Customer Reviews

Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 the Te

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is primarily a period piece about the summer of 1916. Details such as what was happening in science, baseball, social mores, etc. paint a spectacular portrait of American life at this time. Historical people, from scientists, doctors, and hotel owners to tailors and basket makers are examined and we see how they lived their day-to-day existence in that summer of '16. Meanwhile, of course, people are being attacked by a shark off the coast of New Jersey.

As a breakdown, I'd say 40% of this book is the portrait of life
story, and 40% is about the reactions of the people to the shark attacks. Probably 15% is a conjecture on the particular path the shark took along the coast, along with its primeval motivations as to why it was doing what it was doing. Only about 5% actually showcase the attacks, but it's a very effective 5%.

The book is a very entertaining read, although some vocabulary and cultural references are just thrown out as if to show off how much research the author did. A dictionary was handy, and I've read a LOT. The other problem is the editing/proofreading. There were at least three occasions I could think of where contradictory information was presented ON THE SAME PAGE. For instance, the governor of New Jersey is called "Tom" and "Jim" on the same page. And, at one point, the nostrils of the shark are said to be below the mouth, which is incorrect. Minor annoyances, but inexcusable in a historical work.

So, I give this 3-1/2 stars, upped to 4 due to the fact that it's a good read.

I can't remember the last book I absolutely could not put down, until "Close to Shore" swam by on Father's Day. As engrossing as the stories of shark attacks were, I was even more impressed with the author's evocation of an era much maligned or misunderstood. As America clung relentlessly to the myth of isolation from Europe's problems, a denizen of denial from the deeps shattered the enforced social order of the Victorian Jersey shore. I was enthralled by Capuzo's recreation of the pulse and rhythms of life in 1916. It helped me gain a new appreciation for my native state of New Jersey and the life my Dad grew up in, as he was born in New Jersey in 1913. The old European world with its new problems dragged him and others of his era into modernity with the same force and urgency as the shark dragged young men to their deaths. More than a gripping story of sharks and sea, Close to Shore is a reminder that clinging to an outdated belief system in the face of facts is foolish and, in some cases, fatal.

I just wanted to respond to the other reviewer because the truth is, nobody knows what type of shark was responsible for the attacks, or even if there were two different sharks. This is my main problem with the book as well. Capuszzo obviously doesn't even entertain the idea that it may have been a bull shark (a reasonable theory), which is somewhat unfortunate. But it could have very well have been a white shark, and hell it's a lot more psychologically terrifying than a bull, so he went with it. I guess it's not that big of a deal, because once you get started on this book, you won't be able to put it down. It's expertly crafted and very well written, and the period details are fantastic. It's a very quick and easy read too; I was done in two nights. I especially liked the way he paralleled the life of the shark and the life of the first victim, and all the details leading up to their inevitable encounter. I'm a huge fan of Jaws, and I thought that made me think twice about swimming in the ocean... Well, I can honestly say this book did an even better job. I doubt I'll be in the water much at the beach this summer. That's not a bad thing either, it's the sign of a very effective book.

"Close to Shore" does an excellent job in telling the tale of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks. His main achievement in spinning this sea monster yarn is in laying the groundwork - to be convincing and achieve the real horror of the vent, Capuzzo had to put the reader into the perspective on an American of the period - prior to Jaws, "The Summer of the Shark" and all that. To us, shark attacks are a morbid curiousity and a subject of tabloid journalism and horror movies. To the people in 1916, well, they were not even sure if some sharks were dangerous to man (dismissing stories of such things as ignorant or superstitious). This is done with loving attention, and achieves great effect by the time the first attack is described.

I gave the book three starts rather than four because of Capuzzo's departure from good historical journalism in dismissing the possibility that the shark was a bull shark (quite possible), or that separate sharks were involved. It makes for good drama to have a single "character," and to our modern post-Jaws sensibilities, that would just HAVE to be a great white (we are talking sharks here). However, this is supposedly a work of non-fiction, and such devices are both unnecessary and detract from the overall value of the work.

That said, the book is an good, page-turning read. My sister borrowed the copy from me as soon as I was done with it, and she almost never borrows books from me. I still haven't gotten it back!

I enjoyed the book, as other reviews have mentioned, it is a good period piece about life on the Jersey shore in 1916. The author tried to touch a lot of bases and started but did not complete a lot of story lines. When I was finished, I found myself looking for another book about the events that would fill in some blanks.

The cover of CLOSE TO SHORE sports a photograph of a face that only a mother could love. But as we soon discover by diving into this gripping combination of history and science, such maternal "love" is not forthcoming when it comes to Carcharodon carcharias, the great white shark:

"The shark shared the womb with eight to ten other pups, and during gestation, the shark's brain triggered a simple equation: life = food = life. The life was very close, and the shark attacked--devouring the other pups. So the shark began life as a kind of in utero cannibal. Twelve to fourteen months after conception, it emerged having won the most elemental of sibling rivalries--the privilege to be born.
"The shark came out of the womb four to five feet long, fifty to eighty-five pounds, hunting. The shark had no air bladder for buoyancy, like most fish, so it had to keep moving, moving and killing and eating, or it would sink to the depths and die. There was no playful puppyhood, no more nurturing from parents. The newborn shark fled its mother. Her instinct was to eat the nearest food source. Nature pumped her full of hormones that diminished her appetite temporarily. Mother's parting gift to her pup was to give it a brief window of escape before she devoured it."

Of course, this was not the kind of information understood in 1916 when the experts were at first stubbornly dismissing the possibility that the cause of swimmers being chewed up along the Jersey shore could be shark-related. Mass numbers of Americans swimming in the ocean was a relatively new diversion in those days.

In this adaptation of his previously-published adult book, Michael Capuzzo intertwines today's knowledge of sharks with the historic accounts of that carnage nearly a century ago in order to drag us kicking and screaming through both the life of a shark and through those horrific summer days of 1916 when one of those sharks--for some unknown reason--began to feast on my grandparents' generation in their funny-looking, old-fashioned bathing costumes.

In fact, my grandfather, Rex--the guy who would spend hour after hour in the saltwater with me when I was little--grew up in New Jersey and was fourteen, staying at his family's Ocean Grove summer home, when the book's events took place. He was reportedly a little more cautious after the attacks--one of which took the life of teenager Charles Bruder, an oceanside resort's bell captain, just a few miles south of where Rex was swimming that particular day. (To think I might not be here today if that shark's hunger aimed it a little more northward!)

"...The shark was adapted to handle the crisis of hunger in ways human beings did not know in 1916, and struggled decades later to understand. As the shark swam, there is evidence the legs and bones of Charles Bruder cut off at the knees and pieces of the bell captain's torso remained preserved in the fish's stomach for later consumption, in the manner of a camel. Gleaming specimens of dolphins and mackerel, fresh as if iced in the fishmonger's window, have been pulled from the stomachs of sharks, as well as still-legible paper documents. But the most compelling proof of the shark's camel-like ability in crisis occurred on April 17, 1935, when Albert Hobston caught a thirteen-foot tiger shark off a Sydney, Australia, beach and towed it alive to the Coogee Aquarium. Eight days later, dying in captivity, the shark regurgitated a bird, a rat, and, eerily visible in a cloud of muck, a human arm--a thick, muscular arm, so well preserved that the forearm was clearly marked with a tattoo of two boxers. On the basis of a photograph of the tattoo, published in a Sydney newspaper, a man identified his brother, James Smith. The arm was preserved so well, it was accepted as evidence that led to the arrest of a man for murdering and dismembering Smith and dumping him at sea."

CLOSE TO SHORE is extensively illustrated with maps and newspaper copy from 1916, as well as photographs of the era's resorts, beach attire, and several of the human characters who were involved in this real-life drama.

That drama ends with the accidental netting of a shark, who is then beaten to death in hand-to-tooth combat by the two men in the little rowboat behind which the net was being dragged. While today's DNA testing would more conclusively link the body parts found in the shark's stomach to the New Jersey coastal victims, the evidence seems substantial enough to believe it to be the rogue killer who fortunately spared my grandfather, allowing me to exist and to grow up swimming off the Long Island beaches.

That I never encountered anything more than little sand sharks has undoubtedly much to do with the zeal of unenlightened generations to eliminate that jagged-toothed link in the marine biological chain as a result of such terrifying events as the shark attacks of 1916. CLOSE TO SHORE is a thriller that will introduce readers to this mysterious creatures of the deep and perhaps spawn a few marine biologists in the process.

Richie Partington
...

This book discusses the terrifying attacks on swimmers that occurred of the coast of New Jersey in 1916. Although the book is an enjoyable read, the author is telling the story using his conclusions about how these events transpired. There are many other researchers that have viewed the same events as being carried out by other species of shark. The book tells the sory as if it is definitive that the attacker was a single great white shark, however this fact has never been substantiated. Regardless, read this book for a possible explanation of these horrible days in beach history.

Wow! What a book! I'm glad that I waited until AFTER summer (and prime beach time) to read this - because it's gonna take me about 9 months to gather the courage to go back in the waters off the Jersey Shore! The shark attacks off the Jersey Shore in 1916 were Peter Benchley's inspiration for his novel, Jaws, which was also made into a movie. Those who know the book and film will realise that as they read it.

Not only does the horror of these shark attacks make this an interesting book to read, but also the fact that it is a glimpse into history and the social mores of the Edwardian Era. I, too, found it really interesting as it's a bit of 'local' history and many of the places mentioned are still in existance today. The towns remain, however, the Asbury Park of 1916 is a far cry of the Asbury Park of 2004! (Side note to say that Asbury Park is in a revitalization mode now, but it'll be a long time before it's back to being a 'chic destination' on the Jersey Shore!)

CLOSE TO SHORE reminds me of books like THE HOT ZONE, THE PERFECT STORM and A CIVIL ACTION, nonfiction books written like suspense novels. Like those books, this one works. It is a fun, if scary, compelling story. Because it is real, it is more interesting and has the feel of being weightier than, say JAWS.

Of course, CLOSE TO SHORE isn’t really weightier than JAWS. Its nonfiction status is almost incidental. Capuzzo’s storytelling skills are not unlike Peter Benchley’s. Benchley apparently based his most famous book o the same series of events, only he exaggerated a little more. Similarly, Capuzzo tells the story so that it makes the best story rather than convey the most solid facts. The reason I know this is because Capuzzo admits as much. He tells the story of a rouge shark that is apparently captured at the end. After the capture, Capuzzo hints that some of the premises of his story are questionable. No matter, the book is fun.

As enjoyable as CLOSE TO SHORE is, Capuzzo does miss a few opportunities. He mentions that the presence of a German sub off the East Coast competed with the shark in the summer of 1916 for headlines and the imagination of fearful Americans. He does not, however, explore how the pedestrian and largely imagined horror of the shark was compared to what would come with World War I and the Flu epidemic of 1918. Capuzzo hints at this (at least he hints at the contrasts with the horrors of war, not the Flu), but he doesn’t really do much with this. Aside from the people directly involved, the mass hysteria about the shark was largely fake, yet it was so much easier to grasp than the vast devastation of World War I. As for the Flu, the public wanted to forget, if hardly acknowledge, the microorganism that killed millions while a shark fit perfectly into the pre-established beast from the abyss myth. In this way, the shark stood in as a way to help make sense of imminent terrors too tough to accept at face value. Such metaphors became obsolete soon, but in 1916 it was needed. Perhaps if the shark didn’t attack, something like it would have been invented.

Capuzzo’s story is interesting enough, but it is as shallow and sensational as the story must have been when it was happening. Still, it is very much worth reading.

A terrific accomplishment on the part of Michael Capuzzo, whose research into the shark attacks themselves is rivaled by his brilliant recreation of an historical period that is (unfortunately) long gone.

I must mention one negative, however. At one point, Mr. Capuzzo names F. Scott Fitzgerald as a scion of the WASP establishment. What! Fitzgerald was, of course, a Catholic, as the most elementary research would have revealed to Mr. Capuzzo. Not key to the narrative, you might say. To be sure. But I don't like clumsy research. Moreover, if Mr. Capuzzo has made a mistake that I can recognize, it makes me wonder if he's made some that I can't. And that's a troubling thought.

Still, I had a hard time putting the book down, and perhaps that's the main thing.