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Title: Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola ISBN: 1-58574-297-X Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (38 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Note to Self: No Swimming on the Jersey Shore
Comment: 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.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good research, Spotty Writing
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding Read
Comment: 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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Title: Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo ISBN: 0767904141 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 21 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Shark Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Thomas B. Allen ISBN: 1585741744 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Shark Attacks (Shark Attacks) by Alex MacCormick ISBN: 0312966180 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence by Michael Capuzzo ISBN: B0000VV2AG Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Shark Trouble by PETER BENCHLEY ISBN: 0375508244 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 04 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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