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Shop nowClose to Shore
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Learn moreThe summer of 1916 was brutally hot, driving thousands to the Jersey Shore to indulge in the newfangled activity of swimming in the ocean, and a good swimmer could strut his stuff in front of an appreciative audience. But happiness turned to horror as a killer invaded this idyllic scene—with never a warning and showing no mercy to its victims. Soon the beaches were filled with screams as this monster of the sea dragged unsuspecting vacationers down under the waves, chomping off limbs and leaving pools of blood and horrified onlookers in its wake. How many deaths would it take before the truth about this terrifying monster would be known? History and hubris. Drama and daring. Science and sizzle. It's all here in one package, brought to life by the extraordinary voice of Taylor Mali.
Michael Capuzzo is the author of the New York Times bestseller Close to Shore and a former feature writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald. His stories have appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Life. He has been nominated four times for the Pulitzer Prize and was a National Magazine Award finalist. He lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Taylor Mali is the former president of Poetry Slam, Inc., and one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. He is the author of two books of poetry, What Learning Leaves and The Last Time as We Are, and four CDs of spoken word. He has appeared on the first two seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and won the jury prize for best one-man show at the United States Comedy Arts Festival. A passionate advocate of teachers, he travels the country recruiting the next generation of teachers with his 1,000 Teachers Campaign. Taylor lives in New York.
Reviews
“In a string of parallel narrations, Mali imagines the journey of the shark and describes the human misperceptions of the first attacks. When the shark attacks mount, so does Mali’s reading strength, and it becomes almost frenzied as man’s fury and fear increase.”
“Michael Capuzzo tells the harrowing story of the real-life Jaws that helped inspire Peter Benchley's classic novel…If this book were on any other subject, it would make for good beach reading.”
“The encounters between people and sharks make for some tense and gruesome reading, and the rest of the book is equally page-turning.”
“Capuzzo laces this suspenseful story with interesting social history, such as the changing style of bathing costumes, the customs observed by the Edwardian elite, and the way people viewed the natural world. Factual information about shark physiology and behavior heightens the tension as the tale progresses.”
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