Shark Week discussion

This thread is for discussion of Part One of Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916, "An Erratic Era," starting with a prologue and the chapter "The Hotel," through "A Doctor in the House."

First person to comment please provide a summary of Part One--chapter-by-chapter if possible.

The Last Man in the Water: An athletic young man swims away from the Victorian-era turrets of the shoreline. He hears voices calling him from afar.

Part I: An Erratic Era

The Hotel: July 1, 1916. Describes the Engleside in Beach Haven and the hotel's owner's family.

The Fish: Little is known about sharks at this time, and what is said by the experts--that sharks never attack people--is wrong. The gentry experience the ocean from the veranda, not in the water.

The Doctor: Dr. Vansant, a Philadelphia patrician, frets about his son Charles and making sure he demonstrates manliness as they journey to Beach Haven.

The Biter with the Jagged Teeth: Alten-esque depiction of shark sex & prey-seeking behavior.

To Be Different from What Has Been:The American beach is changing as men begin going topless and women begin showing knees.

The Most Frightening Animal on Earth: A shark is swept up by a current of the coast of Florida northbound.

A Train to the Coast: The heat drives people to the beach.

The Sea Monster: The shark is from the Gulf Stream to find its environment and usual prey have disappeared.

Paradise: The Vansant family seems a bit uneasy or anxious on their first day of vacation.

Twins of Darkness: The shark nears shore.

Red in Tooth and Claw: Charles Vansant wades out with his Chesapeake Bay retriever, swims away from other beachgoers, and the shark bites his leg.

A Doctor in the House: First responders and Dr. Vansant cannot save Charles.

Here's my comment from July 1 - I read the first three chapters (Hotel / Fish / Doctor) - I've totally stalled on reading this since then so I haven't made any additional progress because I need to finish some other books.

The action starts on the last day of June! So this feels very timely (just 106 years in the past). I'd been wondering how in the world Capuzzo made a full length book out of this incident that could be described in just a short news article. And now I know! He goes wayyyy back in the first few chapters and talks about how society felt about the ocean and sharks back then. It's interesting!

The Biter with the Jagged Teeth:
Shark conception and birth. Cute. Lol.

Finished part 1. A pretty slow read up until this point. But I suppose that may change now that the attacks have begun.

So this book kinda fell by the wayside. Sorry. July was a tumultuous month and I didn't have nearly enough reading time plus some kitten squishers so I decided not to read it. Maybe some other time (next Shark Week perhaps). But I will follow all your comments.

Dennis wrote: "The Biter with the Jagged Teeth:
Shark conception and birth. Cute. Lol."

May have been one of those deals where the editor told the author, "Good first draft but you need to add a sex scene."

Lol.

Trish wrote: "So this book kinda fell by the wayside. Sorry. July was a tumultuous month and I didn't have nearly enough reading time plus some kitten squishers so I decided not to read it. Maybe some other time..."

Bummer, Trish!

Russ wrote: "Bummer, Trish!"

Yeah, I'm sorry. :/

Russ wrote: "Dennis wrote: "The Biter with the Jagged Teeth:
Shark conception and birth. Cute. Lol."

May have been one of those deals where the editor told the author, "Good first draft but you need to add a s..."



LOL!!

Dennis wrote: "Finished part 1. A pretty slow read up until this point. But I suppose that may change now that the attacks have begun."

Yeah, I wasn't expecting so much historical wallpaper at the start of this book. I got used to the style though and I did find it helpful to understand the context of beachgoers just beginning to enter the water at that time in American history.

Yeah, same. It wasn't uninteresting at all. Just a really slow read. The second part was much more exciting though.

I’m making very slow progress!! I’m on Long Beach Island right now, and I brought the book to the beach yesterday, and it was SO HOT yesterday, high 90s even right at the ocean, like sitting next to an oven. So reading about people escaping the heat by taking the train to Beach Haven really made me feel like I was IN the story. Except it’s not any cooler in Beach Haven right now.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I’m making very slow progress!! I’m on Long Beach Island right now, and I brought the book to the beach yesterday, and it was SO HOT yesterday, high 90s even right at the ocean, like sitting next t..."

What an ideal beach read, Nadine!

When I started reading this it was still mid-July, and with so much action of the book taking place the first week of July it was easier to imagine how some of these people may have felt. But I have air conditioning and all these people had was a breeze off the water.

Just finishing Part One today. I agree with others, it got off to a slow start. The author is a former writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer so it seemed like he wanted to emphasize Philadelphia's part in the story, small as it might seem to be. I think a more interesting approach would have been to start with the attack then go back to tell some of the back story, maybe in an alternating chapter fashion like many non-fiction authors do. Oh well, on to Part 2!

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Just finishing Part One today. I agree with others, it got off to a slow start. The author is a former writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer so it seemed like he wanted to emphasize Philadelphia's p..."

You should have been the editor, RJ! I'm not familiar enough with the geography but I did wonder a little about the Philly focus when ground zero for the shark attacks was the Jersey shore.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Just finishing Part One today. I agree with others, it got off to a slow start. The author is a former writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer so it seemed like he wanted to emphasize Philadelphia's p..."


There are A LOT of people from the Phila area who vacation on LBI, so I wasn't confused by all the Phila background, but I was definitely bored by it. Also bored by allllllll the detail of the train ride to Beach Haven (although reading about there being a train ride at all WAS amusing, since those tracks are gone now, you can no longer ride a train from Philadelphia to Beach Haven).

Russ wrote: "You should have been the editor, RJ! I'm not familiar enough with the geography but I did wonder a little about the Philly focus when ground zero for the shark attacks was the Jersey shore."

Ha! Thanks, Russ. I guess Capuzzo wanted everyone to know that Philadelphia isn't just a place where mullets and old Camaros go to die. :D

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Ha! Thanks, Russ. I guess Capuzzo wanted everyone to know that Philadelphia isn't just a place where mullets and old Camaros go to die. :D..."

Ouch! Based on what you say it sounds like Philadelphia has gotten trashier in the hundred years since these events took place.

Russ wrote: "...sounds like Philadelphia has gotten trashier in the hundred years..."

Yes, but then again that rings true of just about anywhere I suppose.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Russ wrote: "...sounds like Philadelphia has gotten trashier in the hundred years..."

Yes, but then again that rings true of just about anywhere I suppose."

Lol, true that!