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A room is, after all, a place where you hide from the wolves. That's all any room is. (Jean Rhys) Apr 9, 2008 (30 of 34 found this helpful)
This debut novel at first seems strange,
bizarre,
difficult to take the first bite.
But then, the story gets going,
and you forget that it's written in free verse
- except that it doesn't rhyme,
and you know how I am about rhymes.
But still,
What's not to like about a story
About werewolves?
or was it weredogs?
Prowling the streets of LA,
changing at will,
killing and devouring without leaving a trace
- sometimes not even bloody tissue,
licking the ground Ajax clean.
Yet being civilized enough to know
that the most important dog in the pack
is the b!tch
Three packs,
one led by a lawyer at first,
who gets outmaneuvered
in an ironic kind of way
and forced to hide in the guise of woman's best friend
until he can regroup and reclaim,
and remark his territory.
But Lark has a plan
to infiltrate and conquer
It's also about Anthony the dogcatcher.
Who doesn't really want to be like the rest
- of dogcatchers, that is
"Perhaps over time he will become like them
with their permanent stains and bitter dispositions.
But Christ almighty, he thinks,
I hope not"
Anthony feeds the dogs tacos
that he can't afford
and one day he falls in love
Then there's the cop
Peabody
Investigating missing people
and dogs
and bloody trails of big red prints
These dogs don't play poker
preferring the game of bridge
especially Cutter and Blue, who have a knack for the game.
They follow Lark and the Ukan way,
but things get complicated when their fellow bridge players
turn out to be quite different than they seem
and there's also the new pack...
"The new pack follows a different form,
nobody has a name for it,
but it's a rough way of life."
Unusual
Yet compelling
This book reads like a graphic novel
in staccato bursts of
blood, gore, gristle
...and doggie dreams.
Dark, brutal
and memorable
especially on debut.
Amanda Richards, April 8, 2008
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Love, loss, and blood Feb 18, 2008 (12 of 12 found this helpful)
One may at first be put off by the notion of a werewolf novel as an epic poem. In the minds of many - too many - poetry is an aged, calcified form, difficult to penetrate, and approached not for fun but out of a sense of intellectual obligation. Yet any such concerns should be immediately thrust aside by any potential reader of Toby Barlow's clever, compelling debut novel, "Sharp Teeth."
Barlow's plot, at its surface, is a straight forward modern werewolf tale - a pack living in LA under the command of Lark have big plans, having to do with dog pounds. From there the story branches our into many directions - a love story between a werewolf woman and the novel's protagonist, several survivors of a decimated pack dealing with their loneliness, and other wolves hungry for the vengeance of blood. The poetry in which all of this comes is delivered in language at once subtle and raw, visceral as Barlow's topic and modern his book's setting. For example, when writing about a lovers wonder about how well he knows his love.
He worries that this
Is beginning to feel like
driving a car through the mountains,
finding a great song on the radio
and then as you pass out of its range
hearing it flicker and fade.
Snap, pop and
then its gone.
Or another musing
Tomorrow she knows
the tactics will have to change
her luck has held three times
and Lark has always said,
luck is stupid as a cow
and blind as a bat.
What would you do
to protect the love you have?
Would you kill?
Would you hunt to kill?
Would you kill without mercy?
And if you wouldn't
Then how precious is your love?
Yet for all of this pretty poetry, Barlow never forgets the tradition from which he springs, that Homer and Shakespeare never meant for their audiences to be left to a narrow band of dutiful intellectuals, but saw themselves as appealing to a mass audience. And so, like these predecessors works, "Sharp Teeth" offers no shortage of breathtaking violence, and lurid bawdy details, and fine humor (a group of dogs hustling cards being my personal favorite). Barlow milks moon and dog imagery for every drop of entertainment, all delivered to the reader in a spectacular package.
Readers will recognize much of "Sharp Teeth" as familiar, a crime noir taken to the next level, with all of the twists, turns, and character archetypes one might expect. The crime boss down on his luck plotting his way back, his scheming second in command, the beautiful dame who isn't sure what love is, the haggard cop who thinks once too often about eating his gun. Yet again, Barlow's rich vivid language and his mastery of imagery bring all of these things to us in a way that is both fresh and rewarding.
Readers who allow themselves to be put off by thoughts of epic poetry will be the loosers, never having enjoyed the bite of "Sharp Teeth."
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Lucky to have been bitten early Sep 2, 2007 (13 of 14 found this helpful)
Based on some British online reviews, I had already put Mr. Barlow's book on my wish list when, by stroke of luck, I landed an uncorrected proof from a local bookseller. With, then, the disclaimer that I am an avid poetry reader, I can still honestly say that anyone - poet hound or otherwise - looking for an engaging story, intriguing characters, hackle-raising horror or, as is my addiction, beautiful word-craft will love this book. It will be most appealing to those who love and respect dogs. Mr. Barlow rarely slings cliche, but when he does he plays with it enough that it doesn't rankle, but instead invites one to smile. The story never lagged, and with enough was left to the imagination that the book was impossible to put down (woe to me and my homework). Already I am, once bitten and not at all shy, eagerly awaiting his next effort.
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Spellbinding! Feb 8, 2008 (5 of 5 found this helpful)
I work in a library and while processing this book for check out I would open it randomly and become absolutely engrossed. The free verse is simultaneously as flowing as straight prose, and as moving as poetry, some lines make you pause, breathe, back up and re-read just to savor their resonance in your mind.
The werewolf/dog angle as well as the violent clashes between the gangs make this story not for everyone, but the underlying compassion and beauty of the verse are what you take away from the book. As mentioned in a previous review, I will probably have to read it again, as slowly as possible, just to savor the little details I probably missed the first time through.
As near a perfect thing as any book I can think of.
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Should be congratulated for its daring Feb 12, 2008 (18 of 23 found this helpful)
"Rage --- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles,/ murderous, doomed, that cost the Acheans countless losses,/ hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls...." So begins THE ILIAD. Its influence has made itself known once again. Consider the first and penultimate stanzas of SHARP TEETH: "Let's sing about the man there/ at the breakfast table/ brown skin, thin features, white T," and "Let us pause now/ and close this sanguine song." The references to song as well as the devotion of the first stanza to description are unmistakably Homeric. We don't get much epic poetry these days, let alone imbued with modernist flair. And we get less in the sci-fi genre. Even just for this alone, SHARP TEETH is worth a look for those stylists and speculative fiction fans who like their writing a little more quirky and intelligent.
There are werewolves all around us. They can change at will. Unlike the myths (but in conformity with common sense), they live --- and kill --- in packs. Or, in LA, gangs. They have accounts to manage their finances. In many respects they live just like us --- except they can break out of the cages that bind the rest of us to our normal lives and experience a bloody freedom we can barely imagine. It's a shame that The Hulk wasn't a werewolf; if so, perhaps our culture would have a greater appreciation for this mythic and heroic --- almost Achilles-esque --- figure.
Toby Barlow has seen fit to revive the werewolf, and not just for sci-fi geeks. This is the literate werewolf novel. When he describes "the elemental comfort" of pack life, we can't help but think of the isolated human souls that inhabit this book. We may have something to learn from the wolves who have managed to combine intense social unity with unparalleled individual freedom, an achievement we're still at a loss for.
However, the inventiveness of this novel is undercut by its sub-par execution. If this is an epic "song" as Barlow would have us believe, even a pared-down modernist one, its poetics are sorely lacking. The vast bulk of line breaks seem arbitrarily inserted, reminding us of what should be obvious: that poetry isn't just prose with enjambment. Not only does this make virtually all the dialogue awkward to read, it also detracts from the text. To read this as poetry, the reader must adopt an awkward rhythm, as there is often a substantial discontinuity between the pace of the plot and of the poetry. At other times, words are dropped to make the text read more like a fast-paced, grittily urban poem.
None of this stylization is in any way inventive, giving the book a tired, even cliché feel at times. The overall impression is that little thought was put into the poetics of the novel: the lines feel unpolished, which begs the question of why this was written as poetry to begin with. Neither the premise nor the drama require it, and while it does speed the pace of the novel, it does so to its detriment.
However, if one is willing to look past these structural problems, one may find more than expected. The themes are managed with enough seriousness, but not so much as to feel heavy-handed. And this really is a new take on both the werewolf and urban fantasy genres. In a world where innovation is often shunted before ever being given its due, rare examples such as this should be congratulated for their daring.
--- Reviewed by Max Falkowitz