Sharp Teeth By Toby Barlow Published by Vintage Books (Vintage U.K. Random House www.vintage-books.co.uk) Reviewed by: Victor Schwartzman “Sharp Teeth”, by Toby Barlow, is an “entertainment”—its main goal is to entertain. Normally, “entertainments” are not reviewed on these pages. Doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy them, but this site is dedicated to outsider writing. “Entertainments” are commercial enterprises. Expect a sequel if sales are good! But one can not make the case that Barlow’s book is an “entertainment”--it is SO non-commercial. Intentionally. Yes, it is a thriller about werewolves in modern Los Angeles. Yep, there is blood that gushes periodically. And there is a romance. And it is published by a mainstream outfit, in fact one of the biggest: Random House (the United Kingdom version). If Dean Koontz had written this, he woulda had to write the review, because no one here would. HOWEVER, would Dean have written his thriller as a 313 page poem?
Yep, for better or verse (apologies) no one could accuse Barlow of going commercial. Verse novels are considered novelties. The mainstream world ain’t likely to be interested in an epic fantasy poem, while the independent poets would sniff their noses, just cause of who published it. Nope, Barlow was not going for the gold you can bank. He was probably trying to pull off a thriller as a long poem; congratulations, pal, you did it. It works because it relies on a strong story that manages to get more muscular as it develops. The commercial prospects are not helped by the fact that most of the characters are unsympathetic. The main werewolf guy, Lark, ain’t a fan of humans, and his plot against them ain’t nice. But there are two other werewolf clans which have their own plots. Of the humans, only Anthony (a dog catcher) is a decent person, and he manages to hook up with the only nice female werewolf around. Not a lot of character development, and like many “entertainments” there is no obvious social or political message. There is good content about human relationships, but not much about political or social issues. Stephen King is one of the very few popular thriller writers who works content and character strongly into his writing. Of course, King hasn’t written a verse novel, either. The werewolves in the novel are not traditional--they are more like fierce dogs, with no obvious supernatural powers. That makes them scarier—they look like that friendly husky sitting at your feet, panting, revealing teeth that could rip your throat into hamburger. And sometimes the werewolves like hanging out as dogs—it’s an easier, pleasanter life. There is a nice subplot towards the end of the book, where Lark does just that, being a companion to an elderly widow. So as a poem is it a pain to read (313 pages!)? Nope, it’s an easy read. Here is a sample, judge for yourself. Lark the werewolf has had himself admitted to a dog pound, and here is listening to the vet on the phone: Afterwards he rests, listening to the vet On the phone carrying the weak end of a fight that slowly escalates. ‘No, I can’t pick that up. It’s you prescription.’ Lark thinks, people have a tougher time working as a group than dogs do. People make for messy packs and awkward teams. ‘And I picked up the laundry last week and the week before that.’ Perhaps because people don’t resort to the decisiveness Of violence quite as quickly as dogs do. ‘Listen, I have a full-time job too.’ Perhaps because they don’t submit to their leader as completely. ‘That’s not what I mean. You don’t understand.’ Perhaps being free of a language is a blessing for dogs. The book is certainly a fun read. A strong story, lots of tension and mystery, just enough humour to make it all work. Certainly anyone with a taste for speculative fiction would find it worth the bucks, but the novel also has an appeal which reaches beyond the “genre” stereotype, partly because it is a poem, partly because it snarls in the face of werewolf conventions.
Last update : 10-09-2008 18:47
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