Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Harper Perennial (2009), Edition: Reprint, 336 pages
Description
"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"--Publisher.
User reviews
LibraryThing member msf59
A pack of feral dogs
roam the hills of East LA.
A closer look reveals, these
are not ordinary dogs but
werewolves. They are searching
for a rival pack. In this
lycanthrope world,
territory is everything.
Caught in the middle of this,
is a kindly dogcatcher and a young
woman he loves, who also may
have
This is a dark, freshly original
tale of survival, told in a free
verse style, that flows like a
moon-lit stream.
roam the hills of East LA.
A closer look reveals, these
are not ordinary dogs but
werewolves. They are searching
for a rival pack. In this
lycanthrope world,
territory is everything.
Caught in the middle of this,
is a kindly dogcatcher and a young
woman he loves, who also may
have
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abandoned her pack.This is a dark, freshly original
tale of survival, told in a free
verse style, that flows like a
moon-lit stream.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
This is a novel written entirely in free verse. About werewolves. Seriously, absolutely nothing about this should work, and yet, somehow, absolutely everything does. The writing flows beautifully and effortlessly,and features some terrific imagery and some real emotional insight, so that what at
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first seems a faintly ridiculous gimmick quickly comes to feel like the most natural and fitting style of storytelling imaginable. And the story it's telling is a good one, a surprising page-turner with a satisfying plot and well-rendered characters. How the heck it ever occurred to someone to write this thing, let alone taking a chance on publishing it, I have no idea, but it makes me happy that they did. Show Less
LibraryThing member andreablythe
A good-hearted dogcatcher falls for a beautiful woman, who is more than what she seems. The leader of a werewolf pack schemes and makes plans. Small time drug dens are being preyed upon by what appears to be wild animals. A vicious, bloody betrayal occurs, setting off a tumbling, Ruberg machine of
This noir inspired werewolf story is captivating from the beginning and builds to a crescendo by the end. I've read several "novels in poems" and have general found books, in which prose is strung out in lines to pass it off as poetry. Sharp Teeth is refreshing in that it tells a story with a complex assortment of characters and weaves together the intricate threads of varying storylines, while still managing to actually be poetry. The writing is concise and sharp, every word made valuable, and the lines breaks create an actual rhythm to the reading. It has a beat to it, and whether the lines are short and clipped or long and easy, the choice of line breaks is purposeful and necessary. It actually adds to the reading.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is the following:
“And were you cornered by her,
eye to eye,
you would see that
there are still some watchful creatures
whose essence lies unbound by words.
There is still a wilderness.”
So, yeah, this book is all kinds of awesome.
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events. This noir inspired werewolf story is captivating from the beginning and builds to a crescendo by the end. I've read several "novels in poems" and have general found books, in which prose is strung out in lines to pass it off as poetry. Sharp Teeth is refreshing in that it tells a story with a complex assortment of characters and weaves together the intricate threads of varying storylines, while still managing to actually be poetry. The writing is concise and sharp, every word made valuable, and the lines breaks create an actual rhythm to the reading. It has a beat to it, and whether the lines are short and clipped or long and easy, the choice of line breaks is purposeful and necessary. It actually adds to the reading.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is the following:
“And were you cornered by her,
eye to eye,
you would see that
there are still some watchful creatures
whose essence lies unbound by words.
There is still a wilderness.”
So, yeah, this book is all kinds of awesome.
Show Less
LibraryThing member janeajones
Sharp Teeth, a novel about werewolf packs in Los Angeles written in blank verse, is a cracking good read -- I couldn't put it down.
Three separate packs of lycanthropes are vying for power in LA. One is made up of lawyers and professionals, led by Lark Tenant, infiltrating their way into the city's
The poetry is very loose -- I'm not sure how poetic it actually is, but it's very readable. And there are moments of suggestion:
So get this straight
it's not the full moon.
That's as ancient and ignorant as any myth.
The blood just quickens with a thought
a discipline develops
so that one can self-ignite
reshaping form, becoming something rather more canine
still conscious, a little hungrier.
It's a raw muscular power,
a rich sexual energy
and the food tastes a whole lot better.
Three separate packs of lycanthropes are vying for power in LA. One is made up of lawyers and professionals, led by Lark Tenant, infiltrating their way into the city's
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power structure. The Long Beach pack is a thug-like group led by Ray and his bitch Sasha, making cash by selling stolen cargo and taking out small meth cookers for a price. The final pack is a small group of surfers centered around Annie and Palo, bent on revenge for past wrongs. Mix in a Pasadena bridge tournament, a Mexican drug cartel, a dog-catcher in love, and an obsessed policeman -- and a highly entertaining, werewolfian mystery ensues.The poetry is very loose -- I'm not sure how poetic it actually is, but it's very readable. And there are moments of suggestion:
So get this straight
it's not the full moon.
That's as ancient and ignorant as any myth.
The blood just quickens with a thought
a discipline develops
so that one can self-ignite
reshaping form, becoming something rather more canine
still conscious, a little hungrier.
It's a raw muscular power,
a rich sexual energy
and the food tastes a whole lot better.
Show Less
LibraryThing member smammers
This is a new book that caught my eye as we were putting it out on the shelf at work. It's something that feels genuinely new and fresh, and I loved every minute of reading it. It's a modern-day werewolf story, essentially, but without all the traditional werewolf lore. Oh yeah, and it's written in
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prose. I thought that would bother me, as I normally despise poetry, but it flowed really well for this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member LiteraryFeline
I actually had no idea Sharp Teeth was a novel-in-verse until it arrived in the mail and I was thumbing through it. Rather than be put off by the unexpected format, I decided to embrace it. While not beautiful in prose, Toby Barlow does have a gift for language. The author takes a more
The story itself is quite entertaining and suspenseful. Anthony is a down and out man who takes a job with animal control when no other options work out. He quickly finds he prefers the dogs to his coworkers. The grisly murder of one of the other dogcatchers draws the attention of the police, in particular Detective Peabody who soon finds himself on an unexpected trail that has attracted the attention of a mysterious caller. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Lark’s pack are trying to make their way as best they know how after being attacked by a new rival gang. It is down to a game of survival. The rising gang of lycanthropes holds quite a few of the cards; they have no bones about leaving carnage in their wake. A young woman is desperate to get revenge for the devastation wreaked on her pack many years before, and a powerful man is determined that the revenge instead will be his. Each of the story threads running through the novel are interconnected, weaved together seamlessly. They all come together for a hair-raising finale that had me gripping the book tight in my hand.
The characters themselves are what make the story; they are complex and broken, and yet still very powerful by their very nature, even dangerous. Each in their own way they are trying to find a way to survive and come out on top. I was most drawn to the character of Annie, a young surfer girl who had suffered much, and yet she still kept coming back, trying to regain what she once had lost and build anew.
Sharp Teeth is a remarkable novel. It is daring in style and full of soul. And to think I might not have even requested the book had I known it was a novel-in-verse. I look forward to seeing what else Toby Barlow has to offer in the future.
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straightforward, at times harsh, approach, which matches the dark and gritty tone of the book. It is quite effective and perfect for the tale the author has to tell, and it flows naturally.The story itself is quite entertaining and suspenseful. Anthony is a down and out man who takes a job with animal control when no other options work out. He quickly finds he prefers the dogs to his coworkers. The grisly murder of one of the other dogcatchers draws the attention of the police, in particular Detective Peabody who soon finds himself on an unexpected trail that has attracted the attention of a mysterious caller. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Lark’s pack are trying to make their way as best they know how after being attacked by a new rival gang. It is down to a game of survival. The rising gang of lycanthropes holds quite a few of the cards; they have no bones about leaving carnage in their wake. A young woman is desperate to get revenge for the devastation wreaked on her pack many years before, and a powerful man is determined that the revenge instead will be his. Each of the story threads running through the novel are interconnected, weaved together seamlessly. They all come together for a hair-raising finale that had me gripping the book tight in my hand.
The characters themselves are what make the story; they are complex and broken, and yet still very powerful by their very nature, even dangerous. Each in their own way they are trying to find a way to survive and come out on top. I was most drawn to the character of Annie, a young surfer girl who had suffered much, and yet she still kept coming back, trying to regain what she once had lost and build anew.
Sharp Teeth is a remarkable novel. It is daring in style and full of soul. And to think I might not have even requested the book had I known it was a novel-in-verse. I look forward to seeing what else Toby Barlow has to offer in the future.
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LibraryThing member jordanmagill
One may at first be put off by the notion of a werewolf novel as an epic poem. In the minds of many - too many - poetry is an aged, calcified form, difficult to penetrate, and approached not for fun but out of a sense of intellectual obligation. Yet any such concerns should be immediately thrust
Barlow's plot, at its surface, is a straight forward modern werewolf tale - a pack living in LA under the command of Lark have big plans, having to do with dog pounds. From there the story branches our into many directions - a love story between a werewolf woman and the novel's protagonist, several survivors of a decimated pack dealing with their loneliness, and other wolves hungry for the vengeance of blood. The poetry in which all of this comes is delivered in language at once subtle and raw, visceral as Barlow's topic and modern his book's setting. For example, when writing about a lovers wonder about how well he knows his love.
He worries that this
Is beginning to feel like
driving a car through the mountains,
finding a great song on the radio
and then as you pass out of its range
hearing it flicker and fade.
Snap, pop and
then its gone.
Or another musing
Tomorrow she knows
the tactics will have to change
her luck has held three times
and Lark has always said,
luck is stupid as a cow
and blind as a bat.
What would you do
to protect the love you have?
Would you kill?
Would you hunt to kill?
Would you kill without mercy?
And if you wouldn't
Then how precious is your love?
Yet for all of this pretty poetry, Barlow never forgets the tradition from which he springs, that Homer and Shakespeare never meant for their audiences to be left to a narrow band of dutiful intellectuals, but saw themselves as appealing to a mass audience. And so, like these predecessors works, "Sharp Teeth" offers no shortage of breathtaking violence, and lurid bawdy details, and fine humor (a group of dogs hustling cards being my personal favorite). Barlow milks moon and dog imagery for every drop of entertainment, all delivered to the reader in a spectacular package.
Readers will recognize much of "Sharp Teeth" as familiar, a crime noir taken to the next level, with all of the twists, turns, and character archetypes one might expect. The crime boss down on his luck plotting his way back, his scheming second in command, the beautiful dame who isn't sure what love is, the haggard cop who thinks once too often about eating his gun. Yet again, Barlow's rich vivid language and his mastery of imagery bring all of these things to us in a way that is both fresh and rewarding.
Readers who allow themselves to be put off by thoughts of epic poetry will be the loosers, never having enjoyed the bite of "Sharp Teeth."
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aside by any potential reader of Toby Barlow's clever, compelling debut novel, "Sharp Teeth." Barlow's plot, at its surface, is a straight forward modern werewolf tale - a pack living in LA under the command of Lark have big plans, having to do with dog pounds. From there the story branches our into many directions - a love story between a werewolf woman and the novel's protagonist, several survivors of a decimated pack dealing with their loneliness, and other wolves hungry for the vengeance of blood. The poetry in which all of this comes is delivered in language at once subtle and raw, visceral as Barlow's topic and modern his book's setting. For example, when writing about a lovers wonder about how well he knows his love.
He worries that this
Is beginning to feel like
driving a car through the mountains,
finding a great song on the radio
and then as you pass out of its range
hearing it flicker and fade.
Snap, pop and
then its gone.
Or another musing
Tomorrow she knows
the tactics will have to change
her luck has held three times
and Lark has always said,
luck is stupid as a cow
and blind as a bat.
What would you do
to protect the love you have?
Would you kill?
Would you hunt to kill?
Would you kill without mercy?
And if you wouldn't
Then how precious is your love?
Yet for all of this pretty poetry, Barlow never forgets the tradition from which he springs, that Homer and Shakespeare never meant for their audiences to be left to a narrow band of dutiful intellectuals, but saw themselves as appealing to a mass audience. And so, like these predecessors works, "Sharp Teeth" offers no shortage of breathtaking violence, and lurid bawdy details, and fine humor (a group of dogs hustling cards being my personal favorite). Barlow milks moon and dog imagery for every drop of entertainment, all delivered to the reader in a spectacular package.
Readers will recognize much of "Sharp Teeth" as familiar, a crime noir taken to the next level, with all of the twists, turns, and character archetypes one might expect. The crime boss down on his luck plotting his way back, his scheming second in command, the beautiful dame who isn't sure what love is, the haggard cop who thinks once too often about eating his gun. Yet again, Barlow's rich vivid language and his mastery of imagery bring all of these things to us in a way that is both fresh and rewarding.
Readers who allow themselves to be put off by thoughts of epic poetry will be the loosers, never having enjoyed the bite of "Sharp Teeth."
Show Less
LibraryThing member xollo
Lycanthropic gangs of L.A.! In free verse! Violent and beautiful. Quite a surprise. While it was sometimes hard to track the various characters/dogs, the three gangs and their plans AND the characters who get mixed up in those plans, the movement of this novel is divine. It moves like a pack, it
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thinks like a pack. The line between dog and man becomes so deliciously, bloody blurred, by the end, one begins to look at the world differently, and isn’t that what any great book should do? Show Less
LibraryThing member Wubsy
I found the concept of this book an interesting one, and thought that Barlow carried it off very well. The poetry was at times harrowing, and at other points very tender. I thought the story was weaved together nicely, and the poetic brevity of the lines made the images of brutality more incisive
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than they might otherwise have been in prose. I commend the willingness of Barlow to try something different and he succeeds admirably in my opinion. Show Less
LibraryThing member kpasternack02
Unique, interesting. Poetic. Vivid and violet. A quick read, well-suited for a graphic novel, but so well written that you don't need the pictures. At its core a book about the human condition - from the point of view of werewolves - ha!
LibraryThing member misericordia
When I found this book I thought the whole idea of the prose form for a story about dog catchers and Werewolves in contemporary LA was great. The novelty of the “prose” wore out in 10 pages. Prose form or not, at first the book was good, lots of solid character, interesting locations, no over
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used cliché. I mean werewolves playing bridge. I never really saw that one coming. However, I really had a hard time with werewolves playing a bridge tournament for 6 weeks? I don’t personally play bridge but, I am pretty sure most tournaments last two or three day tops. OK so faulting a book about werewolves for it accuracy of bridge torments sounds pretty picky. But the real problem is this, the author comes up with a large list of unique characters put them in unexpected situations and then nothing else happens. The author pushes the characters along a ragged plot line ignorant of where they are going. He wraps that ignorance is mystery and intrigue which he tries to pass off as mood. The conclusion of book felt like the author had become so attached to his characters that he wrapped each one up in a neat little packages with pretty bows on them. The ending becomes the biggest cliché of the book! I was surprise he didn’t end the book with phrase “…and they all lived happily ever after!” This book was sad, it squander lot of good ideas. It never really dealt with any question deeper than. “Hey, what’s the plan?” And in the end it couldn’t even answer that. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cygnus555
Like no other book I have read. I burned through this in a matter of days (which is something for me since I normally read slowly). Having a thriller written in poetry was at first a bit odd... but then I fell into it and could not let it go. The beauty of the language and the organization of the
oh yeah, take good care of your dog.
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words on the page gave weight to what would normally be just another paragraph of a story. Suddenly, simple sentences about events were so much more meaningful when dribbled out in a creative way. Brilliant book. I only hope for a sequel. oh yeah, take good care of your dog.
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LibraryThing member elizabethholloway
There are werewolves in Los Angeles, and they don't just change during the full moon. They can change at will into powerful killing machines. They run in packs and operate like gangs or the mafia--plan illicit schemes, working as hired muscle in drug wars, warring with each other for territory.
But
Barlow does a masterful job of creating tense, violent page turner, while also portraying the humanity of these creatures so that we empathize with them. For older high school students.
But
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there's another side to these werewolves as well. They are also people, often wounded, lonely people who long for a pack and who revel in the dog pleasures of eating, sleeping and sex.Barlow does a masterful job of creating tense, violent page turner, while also portraying the humanity of these creatures so that we empathize with them. For older high school students.
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LibraryThing member Yestergirl
Sharp Teeth is a book written entirely in free verse. At first it was hard to get use to reading a story written this way, but soon the short sweet sentences seemed like lyrics from a song and were quite soothing to the mind. The story has two theme's inter-related here. First there is the love
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story of Anthony the reluctant dogcatcher and the girl. And secondly the story of world domination by werewolves. Although there is so much in-fighting between the packs that domination never happens. But at least we get the "happily ever after" ending that we really need to end the story properly. I would not say it was the best read in the world, but I enjoyed most of it. The middle seemed a bit slow and disjointed, but Barlow brought all the storylines together at the end in a believable well written way. Show Less
LibraryThing member amf0001
I really enjoyed this book. I read a lot of werewolf/ urban fantasy books, so perhaps was not as startled as some reviewers by the idea that werewolves merit a book. And I did find quite a bit of the poetry to be more short sentences that anything of a higher literary order. But there were scenes
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and snippets I really liked, and plot twists and turns that I enjoyed. And although the tone was so cool and detatched, when the hero ached, so did we, which is always the sign of a good book. Highly recommeneded, interesting and a keeper. Show Less
LibraryThing member miyurose
Wow, am I glad the front of this caught my eye at the library. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, between the graphic novel comparisons and free verse format. Happily, I found the verse to be almost mesmerizing, sucking me and and pulling me along until before I know it, another 50 pages have
Tomorrow she knows
the tactics will have to change
her luck has held three times
and Lark has always said,
luck is stupid as a cow
and blind as a bat.
What would you do
to protect the love you have?
Would you kill?
Would you hunt to kill?
Would you kill without mercy?
And if you wouldn’t
Then how precious is your love?
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passed. The story itself is actually pretty classic… a struggle between the bad guys and the kinda good guys, with a love story woven in between. It’s hard to choose just one excerpt. Overall, I was just really, really impressed.Tomorrow she knows
the tactics will have to change
her luck has held three times
and Lark has always said,
luck is stupid as a cow
and blind as a bat.
What would you do
to protect the love you have?
Would you kill?
Would you hunt to kill?
Would you kill without mercy?
And if you wouldn’t
Then how precious is your love?
Show Less
LibraryThing member cassiopia_cat
Sharp Teeth was quite an innovative read for me as I had never read prose written as verse before. I was dubious about finishing the book, after I had begun, but once involved with the story and characters I frankly found it to be quite entertaining. I was disappointed to finish it and will be
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looking for the next book by Toby Barlow. Show Less
LibraryThing member belljargurl
Unique story about modern-day lycanthropes where their individual packs are now the equivalent of waring LA gang members. It took about 10 pages for my eyes to adjust to the prose as it is written in verse. I'd like to give this book a rousing thumbs up, but I really can't. Barlow kept introducing
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more characters and their storylines never developed. Same thing with the plot. I kept waiting for something to happen. It never did. Show Less
LibraryThing member safetygirl
This book was recently nominated for an Alex Award - meaning it was an adult book that teens would enjoy reading. I don't know if I'd recommend it for teens. They'd have to be pretty mature. But it's definitely an enjoyable read for adults. I loved the prose style. Had only read Ellen Hopkins
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novels in this style before. I loved LA setting and how something as unreal as werewolves could fit into such a realistic book. I was bothered by the one-bitch-per-pack rule. Most of the women did not do well in this novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member bwoodreader
Too violent for me, and didn't suck me in.. Stopped reading after 80 pages. I didn't really care about the future f the characters. But my husband LOVED it. I can see how people would like it, and I will recommend it to some of the boys especially, but I didn't love it.
LibraryThing member cnolasco
I was excited to read "Sharp Teeth" after it won the Alex Award in 2009 and reading a brief description of it online. When I first choose this book to read, I had no idea that is was written as poetry, so that threw me off a bit, and I really had a hard time understanding what exactly was going on
Once I got the hang of the story, I was mildly entertained. I mean, gangs of werewolves in L.A, cool, right? Well, the basis of the book is cool, but it sort of lacks something. I never really felt anything for the characters. And with the drugs and sex and violence, I'm not really sure who I would recommend this book to.
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for the first 40 pages. The author throws in a lot of different characters and jumps around quite a bit, so it took me awhile to get comfortable with the characters and plot.Once I got the hang of the story, I was mildly entertained. I mean, gangs of werewolves in L.A, cool, right? Well, the basis of the book is cool, but it sort of lacks something. I never really felt anything for the characters. And with the drugs and sex and violence, I'm not really sure who I would recommend this book to.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
fiction (crime werewolves/lycanthropes in modern Los Angeles). This is written in verse, but a reasonable, flowing type of verse rather than that forced,
"I'm going to arrange
words awkwardly on the page
and then call it:
poetry."
Which I have seen way too many times in books. Not to worry, this one
This increases the appeal for reluctant readers/teens (Alex Award winner!), though the action-packed supernatural plot should be enough. It's not super graphically violent compared to say, Jo Nesbo, but there are definitely violent acts in here that aren't dwelled upon overmuch, as well as references to "adult relations" and not infrequent swearing, and some drug activity.
"I'm going to arrange
words awkwardly on the page
and then call it:
poetry."
Which I have seen way too many times in books. Not to worry, this one
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does a decent job of it.This increases the appeal for reluctant readers/teens (Alex Award winner!), though the action-packed supernatural plot should be enough. It's not super graphically violent compared to say, Jo Nesbo, but there are definitely violent acts in here that aren't dwelled upon overmuch, as well as references to "adult relations" and not infrequent swearing, and some drug activity.
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LibraryThing member mephit
An unusual book, because it's written in verse format. It surprised me when I opened it and would have stopped me buying it from the charity shop had I looked inside, but that gut-reaction would have deprived me of a most enjoyable read. A couple of pages in, and I no longer thought about it and
On the whole I enjoyed the book a lot, although I wasn't all that comfortable with the depiction of the female characters.
It was an interesting take on werewolves and an unusual format, which really worked.
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was absorbed.On the whole I enjoyed the book a lot, although I wasn't all that comfortable with the depiction of the female characters.
It was an interesting take on werewolves and an unusual format, which really worked.
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LibraryThing member woodge
This is a novel in "free verse" which apparently means that the text has the first-glance appearance of being in the form of a poem but there aren't any rhymes. Whatever. It reads like novel with lean prose and it's a fast read. It's a story about a dogcatcher named Anthony and various gangs of
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people who just happen to be werewolves — weredogs, actually. These packs are in the midst of a various turf wars which also involve meth labs. One of the female weredogs takes a serious liking to Anthony but doesn't want him to know her secret. There's also a mystified cop trying to figure out what the hell is going on. The story's set in Southern California, present day and is by turns romantic, exciting and grisly. It's quite a cool read actually. I think I went through it in about four days of riding the train. (And I showed some restraint by actually borrowing this one from the local library.) Woof! Show Less
LibraryThing member sumik
A werewolf story told in verse. It was fun to read but something were a bit more difficult to "get" due to the form.
Subjects
Awards
Shirley Jackson Award (Nominee — Novel — 2007)
Alex Award (2009)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Winner — Horror — 2009)
Spinetingler Award (Winner — 2009)
Language
Original language
English