Book #81

81) Barlow, Toby. SHARP TEETH. Harper Collins:2008.

An epic poem of "blood, gore, gristle...and doggie dreams."

Compelling and clever
Dark and brutal
Lycanthropes in LA?
This book reads like a graphic novel
with the images sketched fast and furious in our heads
written in free verse
It is its own kind of beast.

From Publishers Weekly: Barlow's gut-wrenching, sexy debut, a horror thriller in verse, follows three packs of feral dogs in East L.A. These creatures are in fact werewolves, men and women who can change into canine form at will (Dog or wolf? . Lark, the top dog in one of the packs who's a lawyer in human form, has a master plan that may involve taking over the city from the regular humans. Anthony Silvo, a dogcatcher and normally a loner, finds himself falling in love with a beautiful and mysterious woman. A strange small man and his giant partner play tournament bridge and are deep into the drug trade. A detective, Peabody, investigates several puzzling dog-related murders. The irregular verse form with its narrative economies proves an excellent vehicle to support all these disparate threads and then tie them together in the bittersweet conclusion.

numbers

Current weight: 189.4 pounds
Change this week: -4.0
Total Change: -35.6

lovely walking weather

7.5 miles.

Went over to the Aldridge Creek Greenway, starting at the Bailey Cove side and walking to Ditto Landing, plus a bit more at the marina and then back again. I like this route! I'd walked about the first mile of it a few times before (back more than a year ago, when I briefly worked at a daycare over in the area) but this was the first time I did the whole greenway out and back.

I saw a big brown bunny sitting by the path, a heron gliding over the water, and also some ducks and cows. There are some nice stretches of shady canopied greenery where you can almost forget that you're only yards away from houses, roads and whatnot.

Walking through the marina campground made me wistful. I wish I had some friends to go camping with. Not a major wilderness expedition, just tent camping somewhere nice, sitting around a fire until all hours sort of thing.