Review: The Devil's Teeth

The Devil's Teeth
Susan Casey

The Devil's Teeth is at it's heart a book about the fascination we all have for the unknown: for sharks, especially great whites; for the people who study them; for the forbidding seas in which they roam; and for the isolated outposts where they congregate. In the words of E. O. Wilson, "We're not just afraid of predators, we're transfixed by them.... In a deeply tribal sense, we love our monsters." This is certainly the case for Casey, who saw the Farallon Islands once in a documentary and was fascinated by the alien landscape and the predators who lived there. In this book she tells of her own visits to the islands, observing both the scientists who study the sharks and the ones who are there to band the birds; she interweaves narrative about the history of the islands, the setting, the people who make it a sometimes-home and the ones who visit. Her passion and interest in the subject are evident in the book, and they lead to an eventual decision that has implications for the scientists and the sharks. While the reader might not agree with Casey's desire to flout the very rules in place to protect the sharks, one can understand that once the situation had been suggested it was not in her nature to deny this opportunity. Fans of history, shark enthusiasts, and the lay-person who just wants an adventure will find this book to their liking, and will come away with a deeper respect for sharks and for the kind of person one has to be to study them in a place like the Farallon Islands.

I give it a 4 out of 5.


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The Devil's Teeth.

Review: Appetite for Detention

Appetite for Detention
Sloane Tanen

This book was an unmitigated disappointment. Previously reviewed Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same and Going for the Bronze, two of Tanen's other books, were ironically and sarcastically funny, and had a sly way of ferreting out the kinds of things we want to know about others but would never ever ask, a sense of airing one's laundry in a public space. It was therefore with much anticipation that I looked forward to Appetite for Detention; however, it fails to deliver.

Appetite for Detention features the same pipe-cleaner-chickens as Tanen's previous works, and similarly themed issues and insecurities, dolled up this time as high school experiences. The reader follows a loose collection of named chicks (Annelise, Marissa, Edgar, and others) through the trials and tribulations of high school. Some of the vignettes are funny, as is expected of Tanen; others feel forced, and a few are simply silly. Tanen is either unwilling to confront the realities of high school in her usual cynical style, or she would rather dawdle in a world of stereotypes. The book might have been better had it been longer, and had the characters she chose to develop not seem curtailed. Perhaps a return to the adult-themed humor books would be best, though an article in Publisher's Weekly implies that this might be her last effort with her dioramas. In either case, Appetite for Detention isn't up to her previous efforts and might be better left unread.

I give it a 2 out of 5.

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Appetite for Detention