Book Review

The Raw Shark Texts (2007)

EW's GRADE
B+

Details Release Date: Mar 28, 2007; Writer: Steven Hall; Genre: Fiction; Publisher: Canongate

Two years after his girlfriend drowns, Eric Sanderson awakens with a case of amnesia and finds 100-plus letters signed by the mysterious, all-knowing ''first Eric Sanderson'' — a ghost? Or a figment of his imagination? Using the first Eric's writings as a guide, the amnesiac travels to unseen realms like the stream of human thought, an actual ocean complete with sea life and a mystical ship. Steven Hall's The Raw Shark Texts is quirky even for meta-fiction — the novel includes abstract diagrams and flipbooks, and can be confusing. But when he hits his stride, particularly during a climactic man-versus-shark chase on the high seas, Texts is exhilarating. B+

Originally posted Mar 30, 2007 Published in issue #928 Apr 06, 2007 Order article reprints

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