Rating: 
Summary: Period piece with shark as the co-star
Review: I've seen a documentary about the events surrounding the New Jersey shark attacks of 1916, and my family vacations there, but I never thought two books about these events would come out only months apart (see "Twelve Days of Terror" by Richard Fernicola). "Close to Shore," was enjoyable for it's description of the period, but was less successful in describing the sharks behavior.Capuzzo is certainly broad in his description of the time, delving into family life, urban conditions, "modern" medicine, evolution of science and museums, culture, wealth, and many more. Overall he succeeds in contextualizing the response of vacationers, the media, and scientists to the attacks, which was much different than responses of today. The writing is a little fluffy and effusive, but never a distraction from the story. In this type of book, Capuzzo speculates what the thoughts, motivations, and emotions were of the characters. This works fine enough for human characters, but is less flexible, and more disappointing for the sharks "character." With people he can research primary documents and even conduct interviews with family and witnesses. But for the shark as "character" there is no one to interview, and speculatiing on the shark's behavior is more difficult. Capuzzo does not fully explore the range of theories and mysteries that still surround the shark attacks of 1916. Overall, the Jersey summer Capuzzo describes is a gripping story. From the first attack at Beach Haven, to the last in a fresh water creek miles inland at Matawan. Capuzzo describes an instinctive feeling humans still have for when they are being stalked or watched or about to become prey. A measure of Capuzzo's writing is that he tapped into that mechanism within me as he describes those long ago shark attacks.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark bathing suits attract great white shark attacks!
Review: This book recreates the life and times at the Jersey Shore during that fateful summer of 1916. The scientists of that era did not believe the legends of man-eating sharks in temperate waters; it was just a "fisherman's tale". The new fasion of ocean bathing drew thousands to the hotels along the shore. The fresh sea air allowed people to escape their smoky, humid cities where horse-drawn wagons still predominated. The author did a great amount of research into the facts, as in the history of the Vansant family. The offshore waters were teeming with fish; when caught and cleaned the offal was discarded offshore. This fed and drew predators to the beaches, where people were in the waters. The very high tides of a full moon correspond to increased shark attacks. Swimming with a dog also increases the chances of a shark attack. In July 1916 people found out that shark attacks were more than "fisherman's tales". After the Beach Haven attack the officials there sent out no warnings - to protect the tourist trade! Thousands of tourists and their dollars were at stake (this was one facet of reality in the movie "Jaws"). This concern ended up at the Wilson White House.
Rating:
Summary: Ocean-goers beware!
Review: Having lived most of my life near the New Jersey shore, and about only five miles from the site of some of these incidents, this book was a "must read" for me. And I would have to say Michael Capuzzo doesn't disappoint. Perhaps because I am familiar with many of the places mentioned, I have an unfair advantage over most readers - this made it easier to follow and understand the story (my hometown of Belford was even mentioned once!). But even without that perspective I feel that I would have enjoyed it anyway. Capuzzo does indeed write the story something like a novel - delving into what people may have been thinking and feeling - even what the shark may have been doing in-between attacks. Because of this, it can't be looked at as a completely factual book. But that's missing the point. The story itself is true (although there remains some debate about a "lone killer" or many), and that's what makes it so compelling. There was a shark and there were several attacks, and some came in an inland creek. Debating whether it was a Great White or a Bull shark in the creek is immaterial to the story of the "terror" that had gripped New Jersey; that was certainly all too real, for the unfortunate victims and for their families. Capuzzo should also be commended for the research that was necessary to write this book. I say that because, even though I've lived here for 32 years, this story was unknown to me until this book (and "12 Days of Terror") came out in 2001. It simply was not well-known lore of the area, believe it or not. I'm convinced Capuzzo has changed that - at least for those of us who live here, he has. I drive over the Matawan Creek on my way to work in the morning - and there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not peeking out my car window, just to get a glimpse of what might be lurking in the water below! Well done by Capuzzo. Four stars.
Rating:
Summary: The Perect Beach Book for History Buffs
Review: Michael Cappuzzo's Close to Shore (A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence) covers the shark attacks on the New Jersey coast during 1916 that lead to the first four reported deaths by shark attack in American waters. The author spends a lot of time trying to create the feel of the times, sometimes with success, as a way to pad out a rather flimsy tale. The story does pick up a strong narrative thrust during the episode at Matawan and the author handles this material especially well. It is worth reading through much of the rest of the account to come to this very satifyingly drawn episode that captures both the period and the drama with equal aplomb. The author has done much research and should have felt comfortable sharing a little more with the reader, such as accounts of unconfirmed shark attacks in America before this time, a history of sea wrecks on the Jersey coast, and more of the scientific debate on sharks over the past century, to set more of a historical context grounded in the ocean, instead of such things as the life of a doctor in Philadelphia at this period. Still, it is the perfect short read for the beach as the weather gets hotter and large shadows can be seen far off in the water.
Rating:
Summary: THE TRUE STORY THAT INSPIRED JAWS
Review: In 1916, in a society in which many of the features (good or bad) of modern America that today we take for granted were just being timidly born, the New Jersey shore was an idyllic Eden that offered rest and tonic to tourists and vacationers from across the country. But every Eden has its serpent, in this case the seas's most terrifying "monster"--a man-eating shark. Michael Capuzzo's book is the real-life saga of how the people of the Jersey Shore struggled to deal with this new, unfathomable horror, as well as the story of the shark itself and how it may have ended up in such an unlikely locale and how its bloody ambushes were orchestrated. Sadly, information we can all get from the Discovery Channel today was unheard of in 1916, and a great many scientists and leaders of the day refused to believe a shark was even capable of such brutal behavior, never mind having any idea what to actually do about it. Capuzzo masterfully recreates the time and place of the tragedy, putting the reader right there with the persons who lived it out in their homes, offices, and even in the deadly water itself. The author's research is daunting, but the writing itself is miraculously unemcumbered, flowing with a grace and energy most novelists would envy. It is, in many ways, a better book than Peter Benchley's "Jaws," which was actually based in part upon this very incident. "Close to Shore" works on multiple levels--historical document, real life drama, and a study of human nature in the face of unmitigated horror. The end of the book does leave the reader with some questions, so it may well also be a steppingstone to further research. Highly readable, informative, thrilling and engaging, "Close to Shore" is an easy book to recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Ocean-goers beware!
Review: Having lived most of my life near the New Jersey shore, and about only five miles from the site of some of these incidents, this book was a "must read" for me. And I would have to say Michael Capuzzo doesn't disappoint. Perhaps because I am familiar with many of the places mentioned, I have an unfair advantage over most readers - this made it easier to follow and understand the story (my hometown of Belford was even mentioned once!). But even without that perspective I feel that I would have enjoyed it anyway. Capuzzo does indeed write the story something like a novel - delving into what people may have been thinking and feeling - even what the shark may have been doing in-between attacks. Because of this, it can't be looked at as a completely factual book. But that's missing the point. The story itself is true (although there remains some debate about a "lone killer" or many), and that's what makes it so compelling. There was a shark and there were several attacks, and some came in an inland creek. Debating whether it was a Great White or a Bull shark in the creek is immaterial to the story of the "terror" that had gripped New Jersey; that was certainly all too real, for the unfortunate victims and for their families. Capuzzo should also be commended for the research that was necessary to write this book. I say that because, even though I've lived here for 32 years, this story was unknown to me until this book (and "12 Days of Terror") came out in 2001. It simply was not well-known lore of the area, believe it or not. I'm convinced Capuzzo has changed that - at least for those of us who live here, he has. I drive over the Matawan Creek on my way to work in the morning - and there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not peeking out my car window, just to get a glimpse of what might be lurking in the water below! Well done by Capuzzo. Four stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A thoroughly fascinating account
Review: Im not sure why all the negative reviews on here for this book but to each his/her own. I found this book engaging, interesting and always entertaining. The author does a great job at creating the period in history, which is very important. He also does an incredible job of describing the shark attacks themselves. There really arent that many but the settings are so well done that its like you are really there experiencing the whole thing. And it is very very well written. One of the best and one I will read again.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't go in the water because I don't know what's in it!
Review: I picked this book up because I thought it might be interesting to read about an account of a series of documented shark attacks on the East Coast in 1916. Looking for that "Jaws" fix, if you will. Well, I didn't get it. The book is good, but as several of the prior reviewers state it is almost as much of a social history as an account of shark attacks. The first attack doesn't even occur until about 100 pages into the book. Probably the best thing about the book is the last third is fairly exciting; however, in the last chapter the author admits some of the things the prior reviewers complain about; i.e., Was it a Great White? Was it a shark at all? etc. So that's somewhat of a letdown, especially when the author has gone to such great lengths to describe the Great White's movements and reasoning. All I can say is I wouldn't buy it. I checked it out from the library after seeing it in a local bookstore and I'm better for it. This book tries to be several things at once and doesn't achieve any of them very well. In addition, I can't say I care for the author's writing style, either. The book is probably best suited for a middle school student because it might spark an interest in history or ichthyology, and it's an easy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Shark book left me in the deep end.
Review: The purple prose of this potboiler makes what would seem to be an intriguing subject nearly unbearable. It's as if Edgar Allen Poe wrote copy for Spiegel. The first couple of chapters are cluttered with signifiers, lest you forget that you are reading a story set in the year 1916. The author has a fetish for anthopomorphizing everything, from houses to the shark of the story. In addition to the tedious nature of the telling of this story, it is perhaps unforgivable that the essential premise of this book is likely incorrect, noticable even to the most casually informed reader, that a great white shark left the ocean for a environmentally hostile freshwater creek. Did it not occur to the author that this is a highly unlikely theory, and would constitute a nearly freak occurence in the natural history of this animal, particularly when there is another species of shark that regularly engages in this behavior and is a known attacker of humans, and is thus a more likely culprit: the bull shark. The bull shark is regularly found far upstream in even great rivers such as the Mississippi, and attacks by this creature are well documented. I understand the author's desire to ride on the coattails of Jaws, but remember Occham's Razor: the simplest solution is often the correct one.
For more insight on this book and it's author, try to catch the National Geographic's "Big Picture" documentary about this book and it's questionable premise, which poses the same competing and far more likely theory about the shark attacks of 1916.
Rating:
Summary: great writing/poor accuracy
Review: Michael Capuzzo is an excellent writer and I wasn't certain why the book had to be semifictionalized. For example, why was the summer Whitehouse transplanted(artificially) from Asbury Park to Spring Lake ? Was it to make the second attack closer to the Woodrow Wilson summer offices ? It's just that the true story is so fantastic on its own without the need for embellishment.
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