the story is a lovely evocation of a gone time, and the subtitle of the book -- "A true story of terror in an age of innocence" -- only starts to do justice to that. It's just, when it comes does to it, I suspect the shark side is more "story" than "true."
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3.0 out of 5 stars I Drowned in the Prose, August 23, 2002
By
BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I enjoyed parts of this book...mostly the excitement of the shark attacks and their aftermath. But I thought the author drowned us in details and wrote in a very repetitous manner. I think an editor should have guided him better so that the book progressed in a more orderly fashion and did not go off onto so many tangents that gave us useless information.
I also think that the characters should have been better developed so that the reader cared about them. As it was, there was more about Victorian values than about the people who died.
It's a shame, because a lot of really really interesting information was buried in trivia. I ended up wishing that I had read an abridged version. I felt like this would have been a magazine-length article had the author not padded it with cultural information about the early 1900s.
I agree with the reviewer who said that the author should have given us more background information on what was happening along the seacoast and in the ocean during that period, rather than writing about what was happening in Philadelphia.
A disappointment because it could have been so good!
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5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping..., August 12, 2002
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Nancy Deviney (Lake Corpus Christi, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close to Shore held my attention like the shark held on to it's victims. As a fan of the original "Jaws", I had no idea that the movie was based on a true story. Capuzzo's detailed descriptions of life on the Jersey shore in 1916 were as fascinating as the in depth descriptions of the shark's thoughts as it moved through the waters seeking to satisfy it's appetite. I bought the book at the LA airport and had almost finished it by the time I arrived in San Antonio.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The Age of Innocence...........it was!, June 30, 2002
By
Andi Shae (Hamilton Square, NJ God Bless the USA!) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
It has been approximately a year since I read this book (so some details are faint), but I am still talking about it. As an avid shark (esp. great whites) enthusiast, any shark book is interesting to me. However, CLOSE TO SHORE brought together detail to create a setting, characters for a novel, and facts about the GREAT WHITE SHARK. With all of the Shark Weeks on the Discovery Channel, we are able to learn more and more about these amazing creatures. The information that people had in 1916 is a small fraction of what we know now. The perspective that Capuzzo used was to describe the reactions the people of this Victorian Age had - to go from tea, lace, and leizure to absolute terror had me gasping with each paragraph. It really opened my mind to what we, with "all of our knowledge" take for granted. We know these creatures exist and the dangers they can impose. Michael Capuzzo's description of history making news was absolutely artistic. Who would have known that on my birthday in 1916, the first ever recorded shark attack of the east coast took place? Great white sharks are thought to be rogues of the sea - but this one decided to take a trip through the Matawan River - nature has no boundaries. Such interesting facts teamed with an interesting storyline made for wonderful reading - on or off the beach (ha,ha).
P.S. Being so close to home,(I live 40 minutes from Long Beach Island) makes for an even more intriguing picture - this didn't happen in California or Australia; it happened at the very beach I frequent. (Knowing the history that was created there, I enjoy LBI even more, now.)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Long for the Topic, June 29, 2002
By
BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book is as much a social and cultural history of the early 1900s as it is a story of a shark (or sharks) that terrified visitors to several New Jersey resorts in the summer of 1916.
I thought that much of the information and background the author used to set the stage was interesting but sometimes it became ponderous. I think that 100 pages could easily have been cut from the final draft. I read it all, but I think this kind of detail would not appeal to most people wanting to read a book about shark attacks.
I learned a lot from the book, about the times and about sharks. I was astounded that a shark made its way 17 miles inland, up the Mattawan Creek, where it killed two people. It was also interesting to read about what the people and scientists of the times knew (or did not know) about sharks.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy read, not too scientific, June 27, 2002
By
Anne Faiola (Bellingham, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book is great if you take it at face value - a historical book with just a big of fiction thrown in to flesh out the real details. It's not a scientific treatise on shark attacks so if you start to read it, expecting that, you will be disapointed it. It reads more like a soap opera at times, with richly detailed writing and build up in the storylines. The book is truly scary, in a 'Jaws' kind of way (remember how thousands of people refused to swim in the ocean after that movie came out?). It's a fairly quick read and would make for a relaxing read any place but the beach!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars More of a Social History than an Account of the Attacks, June 15, 2002
By
"seanc1" (Ottawa, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Overall, I found the narrative a tad slow, with far too much attention paid to North American Victorian values. Although, it was important to set the stage to place the shark attacks in perspective, I felt that the narrative should have focused more on scientific knowledge of the day rather than social history.
What did scientists and laypeople know of sharks? What were their false assumptions and how were they formed? Why didn't some people heed the advice to stay out of the water?
As well, it seems that the shark or sharks in question may have been bull sharks and tigers, and not white sharks. So, the writer's descriptions concerning the life cycle of a white shark were mute.
That being said, at times, the story was quite chilling, and the main characters were very rich in detail.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Bloated, April 25, 2002
By
lesli l garland (state college, pa USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Not a bad writer. However there's not enough material in this story that warrants a full length book. The shark stuff is engrossing and he does a good job of covering that aspect. The personal stories are just too lightweight. Not interesting.
This should have been a magazine article and not a book.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Dive in - this is a good one!, April 21, 2002
By
Betti Trapp - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I never would have thought such a factual, historical tale could be told in the fashion of a novel, and manage at the same time to keep the reader intrigued, interested, and dangerously fascinated. Author Michael Capuzzo has done an outstanding job of relating incidents of the first known shark attacks on the East Coast, while at the same time wrapping the historical data in such fascinating verbage that reading this book was an absolute pleasure. People and places along the New Jersey coastline come to life for us in this book, and even the shark attacks take on a life of their own. If only all history writers could write like this - no one would ever think history boring again! The story unfolds easily, and flows throughout until the end. I didn't yawn once.
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2 of 8 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars I am so glad that I'm done with this utterly boring book., March 21, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I don't even know where to start, but I guess I'll first mention that Michael Capuzzo is the King of Digression. I've read non-fiction books where the writer briefly discusses something off-topic for a while, but those digressions seemed to actually contribute something to the background or the story. This is not the case with Capuzzo's writing in this book. He continually tries to illustrate what life was like back in 1916 and create the setting, but it's way, way out of balance -- there's just way too much creation of the situation, with so little of the actual situation to bolster it. I only need to think of his description of the Vansant family or the Engleside Hotel (and there are tons of other examples in the book, like Stanley Fisher or Hermann Oelrichs or Dr. Lucas) to remember occasions where he spent page after page talking about a person's background, and then they're only in the action for but a second! I realize that there might be some difficulty in including a lot of action when the events took place way back in 1916, but that doesn't change the fact that a great deal of text should have been slashed.
That reminds me -- the book is not excellently written or edited. For example, in the chapter "To Find Prey", the following sentence is found: "Invisible lateral lines running down the length of its body recorded changing water pressure." (1.) Lines running down the length of its body are called LONGITUDINAL lines, not lateral lines. Don't use terms you don't know the meaning of. (2.) Even if the author was correct in his use of the term "lateral", the sentence would be totally redundant! In addition, Capuzzo spends quite a few pages discussing the shark like it's a machine that has been technologically equipped specifically to be a predator (which it has), but he keeps coming back to the same metaphor, over and over again! Learn a new trick already! Later in that same chapter is another error in writing: he discusses two long distance swimmers that went way out in the ocean for separate swims, and when they came back, people on the shore told the swimmers that they had been followed by a shark. But Capuzzo makes no mention whatsoever of HOW the people on the shore knew that they had been followed! Inconsistencies like this make the book confusing and irritating.
You know that when you continually look to see how many pages you have left to go before the book is done, you don't like it. I was really disappointed with this book, and I found Capuzzo's writing style thoroughly boring. He writes like he's writing a term paper. I believe that he may have been going for the same writing style as in the book "The Perfect Storm", but if so, it falls short because there's just too little text in "Close To Shore" in which something actually HAPPENS, to keep the reader interested.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, March 11, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book was a better shark book than Jaws. Parts of the story actually gave me goosebumps. This was a real page turner, I read it in one day. Everything you ever wanted to know or did not want to know about sharks. Very scary!!!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A precursor to JAWS, February 23, 2002
By
Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo crafts a harrowing factual account of a series of great white shark attacks off the Jersey shore in 1916 that resulted in four fatalities. In what is considered the Edwardian age, America is at the precipice of entering World War One. In the final summer prior to involvement in this conflict, people in all walks of life flock to the beaches for diversion. Ocean swimming has only recently become popular.
The array of knowledge about sharks at this time is severely limited. Amazingly, the most celebrated zoologists of the time do not consider sharks to be threatening to man and certainly not man eaters. Medicine, at the time, has not advanced to the point of being able to treat injuries commonly suffered in shark attacks.
When Capuzzo talks about an age of innocence he isn't kidding. Due to a unique set of circumstances a great white strays far away from its usual feeding grounds to terrorize unsuspecting swimmers bathing off Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The ferocity of the attacks paralyzes the economy of the whole Atlantic seaboard as nobody will go to the beach. The whole country, including President Woodrow Wilson who summers on the Jersey shore, is gripped by this unprecedented series of attacks.
The book is part action adventure and part national geographic. Chapters as seen through the eyes of he shark are both very revealing and extremely creative. Peter Benchley used this episode to create his classic novel Jaws.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Never Go Near The Water Again......., February 19, 2002
By
Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I've been entranced by sharks ever since I saw Jaws on TV when I was 8. I haven't been in the ocean since then. Apparently staying out of the ocean isn't enough....
Close To Shore tells the story of a Great White shark that held the Jersey shore in a grip of terror in the Summer of 1916. After claiming 2 victims from the Ocean, the shark made a change of venue, moving from the ocean to Matawan Creek.
I thought that the book started out kind of slow; Capuzzo richly chronicles every aspect of life in the Summer of 1916- It's a fabulous history lesson, but I was eager for the Shark to take center stage. Once that happens, the book becomes impossible to put down. As the bibliograpy section in the back shows, Capuzzo REALLY did his homework- the shark and her victims are vividly portrayed, and the attacks are horrific. (One of the victims is savaged while trying to recover the body of a young boy that the shark had been feeding on.) The heroism that some of the real-life "characters" exhibit is amazing, and Capuzzo does them full justice by portraying them as PEOPLE, not just lunch
Close To Shore is an amazing read, and an amazing history lesson.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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(47)
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(31)
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(19)
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(11)
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(4)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to hold attention, but lots of detail, January 15, 2002
By
"amleal" (NH, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I am a fan of shark stories and history as well. I purchased this book despite the mixed reviews. I have to agree with the reviews. The author obviously wants to set the tone and atmosphere of 1916 New Jersey. But, I would've prefered about 75 less pages to read to get to the first shark attack. The author is rambling on and on about all these historic details. I think it is overkill. I would've liked to see some pictures too. But, I guess that is what our imaginations are for. In the author's defense, he worked hard to research these details. I commend him for that.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Death by Adjective Attack, December 7, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book is perhaps the most over-written book in recent memory. Capuzzo mars a story that is compelling on its own by reaching way too far - padding the tale with extraneous, awkward, inappropriate social history and detail that contributes little to the inherent drama. And sentence after sentence after sentence after sentence goes on and on and on and on as if he were being paid by the word and evey noun deserved not one, but two or three adjectives - his thesaurus function must be worn out on his laptop. I was really looking forward to this book and enjoyed it after the first 100 pages, when the writer finally got out of the way and let the facts of the story tell itself. But the first hundred pages were absolutely excruciating. Great writing is transparent; there is far too much murk in this book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, December 2, 2001
By
bruce john patience (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Superbly written account of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks.Goes way beyond the usual basic facts and sensational nonsense of most "Shark Books". Provides a fascinating profile of the victims, their families and how these attacks impacted on American society at the time. The author creates some amazing "Atmosphere" and has a great feel for the era he is describing. Much of the book is written from the shark's perspective which proves to be a powerful and effective idea.The final chapters in which the shark makes it's way up the Matawan is a writing tour de force. Australians such as yours truly would find the American authorities lack of information about sharks attacks in 1916 to be positively unbelievable as many attacks had been witnessed and well documented in this country as far back as the 1790s.The only disappointing aspect of "Close to Shore" is the complete lack of photos . This may have been due to reasons beyond the author's control or perhaps it was nothing more than a stylistic preference. Still, the book is thoroughly engrossing and well worth buying.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great way to learn about the 1916 attacks, December 1, 2001
By
Andrew Olmsted (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
In July 1916, five swimmers along the New Jersey coastline were mauled in a series of shark attacks. Four of the swimmers died of their injuries. These attacks terrorized the Atlantic coast and spawned one of the most famous horror movies of all time, Jaws.
Michael Capuzzo ties together historical vignettes of the time with detailed sketches of the victims and their families to make the attacks come alive. Using a narrative style possibly better suited for fiction, _Close to Shore_ provides a good overview of the attacks before moving on to Capuzzo's thesis regarding the attacks.
Tying together modern shark research with his own research into the 1916 attacks, Capuzzo presents a compelling thesis to explain the attacks.
If you're interested in sharks in general, or the 1916 attacks specifically, you should find this book well worth your time.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Lurking With Intent, November 15, 2001
By
"voychek" - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo's narrative style is so good it should be studied by anyone who writes non-fiction. In Close to Shore he imparts to his readers both a gruesomely detailed and yet not entirely unsympathetic catalogue of the life, times and crimes of great white sharks. For instance, they're trainably smart, but far too savage to ever star in any aquatic show; they always have a plan of attack, and never engage in their deadly undersea muggings unless they are absolutely certain they have the advantage, which is why they prefer victims who are in distress. Simultaneously Capuzzo relates a fascinating portrait of America in that last pre-World War One summer of 1916. An America without air-conditioning, cars with tops, television, computers, adequate emergency medicine, or even window screens. Nevertheless, an America which will very likely make you nostalgic for what was and won't be again.
The technique of weaving back and forth between the human victims and the shark heightens the suspense and momentum so that when the attacks occur you're familiar enough with both the killer and the victims to feel fear and sympathy for all concerned. Conceived in a ritual so brutal that the female is left as slashed and bloodied as an attack victim, the "pups" she carries start their murderous careers immediately: they cannibalize their own fertilized and unfertilized siblings in utero! Then there is the hasty, pitiless birth. The pups emerge swimming fast and always away from the mother because her instincts tell her to eat anything within range even her own young. The great white's world is programmed from conception to death for one grim purpose: to fill that enormous gaping maw, preferably with fat blubbery sea mammals, but beware on rare occasions, in a severe pinch, human mammals may be substituted.
The villain here was a surprisingly small (eight feet, three hundred pound) juvenile--no more than eight years old--whose behavior was aberrant, which is important to bear in mind. Despite centuries of bad press and outright lies, not all great whites are relentless man eaters lurking close to shore in three-feet of surf. A contemporary commentator likens this one to a serial killer. (One of the more appealing aspects of 1916 was that neither that term, nor serial killers themselves, had yet made an appearance on the American scene.) Most likely this chap was still wet behind the ears--or even insane--and unfortunate enough to have been pulled out of the usual great white hunting grounds by a strong current, whereupon he became disoriented and hungry enough to fatally attack swimmers on the New Jersey coast. He then proceeded madly on, to so unlikely a body of water as Mattawan Creek, where the deadly carnage he inflicted bordered on the surreal.
But when you start to hate the shark remember he was "just following orders." Whatever immortal hand or eye dared frame this brute's fearful symmetry is a far more frightening entity: Nature, red in tooth and claw.
One more thing, never swim with a dog.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Too Scattered and Unfocused, November 13, 2001
By
Charles S. Gramaglia (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo sets out to write a period piece on a series of shark attacks off the New Jersey shore in 1916. But by trying to do too much, he fails to do any of them well. Okay, we "get" the changes society was undergoing in 1916. And we get the comparatively primitive state of marine biology at the time.
The author fails to incorporate this social history into the events he describes. Capuzzo can't decide whether to regale the reader with details of life in pre-WWI America, or give the hard facts about the actual events.
In addition, his efforts to describe what the specific animal thought or felt at the time of the attacks simply doesn't work. In this book Capuzzo notes that these events served as the model from which Peter Benchley based his novel "Jaws." It becomes obvious that "Jaws", in turn, served as a basis for "Close to Shore."
Overall, my general impression was that the author: 1) learned a bit about life in New Jersey, 2) stumbled across some interesting material on shark attacks, 3) discovered the specific attacks off New Jersey...
and decided to simply throw it all together into a single book.
Finally, the editor left in too much extraneous information. There is an entire to chapter on the theory of rogue sharks that was put forth in the 1940's and 50's. At the end of the chapter the author points out that the theory was not published until 30 years after these attacks, and that since it was published the theory has been refuted by contemporary marine biology...
okay, so this theory played no role in the authorities response to these attacks because it was not yet published... and now this same theory is rejected by current science as being, well, wrong. SO WHY DID YOU WASTE MY TIME INCLUDING IT?! This is a question the publisher and editor should be asked.
I wanted to like this book but was unable to do so.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Frightening Look At A True Story, October 15, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Many reviews did not do justice to this book. It is true that the story was slow to unfold and some of the descriptions were overdone, but the author told the story of what happened in those twelve days with frightening clarity. More than once, I pictured myself attempting to escape an unescapable predator. I also saw myself trying to save one of the sharks many victims to no avail. I even spent hours pondering how I would convince a town that I was not mistaken when I saw a shark in the creek.
If you have even a slight interest in shark attacks, this book is a must read.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but slow, October 8, 2001
By
L. L. Golden "Dilley Sue Bar" (Warrior, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Mr. Capuzzo gives a thorough accounting of the shark attacks and he should be commended for his historical research of the era as well as the events. However, this is not for the easily bored reader. A good hundred pages of book must be read before the first attack occurs and much narrative follows the last one. In between, few of the individuals involved are defined well enough to make their characters memorable. Perhaps fast-paced thrillers have spoiled the reader's attention span but I believe restructuring this book would have improved it.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Really great, September 25, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book is very well written. The author obviously did a lot of research and captures the time period's innocence. The fist part of the book mostly sets the scene of how niave people were about sharks and "evil things" in general. The rest of the novel describes the rouge shark attacks in very graphic details. Parts that I found especially good were about one person feeling hunted but not knowing why and a boy being scraped by the shark's sandpaper skin. Those details are terrifying. Yea, there's gore, but the unknown is much scarier. This book is very good, you can also see where Benchley got many ideas for Jaws.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow-Building Tension, Great Period Descriptions, September 24, 2001
By
D. Smith (Winchester, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
The suspense in "Close to Shore" built very slowly, but in the meantime the author gives a very detailed feel for life in the early 1900's. In light of the recent attacks in Virginia Beach and Avon, NC, the slow pace is tolerable since it is sustained by a sense of inevitable doom.
I thought the author tried a little too hard to put us inside the shark's mind during the period of the attacks. While it's easy to accept that newspaper accounts and personal journals gave accurate descriptions of the human mindset during that time, who can really say exactly what drove the shark. It calls for more speculation than is sometimes tolerable. Though it certainly makes for dramatic reading to portray the shark as "nature's serial killer," the reader is lead to ask if that isn't a milder version of the same sensationalism that pervaded the newspaper accounts in 1916.
Still, if you're looking for a historical version of "Jaws," you've come to the right place. Interesting to note that Peter Benchley, who authored "Jaws," is now one of the leading advocates for the great white shark as a misunderstood creature in desperate need of preservation.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what it could have been..., September 19, 2001
By
nto62 (Corona, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
As a young boy I read the sensational and gruesome books of shark attack that were spawned by the phenomenal success of the movie Jaws. These true-life accounts graphically presented in lurid prose select case files for the readers titillation. Capuzzo gamely attempts to combine similar shark attack narration with a period piece of WWI-era America. The problem is it doesn't quite work.
In the summer of 1916 a great white shark terrorized the beaches of New Jersey and New York killing three men, one boy, and maiming another. Capuzzo endeavors to bring his readers back to 1916 so that we can experience the time and it's terror for something not then understood. It's a worthy goal and something in which this reader was very eager to participate. But, time and again Capuzzo abruptly yanks the reader back to the future with modern day references and resources which spoil the "age of innocence" which was originally subject matter of enough importance to include in the title. One longs to remain immersed in the era to live the "terror" for what it was then. Instead, this treat is spoiled by Capuzzo's desire to clinically dissect what this "terror" no longer holds for us now. In short, he spoils the fun.
As shark attack books go, Close to Shore is as good as any other I've read. My disappointment resides in the realization that this book could have been, in a historical sense, so much more.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars could have been great, September 6, 2001
By
Jim S "cuda282" (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Like many other reviewers I was disappointed. Having grown up at the Jersey shore I knew the area of the attacks well. And I started reading the book the day a man was attacked by a shark in the Bahamas and finished it just as two more fatal shark attacks happened in North Carolina and Virginia. So talk about relevance.
The chapters on the shark were pretty captivating . The alternate chapters on life in the early 1900's were mind-numbing and repetitive.
Tell us once that modesty at the beach was the rule. But don't repeat it in every other paragraph nor feel obligated to describe each bathing suit. . We got it the first time.
It got so that after the first 40 pages or so, I completely skipped over the non-shark chapters and lost very little .
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Careless Writing and Editing Detract From This Book, September 1, 2001
By
D. Feltus (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book was recommended by a friend of mine and I'd spent my high school years in New Jersey not far from the shore. I expected to enjoy the Close to Shore. However, there were many inaccuracies and misstatements in it. These detracted very significantly from my enjoyment of the book. The author and editor both appear to have rushed the book to print with little time spent reviewing what had been written.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A good summertime yarn...and it's true!, August 24, 2001
By
Richard Kendall (Westlake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This is an interesting and engaging step into history when going to the beach first became popular and it was widely believed that sharks were harmless. Somebody should have told the shark, who seemingly gets carried from its normal environment and becomes increasingly violent as it gets more and more disoriented. The attacks on humans at the seashore are horrifying, and the story builds to a climax as the shark moves up a creek far away from the ocean and homes in on boys splashing in the summer sun.
I found this book to be in the same genre as "Isaac's Storm," in which we learn of the misconceptions of nature held by Americans at the time. A great read for the beach...and you'll be more careful about dipping a toe in the ocean!
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5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Tale, August 22, 2001
By
Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
The author tells a wonderful, frightening story of a killer shark prowling the Jersey Shore and even up the river to Matewan, where it killed two and maimed one. The author has a really good feel for the time period and the people. The amount of research that he must have done to paint such vivid pictures must have been huge. I only caught one minor error. William K. Vanderbilt was not Hermann Oelrichs' brother in law. Their wives were the leaders of society in Newport and New York with Mamie Fish, but not related. This is an incredibly fast read and I recommend it highly.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Tale, August 22, 2001
By
Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
The author tells a wonderful, frightening story of a killer shark prowling the Jersey Shore and even up the river to Matewan, where it killed two and maimed one. The author has a really good feel for the time period and the people. The amount of research that he must have done to paint such vivid pictures must have been huge. I only caught one minor error. William K. Vanderbilt was not Hermann Oelrichs' brother in law. Their wives were the leaders of society in Newport and New York with Mamie Fish, but not related. This is an incredibly fast read and I recommend it highly. This is the first time since I read Jaws that I have actually thought twice about an ocean swim. The timing of this book couldn't have been better, as sharks are in the news all over the East Coast this summer. I had a really hard time putting this book down once I started and I will definitely read it again.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Reminded me of "Jaws", but..., August 20, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
...this book isn't "Jaws" so don't expect sharks attacks to start happening in the very first chapter. In fact, it takes a quarter of the book just to get to the first shark attack. The author takes a lot of time setting up the scene and trying to give the reader a sense of what it was like to live in 1916 and he succeeds.... but a little too well. I think the book could have used some heavy editing here and there, especially the removal of excessing "this-was-what-it-was-like-living-in-1916" text. I found myself skipping pages here and there saying to myself, "Alright, already! I get the point. It's 1916!" The long build-up to the first shark attack, and then another long build-up to the next shark attack does get a bit tiresome. But by the time we get to the climactic attacks, several in one day, I was reading every word and could barely put the book down.
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0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, August 19, 2001
By
"tmwtt" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I loved this book. It remided me a bit of "Ragtime" in the way it blended the history and society of the time into the story. A great summer read!
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Sea Monsters, Science, and History, August 19, 2001
By
Bob Murphy (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close to Shore is a superbly written book that vividly portrays man's timeless fear of monsters from the deep. The book has all of the suspense, terror, and excitement one would expect from a story about man-eating sharks. But, it also provides a thoroughly researched analysis of what science knows and doesn't know about shark behvior. The book draws on sources and references from the late 19th century through the present day as it documents our evolving knowledge of sharks. In addition, Michael Capuzzo has done a masterful job of developing the historical setting in which the shark attacks took place during the summer of 1916. Man's increasing ability to use technology to master his environment is confronted with his helplessness during the shark attacks. This book represents an important contribution to the social history of the Progressive Era on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War I. The book will be of interest to scholars of early 20th century American history and should find a place on college reading lists for American studies courses.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore - Or safe on shore?, August 14, 2001
By
T.W Trotter (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
In what could be seen as an act of amazing prescience, Michael Capuzzo has written a book about one of the great shark scares in American history at exactly the time when sharks and shark attacks have been thrust to the forefront of the evening news. Make no mistake, Capuzzo's Close to Shore - A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence is no profit-driven headline grabber. In Close to Shore Capuzzo recounts the events surrounding a series of Shark attacks along the Jersey shore in the early 1900's with almost lyrical style.
In writing a book that easily could have devolved into a "shocking tell all" or "incredible true story" Capuzzo has exercised considerable restraint. In Close to Shore the author has instead taken the authorial high road and wrought the tale, not only of the people involved, but also of the shark itself. Of course much of the shark side of the story is supposition, but it in no way detracts from the story. Based on obviously thorough and spirited research, Capuzzo's various segues into the imagined life of the shark instead propel the story ahead while lifting it from one of "Look what happened in the water" to a more complete and substantive tale of a series of profound meetings between two of the earths top predators. Around this primeval exchange Capuzzo wraps descriptive passages and narrative interludes which allow the reader to fully understand the context of the times in which the attacks take place. In creating a sense of place for the reader Capuzzo's writing truly shines; his descriptions are evocative and concise without being pedantic - in fact, reading his descriptive prose is much like looking at sepia-toned photographs from the age that provides the backdrop to events.
For the casual reader Capuzzo's book provides an intelligent yet entertaining read. For avid historians and interested marine biologists the story may be light on hard fact but nonetheless it manages to encompass some important themes and argue for objectivity in analysing events which all but preclude objectivity by virtue of their horrific nature. Ultimately the subject of this book is a violent and disturbing one, but Capuzzo handles it with a grace and decorum that deserves an audience. If anything, the one failing of this book in a strictly literary sense is its rather weak denouement, but the author should be applauded for having the courage not to "beef up" the ending after spinning such a engrossing tale. At ... this book is expensive, but well worth the cost. Given the recent events along the coast of Florida this book is even more valuable as source of informed perspective which can give shape and order to a series of apparently unpredictable and bloody events. A great read for the summer season and one well worth passing along.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton (Paperback - May 1, 2003)
4.7 out of 5 stars (207)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Dime a Dozen, August 14, 2001
By
Peter Lewis (Deal, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
After kicking and screaming through Close to Shore I decided to think more openly about the fact I waited to get two thirds through a shark book before hearing about a shark attack. The real problem here is that I read Twelve Days of Real Terror before Cappuzzo's embellished version. The guts of this commentary is that anyone could and will do what Cappuzo did. His writing is fine and it is also fine to re-write a historic event. I just saw something so unique and unmatchable in the other book by Dr. Fernicola. Is it any wonder that Twelve Days of Terror has beat out Close to Shore in NJ the entire summer--and that's despite a multimillion dollar ad campaign by Broadway.....
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as "Twelve Days of Terror", August 12, 2001
By
P. J Troost (Wayland, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
"Close to Shore" was disappointing to me. The author seemed to have only 1/3 the material needed to fill a book of that length. The first 80 or so pages go by with no shark encounters, and long digressions into local family history. While entertaining at times, the story was very rambling with frequent side tracks. "Twelve Days of Terror" was much more to the point and informative.
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4 of 10 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, August 11, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I forced myself to read the first three chapters because I was so excited to get to the shark attack parts, but I haven't read one yet. I started to skip through the pages looking for anything about sharks...I haven't found it yet. So far it is a long drawn out book about nothing. No action, no plot & no sharks yet! I am not sure if I will ever open the book again, so I may never find out what happens in the end. At this point I don't really care. I am an avid book reader and this book is a big disappointment.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The More We Change, the More We Stay the Same, August 6, 2001
By
sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Is anyone out there who does not give an involuntary shiver at the thought of a shark attack? In spite of 1916 assurances that "there had never been a shark attack on any United States coast," the merest rumor set off a full-scale panic.
"Close to Shore" is a delightful picture of life in these United States circa. 1916. The author has done his homework and recreates the fashions, habits, and lifestyles of the new novelty: a day (or week, or month) at the beach. Though we may dress differently, even think differently than our relatives of 1916; I venture to say we would react to the thought of a man-eating shark(s) prowling our shores in exactly the same way.
This is not a blood and guts tale of gore. It does not depict the great white shark as a monster, and for this I give the book full marks. It has interesting information about sharks in general, and is honest enough to admit there is a lot we do not know. What surprised me is we don't know a great deal more about the great white today than we did 85 years ago.
The perpetrator of all this mayhem was a juvenile shark about nine feet and 300 lbs. Makes you wonder what would have happened if the shark were a 20-foot adult weighing 1500 lbs? Thanks to Peter Benchley and "Jaws," we have a pretty good idea.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Close To Shore - A great "beach book", August 5, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I ordered both Close to Shore and 12 Days of Terror before my recent beach vacation. Being from New Jersey and having heard the tales of the NJ shark attacks since childhood, I had a great interest in these books. I read Close to Shore first and was hooked (no pun intended) from the beginning. The story of the New Jersey shark attacks were thoroughly told. The writer's style makes you feel as if you are there in 1916 and that you are getting to know each of the victims. The shark is described so well that there were times I felt sorry for the shark! This book is written more like a novel, even though it is non-fiction. 12 Days of Terror by Dr. Fernicola tells the same story but in a more scientific manner. It too is an interesting read, but different as it is more clinical. I'm glad I read Close to Shore first. The character descriptions prepared me for the additional information in 12 Days of Terror. I highly recommend Close to Shore if you can only read one book on this topic. It made me look out over the ocean on more than one occasion as I sat on the beach. We know these predators live there...but what a great reminder.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore, August 1, 2001
By
"dlf@paratransit.net" (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This is an excellent read! Five stars just doesn't do justice to this true story of JAWS in 1916 New Jersey. Absolutely "heart jumping from your chest, hold your breath" suspense. The era of late Victorian life along the coast and the novelty of bathing in the sea is written about so well you can almost smell the salt air and feel the gloom and doom build in this story of the real JAWS. Not a book for the faint of heart or for those looking for a pleasant beach read. This account is the only one I have heard of where a great white shark actually came up a fresh water creek to feed....sadly, on young boys and men. Run (don't walk) out and buy this book. It really is THAT GOOD!!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched but Poorly Constructed, July 31, 2001
By
Joshua R. Bartel (Manhattan Beach, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
"Close To Shore" is rich with historical background, and it is obvious throughout that the author has done his homework. This book truly captures the aura of its environment, and its attention to the details of American culture on the East Coast in 1916 nearly make it a worthwhile read sans man eating shark.
However, I found the book went from good to mediocre as the "plot" progressed. The amount of detail and clever building of tension present in the first half of the book simply exhausted themselves and were nowhere to be seen in the book's concluding chapters. The most extraordinary, gruesome moments of this real-life event were rushed through, and the grand finale literally left me expecting a final plot twist which would reveal the "real" ending.
In all, not a bad book, but there have been better works about sharks. Not for the action-seeking or the gore-loving.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, July 30, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I first read this in the August 2001 Edition of Readers Digest - I loved it! I was totally hooked! I immediately rented a copy of the book from the library - and it was totally phenomenal! A guaranteed delight and suspense!
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3.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a screenplay., July 29, 2001
By
James L Rowe Jr - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Capuzzo is a skilled writer and he takes the reader
through the subject of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks via a
very smooth narrative. If you have a passing interest in the
subject, this would be the book to read (i.e. as opposed to
TWELVE DAYS OF TERROR, the other title currently in release).
Mr. Capuzzo has done his homework and he mixes fact in with his
narrative to create what might be called "shark lite." I do not
use this term disparagingly. His book is not heavy reading but
it is quite good. I also read TWELVE DAYS OF TERROR and, for
me, TWELVE DAYS was my favorite of the two. (Note: CLOSE TO
SHORE, for some odd reason, contains no photographs, period or
otherwise, which makes it seem even more like a novel, rather
than a work of non-fiction. Photographs similar to the one that
graces the cover of the book would have greatly enhanced the
text.)
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5.0 out of 5 stars An Engrossing Story that Evokes America in 1916, July 27, 2001
By
Arnold Goldstein (Roslyn Heights, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
What distinguishes Close to Shore is the author's ability to beautifully evoke time and place. One gets a real sense of America at the turn of the last century. In addition, Capuzzo has creatively woven in an exciting story of a series of shark attacks off the New Jersey coast in 1916. Close to Shore reminded me of Issac's Storm (one of my favorite books). Both give the reader an opportunity to "travel in time" (early 20th century) while telling a fascinating story involving man's naive and arrogant belief that modern science would allow us to overcome the forces of nature. In both cases, we were wrong!
I highly recommend this book and will be buying copies for friends.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton (Paperback - May 1, 2003)
4.7 out of 5 stars (207)
Buy new: $16.99 $12.13
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Customer Reviews
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
5 star:
(47)
4 star:
(31)
3 star:
(19)
2 star:
(11)
1 star:
(4)
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (112 customer reviews)
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the story is told. Fabulous literature., July 26, 2001
By
"fishd@yahoo.com" - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close To Shore transported me back to a time when marine biology and recreational swimming in the ocean were in their infancies in the United States. I am a fishery biologist that has studied the migratory patterns and population dynamics of large pelagic fish for seven years. I commend Michael on the masterful portrayal of this shark's behavior and peculiar feeding habits. The book provides a historical fact filled account of Mid-Atlantic America attempting to enjoy the summer of 1916 and the citizen reaction to the unknown creature lurking along the coastline. For over twenty-five years I have imagined the shark moving in the murky water below as I cross the bridge over Matawan Creek. Mr. Capuzzo allows the reader to experience the power of the tale told to the children of Matawan and those who remember the 1916 attacks in New Jersey. As a child of Matawan and a fan of fishery and maritime books, I thank him for giving the event the attention and discussion it has so rightly deserved.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Dark bathing suits attract great white shark attacks!, July 25, 2001
By
A Customer - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book recreates the life and times at the Jersey Shore during that fateful summer of 1916. The scientists of that era did not believe the legends of man-eating sharks in temperate waters; it was just a "fisherman's tale". The new fasion of ocean bathing drew thousands to the hotels along the shore. The fresh sea air allowed people to escape their smoky, humid cities where horse-drawn wagons still predominated. The author did a great amount of research into the facts, as in the history of the Vansant family.
The offshore waters were teeming with fish; when caught and cleaned the offal was discarded offshore. This fed and drew predators to the beaches, where people were in the waters. The very high tides of a full moon correspond to increased shark attacks. Swimming with a dog also increases the chances of a shark attack. In July 1916 people found out that shark attacks were more than "fisherman's tales". After the Beach Haven attack the officials there sent out no warnings - to protect the tourist trade! Thousands of tourists and their dollars were at stake (this was one facet of reality in the movie "Jaws"). This concern ended up at the Wilson White House.
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4.0 out of 5 stars a very good fast read, July 18, 2001
By
KENNETH GOLDING (NEW YORK, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
as an avid ocean swimmer and former jersey shore resident (now spending almost every weekend there visiting family and therefore still in the water- ALOT). and self confessed shark freak, i really enjoyed this book. it gives a nice history of the time and of the development of the beach resort scene in the early 1900's. also it was interesting to get some perspective on how ocean swimming and visits to the beach grew in popularity, against a tide of moral codes etc. but the best parts really were the way capuzzo captured and described the essense of the shark. how this shark most likely became disoriented, lost it's way out of the gulf stream and wandered into a new ocean environment with human inhabitants. it moves fast, the characters are well drawn but not much time is wasted on any particular event. things were happening too fast anyway. i recommend this book if you like non-fiction with some truly hair-raising suspense thrown in. and just my luck, i read this book the week before i will particpate in the annual ocean mile swim race, held off my hometown, spring lake (where swimmer number 2 was completely taken by surprise by this rocket of a man eater. major scary that scene). hopefully my swim this weekend will be peaceful (and fast) and i'll somehow be able not to think of this book as i'm out there past the breakwater, swimming from one end of town to the other.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars INTENSE, July 16, 2001
By
Jesus Martinez (Long Beach, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
CAPUZZO'S DEPICTION OF THE 1916 NEW JERSEY SHARK ATTACKS ARE BREATHTAKING. THIS BOOK OFFERS NOT ONLY DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THE NUMEROUS SHARK ATTACKS OF THAT PERIOD BUT ALSO PAINTS THE ATMOPHERE OF A VERY SKEPTICAL EARLY 1900S. WHEN SHARKS WERE THOUGHT TO BE HARMLESS AND SEA MONSTERS WERE THE ONLY AQUATIC PREDATORS. IT WAS A TIME WHEN OCEAN SWIMMING WAS COMING TO LIFE AND WAS FAST BECOMING A NORM BUT LIKE WITH ANYTHING THAT IS GOOD THERE IS ALSO SOMETHING BAD. CAPUZZO'S KNOWLEGDE OF SHARKS AND OF THAT TIME PERIOD ARE OUTSTANDING. HIS DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THE SHARK'S MANY ATTACKS ARE BETTER THAN ANY MOVIE.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Warning; This book is very hard to put down, July 15, 2001
By
Richard E. Hourula (Berkeley, CA. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
It's a study of Great White Sharks! It's a glimpse of the US in 1916! It's a horror story! No! It's all three! And the pages just fly by. The time period is fascinating because it was at once so modern and so far removed today's world. No better examples than the advancing studies of science and glaring misconceptions of the shark -- the Great White in particular. The notion held by many that it wouldn't attack a human was pervasive. The results of this fallacious thinking were deadly. One of the most compelling aspects of the book (and who'd have thought it possible!) is the author's ability to take us into the mind of the shark. Unlike fiction that puts us in the head of a human serial killer, we feel a certain emptahy for the animal. After all it is not a force of evil, just another living being trying to survive. The author's best trick is weaving all the components of the story into a thoroughly entertaining story. I hope Micahel Capuzzo takes on similar writing projects!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Page-turner!, July 15, 2001
By
Ellyn Turner (Nanaimo BC Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I found this book riveting and fascinating. I especially enjoyed how the author pulled all the elements together: the descriptions of life in that era, the characteristics and habits of the shark, the prevailing scientific opinion of that age. I think the fact that it was a description of actual events rather than a fictionalized story is what really made it a good read for me. There were times I was on the edge of my seat. I had no idea there were so many sharks off the Eastern seaboard! Warning - you might want to wait until Fall to read it if you're planning any ocean swimming this summer!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars In The Family, July 7, 2001
By
Aubrey Pace (Ketchum, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Charles Vansant was my uncle. My mother the middle daughter of Eugene Vansant...Louse. She never would talk about this awful event and even made sure I would never learn about it. My cousins told me about this(Eugenia's kids)and we just never discuss it with my mom or aunt. My one brother Charlie was to swim one time with friends up at the Jersey shore that took my uncle's life and my mother was very upset that he swam there. I appreciate the author's gifted research and the look into life in the early 1900's United States and the shark's history.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Read like a suspense novel!, July 6, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I disagree with the reviewer who felt that this book wasn't as compelling as Twelve Days of Terror, the other recent title on this subject. I read both books, back to back, and found Close to Shore far better for the very reasons another reviewer didn't like it as much as Twelve Days. I'm a female reader in my mid-thirties, and was far more interested in the human aspect of the 1916 New Jersey than in any technical or scientific information about sharks and marine biology. I wanted to know what life was like on the shore in 1916, what the victims were like, how their families and the locals reacted to the horror, and what happened to them before, during and after the attacks. Close To Shore provides all of this detail. It's extremely atmospheric, and treats the victims and other players in the drama as three dimensional characters. This almost read like a novel, in my opinion, while Twelve Days was too dry and almost textbook-like for my taste. In fact, I found myself skimming much of Twelve Days. I read both books on a sunny Atlantic Beach and Close To Shore was so effective that I thought twice about going into the water. The author allows the reader to see, hear, feel, and taste the victims' horror, and it was all too easy for me to relive the attacks in my imagination after reading this book. I strongly recommend it for anyone looking for a fast-paced human interest drama.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars I'm afraid to go back in the water.......AGAIN!, July 4, 2001
By
Michael J. Scott (Tallahassee, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book will leave you breathless and cautious, especially if you're a lover of the sea.........like me! Its colorful descriptions of life in the early twentieth century and its smorgasboard view from the eye of the shark make it a non-stop read. I was a little disappointed at the ending and thought the author, who builds his narrative at an incredible pace, sort of left us a little flat with a somewhat deflated climax. Regardless, this book will leave you afraid to go back in the water.......again! Enjoy.............
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4.0 out of 5 stars Shark Attack, July 2, 2001
By
Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This is definitely not the book you want to take with you to read on the beach this summer. Wisely, I put off reading it until I returned from my week at the Jersey shore, the site of the shark attacks outlined inside. Many of these places are familiar to me, and it gave me goose bumps to read about how frequently sharks come close to bathers along our coasts. I don't remember seeing a shark in Jersey for the past 15 years or so, and that one was rather distant from shore, but the terror still remains, since I was in the water at the time, and hustled back to shore at the call of the lifeguard. The author does a very credible job at evoking a vanished time and place in our history, and I salute him for that. There is a bit of overwriting in this work, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but it's a very good book, in my opinion, and it told me something about our history that I hadn't known. For that alone I wish to commend the author.
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Beach Book, July 1, 2001
By
Edward Onny (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Want the perfect beach book? Take this one then go into the water if you dare. I liked the way the book is laid out, first we are introduced to the likable characters then we learn their fate. The author does a great job evoking the feeling of the pre-World War I era. Follow the shark up the New Jersey coast to include the incongruity of a salt water fish swimming up a fresh water stream wrecking mayhem along the way.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Go In The Water!, July 1, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
At times slow, especially when Capuzzo is giving background material on the shark's victims. However, the book tells the terrifying story of the attacks of 5 people that griped the Jersey shore in July 1916. I was disappointed by the absence of any photographs of the victims, or of the shark caught on 7/14/16 in Raritan Bay that had human bones in its stomach. Since this shark was displayed in the window of a newspaper building, one would think that photos of it exist. I now look forward to reading Dr. Fernicola's book on the same topic to compare both authors' treatment of the subject.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars LONG BEACH ISLAND WILL NEVER BE THE SAME TO ME AGAIN, June 26, 2001
By
scott e. (NYC< NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I go to LBI regularly in the summer, and I now have second thoughts of swimming in the ocean. This story started off slowly with a lot of info from the period of time but, it seemed necessary to set up the chapters for the attacks. The first 80 or so pages is the time period pieces, then the attacks happen. It is superbly writtne and telling and you get a feeling of being experiencing this horrible act against human's from a sea creature. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who has seen JAWS or lives in Jersey for it is fascinating and intriguing and scary all at once. VERY RECOMMENDED....
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Jaws, June 26, 2001
By
Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
It's hard to imagine a time when people thought that sharks were more or less harmless creatures, but as Michael Capuzzo details in his excellent book, Close To Shore, in 1916, they thought just that. Swimming in the ocean was a relative new thing at that time as people on the East Coast were starting to take advantage of new found leisure time and easier access to the Shore thanks to the railroad system. It was a badge of honor amongst men to see how far they could swim in the ocean. With no fear of the known undertows of the waters off the Jersey Coast or the creatures that live in it, men swam with a wanton disregard of danger. The first known attack on a swimmer by a shark was a young Philadelphian of means, Charles Vansant. Despite the reports that it was a shark, the experts of the day declared that it was not a shark as there were no documented reports that sharks ever attacked humans and that it was probably a killer whale or swordfish. People were not deterred from going into the water after the attack, but after a couple more attacks, a reign of terror began to grip the Jersey Shore communities. Mr. Capuzzo alternatively takes us through the lives of the victims and the shark's. It is the detailing of the great white that is extremely interesting and insightful. Mr. Capuzzo is able to reconstruct the shark's movements and thought in chilling detail. The cavalier attitude of people towards the water and their lack of knowledge about sharks in general is stunning considering these events occurred less than 90 years ago. Much like the book and movie it inspired, Jaws, Close To Shore will make you think twice about going in the water.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The Perect Beach Book for History Buffs, June 25, 2001
By
Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Michael Cappuzzo's Close to Shore (A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence) covers the shark attacks on the New Jersey coast during 1916 that lead to the first four reported deaths by shark attack in American waters. The author spends a lot of time trying to create the feel of the times, sometimes with success, as a way to pad out a rather flimsy tale. The story does pick up a strong narrative thrust during the episode at Matawan and the author handles this material especially well. It is worth reading through much of the rest of the account to come to this very satifyingly drawn episode that captures both the period and the drama with equal aplomb. The author has done much research and should have felt comfortable sharing a little more with the reader, such as accounts of unconfirmed shark attacks in America before this time, a history of sea wrecks on the Jersey coast, and more of the scientific debate on sharks over the past century, to set more of a historical context grounded in the ocean, instead of such things as the life of a doctor in Philadelphia at this period. Still, it is the perfect short read for the beach as the weather gets hotter and large shadows can be seen far off in the water.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Too much exposition, not enough carnage!, June 24, 2001
By
Martina "Martina" (Los Angeles, Ca., USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I don't want to sound morbid, but when you buy a book about shark attacks, it should not take 93 pages for the first person to get eaten. Capuzzo spends an enormous amount of time describing buildings, clothing, towns. Every time a new character is introduced, the author has to go back a generation or two, with endless descriptions.
Because the setting is 1916, a time unfamiliar to many, it is understandable that Capuzzo has to set the stage for the drama, but endless description and exposition gets extremely tiresome. The shark attacks are described in a very compelling way, but the author also uses the tiresome strategy of teasing us by introducing some character who goes in swimming, but then does not get attacked, just like those murdered teenager movies, where the scary noise turns out to be the cat.
Also, the book claims to be extremely realistic, with no conversations recreated, but then the author tells us exactly where the shark was swimming, and what it was thinking! How is that realistic?
This book would have been a lot more compelling if it was about 150 pages shorter. It might have even made a better lengthy article, since there really wasn't enough to fill a whole book.
For those who like ocean-adventure-survival stories, I would recommend you read In Harm's Way, about the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, and the resulting shark attacks. Much better written. I couldn't put that one down.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Hold on to your nickers...., June 24, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Simply put; one of the best reads of the summer. Evocative, arresting, wholly engaging and breathlessly exciting, it's a rich, textured and harrowing read from the opening page to the last. And the final showdown between man and shark... comes like a bolt from the blue and leaves you gasping. As a child, I swam the waters of the locales described and walked over the dunes where the hotels once resided and the turn of the century bathers frolicked. And Capuzzo's book was a rich combination of memories and lost history. I loved it - and suggest it as a gift for anyone who loves history, adventure and the chill of the unexpected but true. This is one nasty shark. And one terrific book.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Story of Shark Attacks Lacks Teeth, June 21, 2001
By
Cubzter (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I really wanted to like this book. Truly I did. I found the premise and subject matter to be brimming with potential; however, after reading Mr. Capuzzo's re-telling of the events of 1916 I must say I was left terribly disappointed. The narrative style was lumbering, and the story unfocused with numerous inexplicable tangents. I also felt the author's style failed to build adequate tension and suspense to bring to life a story which bills itself on the cover as "a true tale of terror." It should've been terrifying but wasn't. It was cold, detached, and slightly stilted--sort of like reading a coroner's report. I'm not suggesting that the author might've embellished to be more entertaining. Far from it. I'm saying the material needed for a truly frightening story was already there and he failed to present it competently. Mr. Capuzzo totally failed to convey the sense of terror the public must've felt at the time. And his description of the attacks themselves really had me thinking this story was much ado about nothing. All that said, it wasn't a horrible read, and was marginally entertaining. If your curiosity is still getting the best of you I'd at least recommend waiting until it comes out in paperback form.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Could taste the salt water and see the shark, June 21, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
What a pleasant surprise to find Capuzzo's book featured at our local bookstore... As I boy I grew up not far from the Matawan Creek and often swam in the waters near the creek. Capuzzo writes with such clarity and precision I once again could picture myself in those waters, and could taste the salt water of my boyhood days. But this time the rogue great white was near by.!! Scary notion!!! An interesting story not only about sharks but the culture and society that feared them!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars THERE'S A REASON FOR THOSE "IRRATIONAL" FEARS, June 20, 2001
By
MIKE GRECO (HONOLULU, HI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
If "Jaws" made us afraid to go back into the water, "Close to Shore" brings more than a shiver from the deep recounting the real life shark attacks along the Jersey Shore that inspired Benchley's best-seller and the Spielberg blockbuster that terrified us in 1975.
Michael Capuzzo has written a riveting narrative about a rogue great white shark that ravages the New Jersey Shore during the summer before America entered the Great War. Attacking at least a dozen men, women and children, killing four and maiming a fifth, this young, eight-foot monster destroyed the conventional wisdom that sharks do not attack man and the 1916 Jersey Shore tourist season in a terrifying week-long feeding frenzy.
Capuzzo masterfully recreates the Age of Innocence for those fortunate enough to be able to escape the heat and health hazards of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington and escape to the cool breezes and clean air of the Jersey Shore. If ever an evil creature invaded paradise, it was this not yet full-grown great white.
The paradise lost included the Progressive Era certitude that science knew the answers to all of life's mysteries. The country's leading scientific authorities scoffed at the notion that a shark would attack a man and attempt to eat him.
Perhaps there are primordial "reasons" for our irrational fear of the deep. If you were afraid to go back into the water after viewing "Jaws," you may not be able to dangle your feet in the water after reading "Close to Shore."
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo (Paperback - May 21, 2002)
4.0 out of 5 stars (88)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
4.2 out of 5 stars (55)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton (Paperback - May 1, 2003)
4.7 out of 5 stars (207)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
5 star:
(47)
4 star:
(31)
3 star:
(19)
2 star:
(11)
1 star:
(4)
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3.9 out of 5 stars (112 customer reviews)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Treat for the Shark-Obsessed, June 19, 2001
By
Mary A. Shafer (Ferndale, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
As someone who has been held in thrall by sharks since my first viewing of JAWS, I have read many books on the subject, and found this to be one of the best -- satisfying on many levels. Not only in terms of the stunningly deep research and taut writing, which moved the narrative along at a breathtaking pace, but also in terms of the style. I have to disagree with the review that says it is "too tinged with fiction." As a teacher of writing, I found this book an excellent example of the currently popular (and justifiably so, in my mind) style of journalism known as "creative non-fiction." It uses many techniques of the fiction genre -- deep characterization, setting detail, flashbacks and layered plots and subplots -- to carry the story without much cast of a dry documentary. Having already been familiar with the 1916 attacks, I found this book to be fascinatingly detailed, especially from a historical perspective. Reading the story in its historical context brought so much more texture and reality to the narrative than I've ever experienced. I, too, read the book in less than three days. As someone who lives within driving distance of the Jersey Shore, and who made her last visit two years ago, I can tell you this much: I won't be going in the water again there. Ever.
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5.0 out of 5 stars What a great read!, June 18, 2001
By
Richard Lair (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Well written, informative and very, very entertaining. Makes "Jaws" look like a guppie!
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2.0 out of 5 stars Jaws Re-write, June 11, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I am in love with the story of the 1916 shark attack enigma and Close To Shore does add a bit to my Library on the subject, at least as a novelty. The book was essentially a re-write of Jaws with a Ragtime flavor. Jaws was great, but I think the 85 year-old story is powerful enough on it own to take the gruesome thrill of shark attack to a new level. This telling was just too scented with fiction to keep my interest.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Where Was This Man's Editor?, June 10, 2001
By
"jnkerwin" (League City, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
While the author does a fantastic job of bringing 1916 America to life, the actual shark attacks seemed almost to be an afterthought. Too many times were you lead down a road to have it end abruptly and without reason. Mr. Capuzzo could have written an interesting short story about the shark attacks and the reader would have walked away with an interesting account of history and terror instead of being greatful the book was finally finished.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Good read, June 6, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close to Shore is a highly detailed account of the shark attacks on the New Jersey shore in 1916. The author does a great job of describing the shark attacks from the shark's point of view. His details of the time period the people and places in that period are impecable. The only complaint I have of his book is that it took way too long to get to the meat of the story (the shark attacks). With a little editiong this would have been a great read.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying Tale - Great Reading, June 2, 2001
By
Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I have just finished reading `Close to Shore', it took just two days to read which is an indication of how good the story is and not that it's a short book. The author, Michael Capuzzo tells the horrifying story of how a rogue shark took a number of innocent lives in the United States back in 1916. The narrative runs for 298 pages and although it may appear to start off sluggish when the book begins with the lead up to the first attack it becomes hard to put down.
Some reviews have mentioned that the author fills up the story with subsidiary information but I don't think that is the case. I believe he is trying to put a picture into the reader's mind of how people lived back in those days and why they thought and acted as they did, some what foreign to us modern people of the 21st century.
I was amazed to read how Americans never considered the Great White as a potential threat, but back then they didn't and sadly quite a few people suffered for it. The story of the shark and the attacks it made on humans along the East Coast of American is very well told and held my interest throughout. I would have to agree with a previous review that a few photographs would have been of enormous benefit to this book.
I don't know if this book is any better or not than the other book currently on the market titled `Twelve Days of Terror' by Richard Fernicola. However I can honestly say that `Close to Shore' has sparked my interest so much that I am going to buy that book as well. The story is very well told and the author has placed numerous facts about the shark in general and the Great White in particular throughout the narrative. I never got bored with the story and I found myself reading late into the next morning.
I couldn't help but tell my wife snippets of information about the Great White as I was reading the book and she complained of having nightmares that night! This is a good book, I don't know if its the best book on the market at the moment but I can say that it's worth the time to sit down and read. Very enjoyable!
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Close to Shore, May 30, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This story begins somewhat slowly with much background information on the people and times around the turn of the century. Very soon it picks up pace and becomes an intriguing examination of the habits of great white sharks. The naivete of human beings versus the innate carnivorous nature of the great white shark provides strong contrast in this interesting analysis of shark attacks. The book is ghastly in its realism but serves as an important contribution to our knowledge of killer sharks. It is a history of human tragedies. Also, I would not recommend it for people with weak stomachs.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Grabs You and Pulls You Under!, May 29, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I tore through this book like Jaws on a leg bone. The shark is only part of the story, and what [may be called] "filler" was what I enjoyed most. The detail surrounding the science and customs of the day make the story more about the reaction to the attacks than the attacks themselves. Nicely paced, clean writing. I loved it.
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11 of 16 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars How can something so compelling be so dull?, May 27, 2001
By
Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
"Close to Shore" is the second book released this spring detailing the series of shark attacks along the New Jersey shore in 1916. This book differs with its "Jaws-like" style of narration, the telling of the tale from the shark's point of view("by the time the shark discovered its mistake, it found it difficult to to escape") and senses. Entertwined in the narrative are descriptions of life in 1916 and very brief glimpses into the major players in this story. This book just skims the story. There is so much more that could be told about the people, the attacks, and the response to the attacks. The feeling I had when I closed this book this book was "what was all the fuss about?".I knew there had to be so much more to this story. Add the sketchiness of the accounting, the shark narrative style(which slows down an already lumbering story), the tagents that the author takes off on, and the lack of illustrations or photos and you get a lackluster shark story. If you have to choose between the two, read "Twleve Days of Terror".
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I'll never feel the same about the Jersey Shore!, May 27, 2001
By
Mary S. Hingston (Pottstown, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Brrr! Of the many, many fascinating things I learned from this marvelous book, the one that will stick with me as I stick my toes into the Atlantic this summer is the part about helicopter pilots regularly spotting sharks ... BETWEEN the shore and the bathers! Wonderfully written and researched, with great attention paid to the characters, even the shark! I can't say enough good things about this book.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping!, May 25, 2001
By
Dawn (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
The insightful glance at a shark's perspective mixed with the historical facts made this book an incredible find. Sharks are still somewhat of a mystery today, and in 1916, they were creatures of mythic proportions. I really enjoyed the fact that this book wasn't "a shark bashing" type, but merely how an amazing set of circumstances can snowball into a horrifying encounter with a "rogue" great white.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Period piece with shark as the co-star, May 22, 2001
By
J. Meyer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I've seen a documentary about the events surrounding the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916, and my family vacations there, but I never thought two books about these events would come out only months apart (see "Twelve Days of Terror" by Richard Fernicola). "Close to Shore," was enjoyable for it's description of the period, but was less successful in describing the sharks behavior.
Capuzzo is certainly broad in his description of the time, delving into family life, urban conditions, "modern" medicine, evolution of science and museums, culture, wealth, and many more. Overall he succeeds in contextualizing the response of vacationers, the media, and scientists to the attacks, which was much different than responses of today. The writing is a little fluffy and effusive, but never a distraction from the story.
In this type of book, Capuzzo speculates what the thoughts, motivations, and emotions were of the characters. This works fine enough for human characters, but is less flexible, and more disappointing for the sharks "character." With people he can research primary documents and even conduct interviews with family and witnesses. But for the shark as "character" there is no one to interview, and speculatiing on the shark's behavior is more difficult. Capuzzo does not fully explore the range of theories and mysteries that still surround the shark attacks of 1916.
Overall, the Jersey summer Capuzzo describes is a gripping story. From the first attack at Beach Haven, to the last in a fresh water creek miles inland at Matawan. Capuzzo describes an instinctive feeling humans still have for when they are being stalked or watched or about to become prey. A measure of Capuzzo's writing is that he tapped into that mechanism within me as he describes those long ago shark attacks.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great, May 21, 2001
By
Sebastien Pharand (Orléans, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Close To Shore is the non-fiction story of the first recorded white shark attacks in the US. In 1916, a sole white shark terrorized the coast of New Jersy and New York as it made its way down, attacking humans as it went. The novel is very well written, although author Capuzzo gives us too much information that is irrelevant. For example, he gives us the background and history of a hotel and of people that have nothing to do with the actual events. They just serve as space fillers.
But Cappuzzo's straightforward style is impressive. He is able to create suspense by reenacting the events of that Summer. I loved the parts that are more or less from the shark's point of view. Every time the shark is close to attacking someone, the book's suspense level becomes incredible.
Overall, Close To Shore is a fun read that has a lot of pertinent information about sharks. It's unfortunate that the author felt the need to distract us with too much details or too much character background. This book could have been perfect, but it ends up simply being a fun beach book (just be careful which beach you read it on!).
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars nothing much to add, May 19, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
the reviews that i have already read pretty much tell it all. the only thing i have to add about 'close to shore' is that if your into history and shark attacks this is the perfect book.
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6 of 15 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money, May 19, 2001
By
Erich K Ritter (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Mr. Capuzzo's description about the behavior of white sharks is a joke. This is the most erroneous description about these animals I have read in a long time. He has obviously never seen a white shark "face to face," the same goes for many people he quotes in his book. He should have left this chapter alone. Dr. Erich K Ritter, Shark Behaviorist, Investigator Global Shark Attack File
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Great story, decent book, not as good as Twelve Days, May 18, 2001
By
Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
There are currently two books out there on the 1916 Matawan Shark attacks and the bottom line is which is better.
The story is unbelievable. A great white killing 4 people along the Jersey Shore and in Matawan Creek in 1916. It is an awesome and frightening story.
Close to Shore is the more stylish of the two books, but the author clearly does not have the passion for sharks and the story that the author of 12 Days of terror has.
Do not get me wrong. This is a good book. It is a fast read and provides not just a good look at the shark attack but the culture of the Jersey shore at that time. But it is clear from reading both books that the author of closer to shore does not know sharks like the author of twelve days of terror.
I felt 12 Days of Terror told the same story, with more passion, and with a lot more primary source material, pictures, and information about sharks in general.
My advice is this: take this book out of the library but by Twelve Days of Terror.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh boy...I'm staying out of the water...., May 18, 2001
By
K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Reality is often more compelling then fiction. Especially in this case, does this maxim turn out to be true. The book and movie, Jaws, did not hold the fascination that it seem to hold for the rest of America. Even as a teenager, I thought the whole thing was too fake, too contrived and I did not understand what the uproar was about. Over the years, the mental influence of being a mother and the knowledge coming out of research by NOVA, National Geographic, and other scientific groups made me wary of the beach. This book is definitely NOT going to help!
I don't understand why all of the sudden we are experiencing a spate of great non-fiction writers: I am just grateful for its occurrence. Mike Capuzzo definitely belongs in this category. Again, this topic would have been very easy to sensationalize (obviously the yellow journalism of 1916 had a field day with this topic), but Capuzzo practices great restraint and even greater writing skills in this account of a natural catastrophe which impacted the psyche of the nation. The reality of the rogue shark and its venture into populated areas is so chilling, it is almost beyond belief that this shark made its way up a creek along the Jersey beach line that should have been a safe haven for the young men and boys who frequented its cool water.
What I found even more compelling is the probable science behind the shark's behavior. For once, we humans were completely unresponsible for this tragedy. Our pollution from human sewage may have attracted this monster, but the change in climate and patterns of the currents were under no one's control. Capuzzo does an excellent job tying in current knowledge and beliefs concerning shark behavior (and the behavior of other animals which change into 'man-eaters') without damaging the classic story-telling ability of this book. The science merely adds to the compelling history. Capuzzo is very capable in not anthromorphizing the shark's behavior, but does offer explanations as to why it altered its usual feeding habits and started stalking humans.
The frenzy of the populations of the small towns along the creek which experienced the worse of the carnage is understandable. The courage of those who sought to protect the children, and the men who finally captured this creature makes for good reading almost a century after the fact. A terrific story by a wonderful writer. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of PIttsburgh
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Just when you thought it was safe . . ., May 13, 2001
By
Darren Figgis (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
Capuzzo's volume is an engrossing narrative of the inevitable collision between two species. Vacationing masses, lured to the New Jersey shoreline for the first time among the sweltering days of July 1916, with the promise of cool breezes to keep away mosquitos and with opportunity to indulge in the popular new recreation of ocean swimming, and Charcharidon carcharius, Nature's most efficient preditor. Escaping the disease ravaged cities of the east coast, Americans would soon be swept up in growing (media inspired) hysteria, following a group of five fatal shark attacks, including three occuring nearly five miles inland. 'Close to Shore' is as lavish in it's portrayal of the contemporary social history, as it is in it's natural history of the great white shark. The events of those fateful July days are masterfully recreated by the author, against the backdrop of a war in Europe that was claiming many thousands of lives a day, and would soon destroy the innocence of twentieth century americans. Thought provoking in the extreme, I found myself unable to put it down after the first page. A magnificent, terrifying read, and probably best not brought to the beach this summer.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific tale, beautifully told, May 10, 2001
By
Bruce Boynick (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
'Close to Shore' is a wonderful book, a riveting account of the shark attack on the Jersey coast in 1916 that inspired 'Jaws.' Capuzzo is a great writer. The book is fabulously researched, his portrait of America in 1916 wonderfully detailed and evocative. He informs and entertains. His portraits of the ill-fated victims and, of course, of the killer shark are masterful. I started the book at the dinner hour and read into the night, transfixed. 300 pages of terror and fascination and history: I devoured it in one sitting.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding read, May 10, 2001
By
Marion P Knecht (Moorestown, NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
I read this book in one day! It was unbelievable in its history of the times and the fear the shark instills. Having spent many summers in Beach Haven, the site of the first attack, I was very interested in the historical background of the Jersey shore. I really felt as though I were there during the summer of 1916. The author helped you understand the characters and what little scientists of the day knew about the great white shark. This is a great beach read but watch out when you go in the water!
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks
Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola (Hardcover - April 1, 2001)
4.2 out of 5 stars (55)
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton (Paperback - May 1, 2003)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence
112 Reviews
5 star:
(47)
4 star:
(31)
3 star:
(19)
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(11)
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(4)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One Baaaaad Shark, May 10, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
This book will change (maybe warp?) your view of the Jersey Shore forever more. Capuzzo juxtaposes a backdrop of fabulous hotels and the leisured wealthy with a canny look inside the brain of one of nature's ultimate carnivores. As the shark closes in on its prey, we're there underwater with it--and we're also paddling on the surface with the innocent swimmers who never hear or see it coming. Think you're safe inland, in some nice swimming hole? Think again. This monster has very little sense of direction. Its only constant craving is for meat.
Yes, this is a good, suspenseful read, with a multitude of detail about American swimming habits at the turn of the 20th century. I especially liked the way Capuzzo combines a tense tale of survival (shark and man) with insights into the social history of the times. I also appreciated the author's full grasp of the terrors of ocean bathing--it's not just Jaws you have to worry about.
After I read this one, I was happier than ever to have booked my summer vacation in the mountains! "Close to Shore" stars one BAAAAAD (shut yo mouth) shark, I'm talkin about a Great White.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A true story that is close to the edge, the REAL JAWS, May 10, 2001
By
Brenda "DB" (WHITTIER, NC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence (Hardcover)
CLOSE TO THE EDGE is well written and a real page turner. I hated to see it end. The true story of what seems to be an unbelievable chain of events. The ignorance of the science community is mind boggling. The science community and the public learn of the first shark attacks on an United States shores together. This book has everything, great story, prominate figures our President was even in the area. An area that had no idea what to expect. If you liked JAWS you will love this.
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence by Mike Capuzzo (Hardcover - May 8, 2001)
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Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo (Paperback - May 21, 2002)
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Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in An Age of Innocence Hardcover
by Michael Capuzzo (Author)
112 customer reviews
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Product Details
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (May 8, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767904133
ISBN-13: 978-0767904131
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #444,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Michael Capuzzo tells the harrowing story of the real-life Jaws that helped inspire Peter Benchley's classic novel (and movie). Modern science now tells us that shark attacks are exceedingly rare and limited to just a few species. Yet they do occur, and one of the most terrifying episodes of fatal attacks occurred near the New Jersey shore in 1916, when a renegade great white shark went on a man-eating spree that left three adults and one boy dead. Capuzzo likens the shark's abnormal behavior to that of a person "who goes off the deep end and starts shooting." Whatever its motives, the shark captivated the public's imagination along the Eastern seaboard, devastated the resort economy, and even drew the attention of President Woodrow Wilson.
Close to Shore is a bit slow to get going and could have been a much shorter book. There is a fair amount of stage setting, and the first shark attack doesn't occur until about one-third of the way through the narrative. But Capuzzo does much with limited source material and includes lots of interesting asides on everything from the lore of sea monsters to the bathing-suit fashions of the day to nearly everything science knows about great whites, which, it turns out, is surprisingly little.
Alternating from the victims' perspectives to the shark's, Capuzzo's descriptions of the attacks are a blend of horrors and thrills: "Charles Bruder felt a slight vacuum tug in the motion of the sea, noted it as a passing current, the pull of a wave, the tickle of undertow. He could not have heard the faint, sucking rush of water not far beneath him. He couldn't have seen or heard what was hurtling from the murk at astonishing speed, jaws unhinging, widening, for the enormous first bite. It was the classic attack that no other creature in nature could make--a bomb from the depths." If this book were on any other subject, it would make for good beach reading. --John J. Miller
From Publishers Weekly
Beginning July 1, 1916, a spate of shark attacks off the Jersey shore befuddled maritime experts and terrified the public. In the first incident, an unsuspecting vacationer's thigh was bitten off; he eventually died. Over the next 12 days, three more people were killed and another seriously injured. These two books by New Jersey authors re-create differing theories as to who, and what, was responsible for the carnage, a subject that scientists still debate today. Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Capuzzo (nominated four times for a Pulitzer) unwaveringly adheres to the most popular theory (that a single, juvenile great white shark was responsible for all the carnage), but his book's strength lies in its lively reconstruction of the age and its consciousness, in which a new leisure class was emerging, with many of its members venturing into the ocean for the first time. (He also recounts the shark's movements and supposed feelings from an omniscient, third-person perspective to strained, unintentionally comical and inevitably misleading effect.) The encounters between people and sharks make for some tense and gruesome reading, and the rest of the book is equally page-turning: the zeal to find the "Jersey man-eater," the sensational "feeding frenzy" of the press and the befuddlement of a scientific community, which then devoutly believed that sharks did not bite humans. On that last front, Fernicola, a physician specializing in post-stroke and post-injury recovery, adds to his own investigation of this episode an exhaustive review of shark science today and theories of shark aggression toward humans, including possible environmental factors (heat, changes in human bathing habits, even bathing suit styles), speculations on the perpetrator's exact species, and well-reasoned arguments and conclusions. Fernicola is a recognized authority on the 1916 attacks (his work has provided the basis for Discovery Channel and History Channel documentaries on the subject), but he marshals so much data that his book fails to live up to its lurid title, giving its looming competitor the edge. (May; Capuzzo on-sale: May 8) Forecast: With bathing suit season just around the corner, these books are well timed. Fernicola's, which will be the subject of an upcoming spread in USA Today and is scheduled for coverage on Good Day New York, will provide grist to shark enthusiasts and fans of the Jaws films. Lyons Press has high hopes for its book and has committed to an unprecedented (for this house) 50,000 first printing. Capuzzo will tour six major cities on both coasts, along with stops on Cape Cod and, of course, the Jersey shore. His compulsive potboiler just may be the hot read on the beach this summer.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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This is a very well written book.
A. Rademacher
'Close to Shore' is a wonderful book, a riveting account of the shark attack on the Jersey coast in 1916 that inspired 'Jaws.'
Bruce Boynick
This should have been a magazine article and not a book.
lesli l garland
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Period piece with shark as the co-star
By J. Meyer on May 22, 2001
Format: Hardcover
I've seen a documentary about the events surrounding the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916, and my family vacations there, but I never thought two books about these events would come out only months apart (see "Twelve Days of Terror" by Richard Fernicola). "Close to Shore," was enjoyable for it's description of the period, but was less successful in describing the sharks behavior.
Capuzzo is certainly broad in his description of the time, delving into family life, urban conditions, "modern" medicine, evolution of science and museums, culture, wealth, and many more. Overall he succeeds in contextualizing the response of vacationers, the media, and scientists to the attacks, which was much different than responses of today. The writing is a little fluffy and effusive, but never a distraction from the story.
In this type of book, Capuzzo speculates what the thoughts, motivations, and emotions were of the characters. This works fine enough for human characters, but is less flexible, and more disappointing for the sharks "character." With people he can research primary documents and even conduct interviews with family and witnesses. But for the shark as "character" there is no one to interview, and speculatiing on the shark's behavior is more difficult. Capuzzo does not fully explore the range of theories and mysteries that still surround the shark attacks of 1916.
Overall, the Jersey summer Capuzzo describes is a gripping story. From the first attack at Beach Haven, to the last in a fresh water creek miles inland at Matawan. Capuzzo describes an instinctive feeling humans still have for when they are being stalked or watched or about to become prey. A measure of Capuzzo's writing is that he tapped into that mechanism within me as he describes those long ago shark attacks. Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Horrifying Tale - Great Reading
By Aussie Reader on June 2, 2001
Format: Hardcover
I have just finished reading `Close to Shore', it took just two days to read which is an indication of how good the story is and not that it's a short book. The author, Michael Capuzzo tells the horrifying story of how a rogue shark took a number of innocent lives in the United States back in 1916. The narrative runs for 298 pages and although it may appear to start off sluggish when the book begins with the lead up to the first attack it becomes hard to put down.
Some reviews have mentioned that the author fills up the story with subsidiary information but I don't think that is the case. I believe he is trying to put a picture into the reader's mind of how people lived back in those days and why they thought and acted as they did, some what foreign to us modern people of the 21st century.
I was amazed to read how Americans never considered the Great White as a potential threat, but back then they didn't and sadly quite a few people suffered for it. The story of the shark and the attacks it made on humans along the East Coast of American is very well told and held my interest throughout. I would have to agree with a previous review that a few photographs would have been of enormous benefit to this book.
I don't know if this book is any better or not than the other book currently on the market titled `Twelve Days of Terror' by Richard Fernicola. However I can honestly say that `Close to Shore' has sparked my interest so much that I am going to buy that book as well. The story is very well told and the author has placed numerous facts about the shark in general and the Great White in particular throughout the narrative. I never got bored with the story and I found myself reading late into the next morning.I couldn't help but tell my wife snippets of information about the Great White as I was reading the book and she complained of having nightmares that night! This is a good book, I don't know if its the best book on the market at the moment but I can say that it's worth the time to sit down and read. Very enjoyable!"}'>Read more › 2 Comments Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Good but not great
By Sebastien Pharand on May 21, 2001
Format: Hardcover
Close To Shore is the non-fiction story of the first recorded white shark attacks in the US. In 1916, a sole white shark terrorized the coast of New Jersy and New York as it made its way down, attacking humans as it went. The novel is very well written, although author Capuzzo gives us too much information that is irrelevant. For example, he gives us the background and history of a hotel and of people that have nothing to do with the actual events. They just serve as space fillers.
But Cappuzzo's straightforward style is impressive. He is able to create suspense by reenacting the events of that Summer. I loved the parts that are more or less from the shark's point of view. Every time the shark is close to attacking someone, the book's suspense level becomes incredible.
Overall, Close To Shore is a fun read that has a lot of pertinent information about sharks. It's unfortunate that the author felt the need to distract us with too much details or too much character background. This book could have been perfect, but it ends up simply being a fun beach book (just be careful which beach you read it on!). Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Great story, decent book, not as good as Twelve Days
By Shogun Len on May 18, 2001
Format: Hardcover
There are currently two books out there on the 1916 Matawan Shark attacks and the bottom line is which is better.
The story is unbelievable. A great white killing 4 people along the Jersey Shore and in Matawan Creek in 1916. It is an awesome and frightening story.
Close to Shore is the more stylish of the two books, but the author clearly does not have the passion for sharks and the story that the author of 12 Days of terror has.
Do not get me wrong. This is a good book. It is a fast read and provides not just a good look at the shark attack but the culture of the Jersey shore at that time. But it is clear from reading both books that the author of closer to shore does not know sharks like the author of twelve days of terror.
I felt 12 Days of Terror told the same story, with more passion, and with a lot more primary source material, pictures, and information about sharks in general.
My advice is this: take this book out of the library but by Twelve Days of Terror. Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
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I needed another copy.
I recommended this book, and now someone wants to read it. I don't dare give this person MY copy, so I ordered a new book. Problem solved.
Published 4 months ago by Monica M. McKenna
Very good book
A true story I believe, it will keep you out of the water..... Well written and holds your attention until the end. Good, fast shipping and exactly as described, brand new. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Sleepyshoe
Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence
This was a well written story of the "Jaws" type but in this case based on true facts of a shark that becamse a "man" eater. Read more
Published 13 months ago by M. Betts
Better than "Jaws"..a true story
This is a very well written book. It is hard to put down for even 5 minutes. The author gives great scenarios of life in the early 1900's. Read more
Published 15 months ago by A. Rademacher
Close to Shore
Michael Capuzzo's Close to Shore presents a fascinating rendition of the Jersey Shore of 1916. His ability to intertwine the story of the 1916 shark attacks along the coast of New... Read more
Published on October 29, 2010 by Susan
When a Shark Went Down the Shore
Close To Shore by Michael Capuzzo
Michael Capuzzo is a journalist who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize four times. Read more
Published on December 2, 2009 by Acute Observer
Close to Shore: Close to a great book
This books' written words were mesmerizing. But the fact that photos and a decent map of the area are non-existant is INEXCUSABLE! Read more
Published on September 14, 2009 by Joey Bensonhurt
Great Story
Michael Capuzzo writes a great story about these actual events. His research into the era and the people that were effected was tremendous. Read more
Published on September 12, 2009 by James M. Deluca
Terrorized on the Beach
For a sea shore vacation in 2007 I brought a few books to read "on the beach". This one turned out to be a fascinating and well presented historical narrative of the 1916 white... Read more
Published on September 2, 2007 by Michael J. Muller
brings the past back to life.
from looking on amazon, it appears there is a kids version of this book that has been published (which seems strange to me given the subject matter, but okay), so, if you are an... Read more
Published on February 11, 2007 by fluffy, the human being.
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Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks [Hardcover]
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Book Description
Publication Date: April 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 158574297X | ISBN-13: 978-1585742974 | Edition: 1st
Here is the definitive account of the infamous and, heretofore, unexplained shark attacks that serve as the horrifying real-life inspiration for Peter Benchley's Jaws.
In July 1916, with the nation entangled in World War I and New York City in the throes of a deadly polio epidemic, the tri-state population thronged the Jersey Shore in search of respite from the stifling mid-summer heat. The Atlantic's refreshing waters proved to be utterly inhospitable, however. In a shockingly brief span of just twelve days, four swimmers were violently and fatally mauled by a marauding shark (or school of sharks), and a fifth was seriously injured, escaping within inches of his life. By the third week in July, national newspapers were headlining reports of "Battles Against Man-Eating Sharks" above the battles of war across the ocean.
In this thoroughly researched, first-ever full account, Dr. Richard Fernicola, considered to be the leading expert on the attacks, presents a riveting portrait of these twelve days of terror as they occurred against the historical backdrop of America in 1916. With the perspicacity of a private eye, he immerses himself in the specifics of the events as he carefully examines clues and reconstructs evidence in an effort to resolve what scientists have been arguing over for decades. Was a rogue shark or a school of sharks responsible? Was it a bull shark or a great white shark? Was the shark's motivation hunger or fear? Through primary sources and face-to-face interviews with witnesses, Fernicola pieces together a conclusive, if controversial, theory regarding the character and the cause of these mysterious attacks.
Part fascinating social history, part spellbinding detective story, Twelve Days of Terror is one of those rare books that proves truth can be stranger, more dramatic, and more terrifying than fiction.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
In July 1916, a time of record-setting heat and a raging polio epidemic, beachgoers along the New Jersey shore confronted a greater terror still: lurking in the water swam a shark, or perhaps several sharks, that had apparently developed a taste for human flesh. Within less than two weeks, the offending fish killed four swimmers and badly injured another, setting off a wave of panic that kept visitors well out of the water and threatened the state's thriving tourist economy.
Officials were quick to react. President Woodrow Wilson, himself from New Jersey, sought and received $5,000 from Congress to eradicate the villain. Unsure of which species was to blame, commercial fishermen and state police alike destroyed every shark they encountered, while some conspiracy-minded journalists hinted that the attacks had somehow been triggered by German U-boats plying the waters off New Jersey.
Those strange events of 1916 are not much remembered today, except, perhaps, by fans of Peter Benchley's novel Jaws, whose origin lies in the attacks. Richard Fernicola revives the incident with this thoroughgoing investigation, which offers solid information on the natural history and behavior of the many shark species that populate the Atlantic, and which hazards educated guesses as to which kind of shark did the fatal mischief--and why. --Gregory McNamee
From Publishers Weekly
Beginning July 1, 1916, a spate of shark attacks off the Jersey shore befuddled maritime experts and terrified the public. In the first incident, an unsuspecting vacationer's thigh was bitten off; he eventually died. Over the next 12 days, three more people were killed and another seriously injured. These two books by New Jersey authors re-create differing theories as to who, and what, was responsible for the carnage, a subject that scientists still debate today. Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Capuzzo (nominated four times for a Pulitzer) unwaveringly adheres to the most popular theory (that a single, juvenile great white shark was responsible for all the carnage), but his book's strength lies in its lively reconstruction of the age and its consciousness, in which a new leisure class was emerging, with many of its members venturing into the ocean for the first time. (He also recounts the shark's movements and supposed feelings from an omniscient, third-person perspective to strained, unintentionally comical and inevitably misleading effect.) The encounters between people and sharks make for some tense and gruesome reading, and the rest of the book is equally page-turning: the zeal to find the "Jersey man-eater," the sensational "feeding frenzy" of the press and the befuddlement of a scientific community, which then devoutly believed that sharks did not bite humans. On that last front, Fernicola, a physician specializing in post-stroke and post-injury recovery, adds to his own investigation of this episode an exhaustive review of shark science today and theories of shark aggression toward humans, including possible environmental factors (heat, changes in human bathing habits, even bathing suit styles), speculations on the perpetrator's exact species, and well-reasoned arguments and conclusions. Fernicola is a recognized authority on the 1916 attacks (his work has provided the basis for Discovery Channel and History Channel documentaries on the subject), but he marshals so much data that his book fails to live up to its lurid title, giving its looming competitor the edge. (May; Capuzzo on-sale: May 8) Forecast: With bathing suit season just around the corner, these books are well timed. Fernicola's, which will be the subject of an upcoming spread in USA Today and is scheduled for coverage on Good Day New York, will provide grist to shark enthusiasts and fans of the Jaws films. Lyons Press has high hopes for its book and has committed to an unprecedented (for this house) 50,000 first printing. Capuzzo will tour six major cities on both coasts, along with stops on Cape Cod and, of course, the Jersey shore. His compulsive potboiler just may be the hot read on the beach this summer.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Product Details
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 158574297X
ISBN-13: 978-1585742974
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
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“This book is well written and well researched. ” autumn | 17 reviewers made a similar statement
“I was always interested in the story of a Great White Shark attack along the Jersey Shore. ” Shogun Len | 10 reviewers made a similar statement
“Needless to say, I tracked down a copy of the book, and look forward to reading it as and when time allows. ” Mr. C. T. Brand | 7 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome.....Reads like a Novel! May 12, 2001
By Shogun Len
Format:Hardcover
I was always interested in the story of a Great White Shark attack along the Jersey Shore. It is mentioned in all the shark books, referenced in Jaws, and shown on the Discovery channel. It is a story I have always been interested but could never find any whole books about. And what did I see in the book store??? Not one but TWO books on the subject.
So now the the question was which one to buy. I read parts of both and quickly discovered that Dr. Fernicola clearly seemed to know more about sharks and the subject. Not to knock the other book, but Fernicola's book shows a deeper knowledge of sharks and the incident of 1916.
Needless to say, it only took 3 days to read this entire book. It is so interesting. He does a great job describing the times and historical background. He does a great job telling about the attacks. He does a great job discussing sharks and theories about sharks.
The book is well written. It has great information on the 1916 attacks and the times they took place in. It is also a great lesson on sharks in general.
I have family on the Jersey shore and it amazes me that this could take place there. Plus in a creek miles from the ocean...YIKES!
This was a book I read cover to cover and immmediatly passed on to friends.
Anyone who likes sharks, shark week on TV, or JAWS will love this book.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Days of Terror: Twenty Years of Research May 16, 2001
By Jim Foley
Format:Hardcover
During the summer of 1916 five people were attacked by a shark (or sharks) along the coast of New Jersey's Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Four of those five, including a 12-year old boy, were killed. The fifth victim narrowly escaped the jaws of death, suffering severe wounds to his leg.
These freak attacks occured within 12 days of each other during a time in American history when the foremost expers believed that sharks did not possess the necessary strength to break a human bone...Panic and near hysteria followed...
Sixty-five years after the attacks, a young college student heard about the attacks during a train ride home for the holidays. The incident of the attacks and the contraversy between the leading shark experts piqued his interest. Curiosity developed into passion and that passion for the answer resulted in twenty years of investigating and a book that is one of the most thoroughly researched accountings I have ever read.
Twelve Days of Terror is a novel, a diary, a medical journal, a detective story, and most assuredly the definitive investigation of the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. The author utilized his medical school training in evaluating the evidence and spent countless hours interviewing eye-witnesses to the tragic events. Unfortunately, those eye-witnesses are now all gone, but for the field notes of the author, their story was doomed never to be told. This book is a MUST for every beach-goer this summer. It will not only intimately acquaint the reader with everything they wanted to know about shark attacks, but it will also provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scene politics and social aspects of the early 20th century.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Facinating...don't read this at the beach May 21, 2001
By Mary G. Longorio VINE VOICE
Format:Hardcover
The shark attacks off the New Jersey shore were doomed to fade into almost urban mythology. Richard Fernicola has painstakingly researched the twelve days of horror that held a nation in its grip. The first strike, July 1 was on an unsuspecting Charles Vansant, in which eyewitnesses report the agressor shark actually held on,and or followed its prey into the shallows. Fernicola has gathered all the available accounts (since eyewitnesses were dead, he turned to family members, newspaper archives and books)and has pieced together an account of the mounting terror until July 12, the deadliest day (two killed and one maimed) and last reported killings. This is an engrossing look into a time when not much was known about sharks and when newspapers were depended upon to deliver the news. It also gives a detailed look into sharks and their history as man eaters. The most interesting portion of the book, after the actual accounting of the people involved and the attacks themselves, is the medical renderings of each victim's wounds and an accounting of the actual cause of death. This is an engrossing book, and it is well researched. It is a time capsule of sorts, reopening the time when there was belief that a mackeral had inflicted the wounds, that the Germans were attracting the sharks with some new secret gadget, when a day at the beach was a simple day at the beach.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, but not what I expected. August 6, 2001
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
First off, due praise must be given to the author. This book is extensively and painstakingly researched. That is readily apparent throughout the book. The author has scoured old newspapers and photographs, and conducted his own interviews with witnesses and family of witnesses/victims.
The fist hundred pages or so is a wonderfully written, detailed description of the events of those twelve days in 1916. The author's attention to detail and extensive research give a robust picture of not only the victims' last days and the events of the attacks, but also a very interesting description of what the New Jersey shore was like in the day.
My only complaint with the book is that I expected it all to be that way. Unfortunately, the next two hundred pages delivery a scientific analysis of different shark species, their attack styles, an analysis of the wounds, a comparison/contrast with other shark attacks around the world, etc. for the purpose of determining what species of shark(s) most likely attacked the victims, and why the attacks occurred at all.
Again, all this was extensively researched, but not what I expected. Perhaps the fault, then, is my own. Nonetheless, the prospective reader should be aware of what this book is about.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars The title almost describes my reading experience.
Having read this book I felt compelled to comment. It was very well-researched, no question about it. Read more
Published 9 days ago by True Crime Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good blend
In summary, it's a good reaD. The auther blends narrative with excellent overviews of the early 20th Century science, medicine, and sociology. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Emil Siri
4.0 out of 5 stars First half is great
The first half of the book is a good adventure story. I wanted to spend more time with the victims and onlookers and less time with the second half of the book. Read more
Published 22 months ago by T. Dotts
5.0 out of 5 stars Twelve Days of Terror
After reading "Close to Shore" I was interested to read more of the shark attacks in 1916 off the NJ shore. This book is well written and well researched. Read more
Published on October 4, 2011 by autumn
5.0 out of 5 stars New Jersey Shark Attacks, 1916
Very informative and entertaining review of the horrible shark attacks in NJ in 1916. It still boggles belief that these attacks occurred. Read more
Published on July 7, 2011 by Eileen Muirhead
4.0 out of 5 stars Jaws- A Real-Life Horror Story
Having been thoroughly entertained, and terrified, by the original movie, I only recently discovered, following a TV documentary, that it was based on a true story. Read more
Published on April 8, 2011 by Mr. C. T. Brand
3.0 out of 5 stars Solid Research, Draggy Writing, But Worth a Look
I am going to make this review very brief. Fernicola does a wonderful job, albeit with an esoteric mis-step or two, in researching the "Gold Coast" playground aura that once... Read more
Published on June 25, 2010 by William Alexander
2.0 out of 5 stars Twice as long as it needs to be!
While the topic of this book is very interesting and the research quite in-depth, I found this book to be very repetitive & much longer than it really needed to be. Read more
Published on February 13, 2009 by Bibliophile777
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying Attacks
This book was purchased for my son who is quite interested in sharks and almost any reference to sharks. He loved the book and learned a lot of details about those twelve days.
Published on November 13, 2008 by P. Pease
2.0 out of 5 stars Don't End Your Book At Chapter 3
The "definitive" history of the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916. And we get that in the first three chapters. Read more
Published on June 25, 2008 by David K. Taggart
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