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Sharp Teeth
by Toby Barlow
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780061430220 
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Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)
"Every aspect of the book, from premise to form to cover design (black stylized dog snarling against a solid bloodred field), seems to have been focus-grouped to snag the attention of potential readers. It's encrusted in cognitive fishhooks. Even its epigraphs are brilliantly addictive....Such eager primping is not necessarily a bad thing." Sam Anderson, New York Magazine (read the entire New York Magazine review)
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
An ancient race of lycanthropes has survived to the present day, and its numbers are growing as the initiated convince L.A.'s down and out to join their pack. Paying no heed to moons, full or otherwise, they change from human to canine at will — and they're bent on domination at any cost.
Caught in the middle are Anthony, a kind-hearted, besotted dogcatcher, and the girl he loves, a female werewolf who has abandoned her pack. Anthony has no idea that she's more than she seems, and she wants to keep it that way. But her efforts to protect her secret lead to murderous results.
Blending dark humor and epic themes with card-playing dogs, crystal meth labs, surfing, and carne asada tacos, Sharp Teeth captures the pace and feel of a graphic novel while remaining "as ambitious as any literary novel, because underneath all that fur, it's about identity, community, love, death, and all the things we want our books to be about" (Nick Hornby, The Believer).
Review:
"Barlow's gut-wrenching, sexy debut, a horror thriller in verse, follows three packs of feral dogs in East L.A. These creatures are in fact werewolves, men and women who can change into canine form at will ('Dog or wolf? More like one than the other/ but neither exactly'). Lark, the top dog in one of the packs who's a lawyer in human form, has a master plan that may involve taking over the city from the regular humans. Anthony Silvo, a dogcatcher and normally a loner, finds himself falling in love with a beautiful and mysterious woman ('Standing on four legs in her fur,/ she is her own brand of beast'). A strange small man and his giant partner play tournament bridge and are deep into the drug trade. A detective, Peabody, investigates several puzzling dog-related murders. The irregular verse form with its narrative economies proves an excellent vehicle to support all these disparate threads and then tie them together in the bittersweet conclusion. 5-city author tour. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Written in a free verse style that perfectly complements the action as it moves from slower-paced narratives to short, jagged scenes of graphic violence and heartbreak, this groundbreaking work commands attention from a wide audience." Library Journal
Review:
"Though the free-verse form takes getting used to, it serves to heighten Barlow's visceral imagery. A refreshing leap across genres." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"[A] kooky combo of grit, goofiness and gusto....[It] demonstrates that fantasy, unlike more literary offerings that play it too safe, may just be the place to find true exuberance and stylistic innovation." The Los Angeles Times
Review:
"Tremendous....As ambitious as any literary novel, because underneath all that fur, it's about identity, community, love, death, and all the things we want our books to be about." Nick Hornby, The Believer
Review:
"A sexy, dark and (well, yes) biting story told by a wizard of sleight of hand." Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and What-the-Dickens
Review:
"I'm impressed. I always knew stuff like this was going on in L.A. What a cool book!" Christopher Moore, bestselling author of A Dirty Job and You Suck: A Love Story
Review:
"If Ovid had been raised on a steady diet of Marvel Comics, Roger Corman and MTV, he might've written something like Toby Barlow's Sharp Teeth." Scott Smith, author of The Ruins and A Simple Plan
Review:
"[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." BookReporter.com
Synopsis:
Capturing the pace and feel of a graphic novel, this spellbinding debut blends dark humor and epic themes with card-playing dogs, crystal meth labs, surfing, and carne asada tacos.
About the Author
Toby Barlow is executive creative director at the advertising agency JWT in Detroit and a contributor to the literary magazine n+1 and the Huffington Post. He splits his time between Detroit, Michigan, and New York City. Sharp Teeth is his first book.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
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crowyhead, July 2, 2008 (view all comments by crowyhead)
Ok, it's a novel in free verse poetry about werewolves, which sounds ridiculous and pretentious. But I swear to you, if you read this, you'll practically forget that it's in poetry form. This novel, which involves competing packs of werewolves (or weredogs; they're really more like dogs) in LA, is sweaty, vicious, and gritty. It also has passages that are beautiful enough to make you suck in your breath. At times I felt that the author was muddling too many plotlines together, but overall I thought this was truly excellent and absorbing.
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snowflakeschance, May 5, 2008 (view all comments by snowflakeschance)
I was surprised at the format of the book when I first opened the cover. It is presented in a form that resembles a lengthy poem but, reads like a tale. Barlow's use of language drew me in instantly. I eased into the flow and "Sharp Teeth" took me along for one sweet ride.
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Karen Cooper, March 24, 2008 (view all comments by Karen Cooper)
I felt fortunate to have the flu the day I started this book, because I was able to stay home and lie in bed and devour it. My 23-year-old daughter has since gobbled it, and started all over, as I pant to one side waiting for my second go. Yes, it's that good--and I am seldom satisfied. The characters--so developed and idiosyncratic. Every small detail combining to make the world real: the humour, the names, the philosophies, the grim, strange tilt it imposes on one's mind. My only problem now is trying to get my friends to read it without telling them what it's about, since it defies expectations.
View all 4 comments
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780061430220
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Harper
- Author:
- Subject:
- General
- Subject:
- General Fiction
- Subject:
- Gangs
- Subject:
- Murder
- Publication Date:
- February 2008
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Grade Level:
- General/trade
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 312
- Dimensions:
- 852x602x110 100
