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    Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
    Unavailable
    Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
    Unavailable
    Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916

    Written by Michael Capuzzo

    Narrated by Len Cariou

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Combining rich historical detail and a harrowing, pulse-pounding narrative, Close to Shore brilliantly re-creates the summer of 1916, when a rogue Great White shark attacked swimmers along the New Jersey shore, triggering mass hysteria and launching the most extensive shark hunt in history.

    In July 1916 a lone Great White left its usual deep-ocean habitat and headed in the direction of the New Jersey shoreline. There, near the towns of Beach Haven and Spring Lake--and, incredibly, a farming community eleven miles inland--the most ferocious and unpredictable of predators began a deadly rampage: the first shark attacks on swimmers in U.S. history.

    Capuzzo interweaves a vivid portrait of the era and meticulously drawn characters with chilling accounts of the shark's five attacks and the frenzied hunt that ensued. From the unnerving inevitability of the first attack on the esteemed son of a prosperous Philadelphia physician to the spine-tingling moment when a farm boy swimming in Matawan Creek feels the sandpaper-like skin of the passing shark, Close to Shore is an undeniably gripping saga.

    Heightening the drama are stories of the resulting panic in the citizenry, press and politicians, and of colorful personalities such as Herman Oelrichs, a flamboyant millionaire who made a bet that a shark was no match for a man (and set out to prove it); Museum of Natural History ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols, faced with the challenge of stopping a mythic sea creature about which little was known; and, most memorable, the rogue Great White itself moving through a world that couldn't conceive of either its destructive power or its moral right to destroy.

    Scrupulously researched and superbly written, Close to Shore brings to life a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history. Masterfully written and suffused with fascinating period detail and insights into the science and behavior of sharks, Close to Shore recounts a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history with startling immediacy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 8, 2001
    ISBN9780553755053
    Unavailable
    Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
    Author

    Michael Capuzzo

    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 lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

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    Reviews for Close to Shore

    4/5

    220 ratings23 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Well researched and well written. Better than the movie, Jaws. The real story. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      "Close to Shore" tells me the tale of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks. Capuzzo transports the reader into 1916 by giving a perspective of America at the time. The shark attacks, from the point of view of the people in 1916, were mysterious and unnerving, they were not even sure if some sharks were dangerous to man (dismissing stories of such things as ignorant or superstitious). The narrative builds up slowly to the first attack and is described with loving attention and detail, and achieves great effect by the time the first attack is described.Capuzzo mainly concentrates on the idea that there was only one shark, a great white shark. He ignores the possibility that there could have been more than one shark, possibly a bull shark and not a great white. This detracts from the work a little as it's supposed to be a historical book. That said, the book is an good, page-turning read and I couldn't put it down.
    • 4/5
      Excellently written, this page turner was well worth the time spent reading. I was particularly drawn to it because the New Jersey shore is approximately a two hour drive from where I live, and it contains many good memories of riding the waves, tasting the salt water for the first time, the sounds and smells of the boardwalk, and wonderful family vacations.During the summer of 1916, when vacationing at the "shore" became a new experience, a rouge shark thrown out of the gulf stream into the Atlantic ocean shore, caused five attacks and deaths. Little was known about the great white shark at the time. And those who were "experts" disbelieved that a shark would be capable of chomping off the legs and body parts of human prey.Even the ichthyologist John Treadwell from the New York Museum of Natural History was challenged to confront what he thought was true compared to what actually occurred. The first attack in July of 1916 occurred at Beach Heaven, NJ. The target was a seasoned swimmer, and son of a wealthy Philadelphia physician. From there, the shark hugged the coast northward as a farrm boy in the Matawan Creek who, with his pals frequently took a dip to cool themselves became another target. Not only does the author vividly portray the attacks, but it is obvious that he has done his homework and researched the behavior of the great white! This fascinating true life story occurred at a time when jazz was new, Philadelphia high society carved a niche as New Jersey shore became their playground, while the poor who road the trains to the water for relief from the high temperatures were deemed unfit for the company of the wealthy. Swimming in the ocean was a novelty, and none thought that death could be a part of their experience.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully written and incredibly terrifying!
    • 4/5
      A series of attacks off the Jersey shore caused death, fear and a greater understanding of the Great White shark. Until this series of attacks, scientists had mostly dismissed stories of deadly shark attacks as myths, believing that sharks were incapable of seriously harming humans.The reader can't help but compare the information about sharks we have now to one hundred years ago. That even the director of The Museum of Natural History in 1916 could claim that a shark's jaws weren't strong enough to bite through a human leg seems ludicrous, but he was going on the very little information available to someone even in his position. The sudden popularity in sea bathing, the new opportunities for the average person to travel to the shore by way of train, trolley or motorcar, and the fact that the resort cities were dumping human waste and fish guts into the ocean made it a draw for predators.I would have liked to rate this book higher based on the actual shark accounts, and general shark information. But the author spends too much time on irrelevant information and florid passages. He quotes Walt Whitman and Fitzgerald repeatedly. He re-creates the life of a man named Dr. Eugene Vansant in minute detail over the course of several chapters, telling the reader about each member of Vansant's family, their dining habits, his parenting style... only to find out that it's the man's grownson who was attacked by the shark. The second half of the book moves much faster.This should have been more shark, less padding, but still good information about the habits of Great Whites.
    • 3/5
      From the disaster response reading program, this is a melodramatic page turner, but a well-done melodramatic page-turner. Author Michael Capuzzo is a journalist, so we get a lot of the tradition for this sort of thing – backstories of the doomed and the survivors. Charles Vansant was a doctor’s son and recent Penn graduate; Charles Bruder was the bell captain at a beachfront hotel; Lester Stilwell was a preteen taking a break from his summer job in a basket factory, and Stanley Fisher was a tailor who went to rescue Stilwell. Of course, the shark has no name.
      Being a nerd, I don’t really care about the backstories; that Charles Vansant’s father wore a pocket watch; that Charles Bruder sent money home to his mom in Switzerland; that Lester Stilwell was frail or that Stanley Fisher’s friend were surprised when the amateur athlete took up a career as a tailor. Still, it’s well done; Capuzzo does manage to evoke a summer at the beach in 1916, with ladies in long white dresses promenading along the shore while their bolder girlfriends entered the water and young men showed off their physiques as far as it was possible in a two piece bathing suit. I want to know more about the shark. Alas, that’s still mysterious. The shark is a character and Capuzzo tries to portray its “thoughts” insofar as it had any; but those chapters are unsatisfactory. What’s known is that there were fatal attacks at Beach Haven on July 1, 1916 (Charles Vansant - in three feet of water); at Spring Lake on July 6 (Charles Bruner, about 130 feet from shore); and at Matawan on July 12 (Lester Stilwell and Stanley Fisher, in Matawan Creek, 15 miles from the ocean and in perhaps 8 feet of brackish water). There was a nonfatal attack downstream in Matawan Creek later on July 12; Joseph Dunn’s friends were able to pull him free from the shark. On July 14 Michael Schleisser and John Murphy were fishing in Raritan Bay when they caught something large in their net. This turned out to be a shark; its struggles were so fierce the engine stopped and for a while the boat was pulled backward. The shark then apparently tried to get into the boat; Schleisser hit it on the head with an oar until it died. Schleisser was a taxidermist; the shark was a juvenile great white, about seven feet long and three hundred pounds. Schleisser removed about 15 pounds of flesh and bones from the stomach. Schleisser sent the stomach contents of his shark to Dr. Fredrick Lucas at the AMNH for identification, and Lucas replied “They are parts of the left radius and ulna of[sic] one of the anterior left ribs.” – which fit the description of what was missing from Lester Stilwell when his body was recovered. Nowadays there would be DNA matching but it wasn’t available in 1916.
      The experts of the day, both scientists and fishermen, initially didn’t believe a shark was responsible. And they had no reason to; there had been no documented shark attack north of Cape Hatteras in the entire recorded history of North America. The general belief was that sharks didn’t attack humans; about 20 years before New York sportsman had offered a $1000 reward for proof of a shark attack and there were no takers. Certainly there were rumors from the tropics and even a photograph of what seemed to be a shark engulfing a boy but these were dismissed. Although the eyewitnesses said it was a “fish” that had attacked Vansant, the story was garbled by the time it got to the press. Local fishermen speculated a giant swordfish or a sea turtle might have been responsible; ichthyologists at the American Museum of Natural History confirmed that sharks didn’t attack humans, and couldn’t bite hard enough to sever a bone even if they did attack. After Bruder was killed John Nichols of the AMNH inspected his body; he still didn’t think a shark was involved and decided it must have been an orca. The creek attacks finally convinced people there was a shark; the AMNH scientists retracted their previous position. Locals set out shark patrols, firing at everything that moved and dynamiting the creek and the ocean in the interim. The Coast Guard cutter Mohawk was deployed. Schleisser and Murphy’s catch finally put an end to the panic.
      Capuzzo is pleasantly readable when he talks about life on the beach in 1916; he good at evoking the atmosphere. Elegant ladies in long dresses and huge hats stroll along the boardwalk while their more adventurous sisters don their bathing dresses, bathing trunks, bathing hose, and bathing shoes to enter the water with police matrons ready to arrest anyone who shows too much skin. Young men disport themselves hoping to impress some of the bathing beauties (Their chests, of course, had to be covered but you had the right to bare arms in New Jersey). It being Jersey, mosquitoes are ubiquitous. There’s a war on in Europe but Wilson has kept us out of it.
      The shark is less well handled. The chapters that describe things from the shark’s point of view seem contrived. While Capuzzo uses a lot of primary sources – newspaper articles, college yearbooks, etc. – for the human characters, shark behavior comes from popular works. Popular works are OK as far as they go, of course, but Capuzzo’s speculations and assumptions on why the shark broke precedent and attacked people in New Jersey in 1916 aren’t very convincing. Caught in the Gulf Stream and carried away for normal foraging ground? Phase of the moon? Confused by numerous signals in the water? Capuzzo implies that the same shark was responsible for all the attacks and that it was the shark that Schleisser and Murphy caught, and that that shark was a juvenile great white; that’s the way I’d bet too but a little googling discloses shark experts aren’t completely sure; bull sharks are frequently implicated in attacks on people and are much more comfortable in fresh water. In 1937 a five-foot bull shark was caught in Alton, Illinois, 1750 miles (as the shark swims) up the Mississippi. Makes me kind of nervous about wading in the Platte. Or taking a bath.
      Well, pleasant enough and just the thing for summer beach reading. No pictures; as mentioned references are mostly contemporary for 1916 ambiance but modern popular works for sharks. One good map of New Jersey, but it could use some symbols showing where the attacks took place and the dates.
    • 5/5
      Having grown up on the Jersey Shore and being a history nerd I was surprised I had never heard of these event before. That was why when I got the chance to read [Michael Capuzzo's] [Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916] I was so excited. I really enjoyed the description of places I knew from growing up but described in their heyday as opposed to the dilapidated ruins I remember seeing. [Capuzzo] describes a Jersey Shore of elegance and enjoyment. When it was a status symbol to escape the cities. 1916 was a time of great turmoil with health crisis and a potential war in Europe so people flocked to the shore to escape all this but another danger lurked just off shore.I know others who have read this book and wish they had introduced me to it sooner because it was an enjoyable, interesting and enlightening read of history and nature.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this historical read. It moved a little show in the beginning when introducing the characters, but it picked up after a few chapters.
    • 4/5
      Very well written book about places close to my home 100 years ago. The book describes in detail what West Philadelphia was like in 1916, then the family goes "down the shore" - as we always called it. Bathing in the ocean was just coming into vogue, when a juvenile great white shark lost his way in the Gulf Stream, and started to prey on humans along the beach until he was caught by accident by some fishermen.
    • 4/5
      What makes this book particularly interesting is the period detail: the mores, the social habits, life ( at least along the eastern seaboard among the fairly wealthy.) The author follows the shark as it meanders up the coast ( something that annoyed me was attribution of motivation to the shark, but a minor quibble) and the reactions from the local populace (the general feeling was that the attacks were the work of killer whales and that sharks did not attack people.)

      Shark attacks began to occur along the Jersey shore and then a child swimming and the man who dove in after him were killed by the same great white shark who had swum up the Matawan Creek (called a creek, but it had to be larger than what I usually think of as a creek) during high tide when partly salty ocean water moved inland. Not understanding anything about sharks, who have no flotation gall and sink when dead unlike most fish, the community was immediately aroused to attack with ever kind of imaginable firearm and multiple sticks of dynamite. To no avail.

      John Nichols, an ichthyologist, was fascinated by the reports. Until this time most scientists believed that orcas, killer whales, were the man-eaters and sharks were relatively harmless. They were about to have their minds changed.



    • 4/5
      One of two seminal books on the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks, both of which are excellent. Previous reviews set forth the appeal of this book, which is well written in a style that seems like historical fiction. The appeal, of course, is that the events are well researched and fact based.A minor caveat is that the author's premise is the attacks were the result of a sole juvenile white shark, which is subject to considerable debate. I recommend Richard Fernicola's excellent work entitled Twelve Days of Terror for a fuller explanation of the other theories.
    • 5/5
      In a word: WOW. This book is steeped in research, is entirely factual, and reads just like a novel. The cast of characters is real as are the horrific events surrounding the book's subject. Keeping you on the edge of your seat, the author does such a good job that it makes you think twice about venturing into the ocean again.
    • 4/5
      Close to Shore is a well researched novel about a spate of shark attacks that occurred off the New Jersey shore in 1916. At the time it was believed that sharks did not in fact kill people, which made these attacks even more horrifying to the public. Especially well done are the chapters explaining the biology of the great white shark and what could have caused it to behave in such an abnormal way. If you're a fan of Jaws, this is the real life event that inspired that story and you will not be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      At the turn of the century, American society was just beginning to embrace swimming in the ocean as an acceptable form of recreation. For the first time even, social mores and leisure time coincided allowing for an unprecedented number of people to be at the beach on any given summer day. Of course old mariners told stories of man-eating fish, but science was largely skeptical. The believe at the time was that sharks were very timid and had an extremely weak bite. However, all this changed the summer of 1916 when all up and down the east coast, people were being attacked by a large animal witnesses described as a shark. Still the scientists didn't believe it, but as attacks continued all doubts dissipated. This book faithfully recounts the known facts and examines possible explanations. Whether it was one shark or several, we may never know for sure.
    • 4/5
      This read is as much about the early 20th century as it is about the 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey. It's terrific non-fiction writing. It evokes the era well, while casting the great white in the role of a serial killer while it stalks its prey. A well-researched read. Once finished, you'll see where Peter Benchley drew his inspiration from.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely adored this book. Not only does the author tell you his concept of the shark attacks that happened along the Jersey coast in 1916, but he really puts you into the day. While it takes a while to get into the actual attacks it's important and interesting to know what the life and times were like. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in the times or sharks.
    • 3/5
      Not what I expected - A LOT of background about the life and times of early 1900's - interesting historical stuff (especially if you are from the Jersey Coast), but I really wanted to read about the actual shark attacks . . . which don't happen until almost 1/3 of the book is already read . . . kind of slow . . . glad I read it, but not a "keeper" for me by any means . . .
    • 4/5
      In 1916 a series of shark attacks in New Jersey triggered a nationwide reaction. Capuzzo relates the story of those attacks, tying them together in a narrative that also encompasses the social changes that brought people to the shore for swimming and not just to enjoy the air. His cast of characters not only include the victums but also people in their circle of family, friends and acquiantances, as well as scientists, journalists, politicians and oh yes, the shark. Or sharks, the author carefully notes that there is no absolute evidence that there was only one shark involved. Yet he does present a compeling arguement that points to a single shark. Either way, it doesn't detract at all from the narrative, which in the traditions of good social history tells us as much about what life was like at that time as it does about the actual attacks. Recommended for anyone with interests in sharks or just American history at this time, especially social history. It only failing is it's rather languid style which while perhaps reflecting the slower pace of those times does seem to drag out the story without a balancing reward of information.
    • 3/5
      I'm still shocked I didn't learn about these attacks when I was younger. I grew up in West Belmar, not far from Spring Lake, where the second attack occurred. I now live in Matawan (within walking distance of Matawan Creek), where perhaps the most notorious attacks happened, as the shark who attacked there had to swim up a river to get to the people she (it was most likely a female apparently) bit. The basic story: For twelve days in July 1916, there was a series of shark attacks along the New Jersey coast, from Beach Haven (near Cape May in south Jersey, close to Philly) to Matawan, pretty much the length of the New Jersey coastline. When the attacks started, nobody took them seriously because scientists discounted sailors' stories of shark attacks and did not believe that sharks attacked people. To be fair, shark attack aren't all that common.This book tells the narrative of those twelve days quite well. However, I found the info on the great white a bit repetitive, especially at the beginning of the book. The book also assumes the one rogue shark theory is correct--i.e. that one lone great white was responsible for all the attacks in the twelve days. However, there's no evidence to back that up. Granted, there's not a lot of evidence to back up the theory that it wasn't either, but it seems a bit unlikely to me. It's a lot of distance to cover, and while the author feels that there was probably a dearth of great whites since as large predators they are few in number, I don't think it's unlikely that more than one could have been around. Or that a great white was responsible for the ocean attacks while a bull shark could have been responsible for the Matawan Creek attacks.What I found most lacking in this book was notes. Sure, there's a bibliography, but in a book like this, I want the notes. I think that's the difference between me and the general reading public. In fact, in a review of Twelve Days of Terror, the other book on the same subject, the reviewer mentioned that this was the better book because it didn't get bogged down with facts and notes and such. So, as I did with the Bridget Cleary case, I'll read both books on the subject and decide which I like better. But I can't help admitting I was rather rooting for the shark in this one.
    • 3/5
      I read this because I grew up in the town right next to Beach Haven, the site of the first recorded shark attack in American history. The descriptions of American life at the turn-of-the-century were very interesting. The author also did a nice job of describing each shark attack and the mania surrounding each event. My only criticism would be that some sections of the book were unnecessary and boring, which interrupted and tempered the otherwise heart-pounding intensity of the narrative.
    • 5/5
      What a great read! Capuzzo relates the true story of the rogue shark of 1916 that made its way up the East Coast of the United States. (Apparently Peter Benchley based "Jaws" on stories about this shark.) Before this point in U.S. history people did not generally "bathe" in the ocean; ocean swimming was just beginning to be popular. At the same time, people didn't believe that sharks attacked or ate human beings. One fellow even proved this during his yacht parties by repeatedly jumping into the ocean when sharks were near. If I remember the book correctly, Capuzzo documents newspaper articles scoffing at the notion that the deaths on the east coast were caused by a shark. I highly recommend this book for anyone, history buff or general reader. Note: it is not historical fiction, but I found it just as gripping as any work of fiction due to Capuzzo's storytelling talent.
    • 4/5
      Capuzzo's penned a captivating true story of a man-eating beast and how it changed the public and scientific view of sharks. Humans thought the ocean was their playground, that they had nothing to fear. But all that changed in 1916 on the Jersey shore. Adapted from his adult book (Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence), this book provides an interesting glimpse into life in a different time and it also provides a glimpse into the psyche of a shark. Capuzzo alternates chapters about the human reactions with chapters told from the (possible) point of view of the shark. It's perfect for young marine biologists and shark enthusiasts. Pair it with Peter Benchley's Shark Life: True Stories About Sharks & the Sea, another great book about unraveling the mysteries of great fish in the deep.
    • 4/5
      I was really into shark mania for awhile. This was a historical fiction find on my first trip to Powell's. Was a great read, engaging and easy. Interesting factoids thoughout.