Name: Bear V. Shark
ISBN: 9780743219471

Bear V. Shark

Chris Bachelder

Paperback

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Given a relatively level playing field -- i.e., water deep enough so that a shark could maneuver proficiently but shallow enough so that a bear could stand and operate with its characteristic dexterity -- who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark?
In this fiercely funny, razor-sharp satire of our media-saturated culture, the sovereign nation of Las Vegas is host to Bear v. Shark II. After a disappointing loss in the first computer-generated match-up, the bear is out for blood. With an essay entitled "Bear v. Shark: A Reason to Live," young Curtis Norman wins a national contest and four tickets to the sold-out event. As the Normans head cross-country in their SUV, they encounter a dizzying barrage of voices weighing in on the upcoming spectacle -- everyone from the Freudians, theologians, pundits, and self-published authors on the radio to the bear and shark fanatics, cultists, and resisters at pit stops along the way. Overwhelmed by factoids and ten-second debates, Mr. Norman grows ambivalent about the impending event and the family with whom he can't seem to connect. Still, the Normans push on to Vegas, toward an apocalyptic, surprisingly emotional ending.

Book Details

Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Publish Date: Nov 12nd, 2002
Pages: 256
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.03in - 5.30in - 0.55in - 0.61lb
EAN: 9780743219471
Categories: • Literary• Humorous - General

About the Author

Chris Bachelder received his MFA from the University of Florida in 2002 and is currently a visiting writer at New Mexico State University. Bear v. Shark is his first novel.

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What people are saying

Brian Trapp

@btrapperkeeper

3 years

Steinbeck Fellow 2021-22. Work in @kenyonreview, @southern_review, @GburgReview, @brevitymag, @NarrativeMag, @Longreads. Repped by @CompassTalentNY

@mmschwartz Tom Drury's The Black Brook. Chris Bachelder's Bear v. Shark or U.S.! or The Throwback. Miriam Toews' All My Puny Sorrows. Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown. I also thought Mantel's Wolf Hall Trilogy was pretty funny.

Aaron Burch is an author.

More extended @barrelhouse universe Burch content today in this interview w/ @housleydave! I shoutout Bachelder's most recent novel, The Throwback Special, a nice bookend to our discussion about his first novel, Bear v. Shark, on today's @Book_Fight https://t.co/xMcLJlePXq https://t.co/jm2awb40rX https://t.co/cegGDmNzzk

Weekly podcast about books, writing, & publishing. Hosted by @mikeingram00 and Tom McAllister

Today! @Aaron__Burch joins us to discuss his novel YEAR OF THE BUFFALO, early literary influences, and Chris Bachelder's BEAR V SHARK. https://t.co/CaVYnuf9y8

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Praise for this book

The New York Times Book Review A roundhouse swing at pop culture and its slavish devotion to spectacle.

Mark Rozzo Los Angeles Times Bedazzling and bewildering...as jarring and addictive as cruising through a hundred channels of cable with the remote on autopilot.

Carmela Ciuraru Newsday Bachelder's mind is...imaginative, playful, and relentlessly agile.

Panio Gianopoulos The Hartford Courant Bear v. Shark is great fun, and heralds the arrival of a gifted satirist, that nearly extinct breed of American writer.

What people are saying

Brian Trapp

@btrapperkeeper

3 years

Steinbeck Fellow 2021-22. Work in @kenyonreview, @southern_review, @GburgReview, @brevitymag, @NarrativeMag, @Longreads. Repped by @CompassTalentNY

Aaron Burch is an author.

twitter.com