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'Sharp Teeth' Gives Werewolves an Epic Treatment

In Toby Barlow's debut novel, Sharp Teeth, competing packs of werewolves have plans to take over Los Angeles. But if Barlow's book reads less like science fiction and more like a heroic epic poem, that's because it's written in free verse.

Barlow describes the book as "a ripping yarn with the extra words ripped away ... a graphic novel without the pictures, or a hard boiled novel that's been boiled down to a reduction sauce."

Barlow is executive creative director at an advertising agency in Detroit and a contributor to the literary magazine n+1 and The Huffington Post. An excerpt from Sharp Teeth follows.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Rick Kleffel