The Language of Sharks

by Pat MacEnulty

The Language of Sharks is about girls eager to discard their innocence, and women yearning to regain it. A college girl named Jenny admits she is in an abusive relationship, and acknowledges her own complicity. A career woman looks back on her dubious past, and her confession to a prospective lover leaves no doubt about her guilt. From the Miami hooker to the suburban housewife, all the protagonists search for meaning in their troubled lives. At times humorous, at other times heart-wrenching, these stories document the ways in which we survive, often in spite of ourselves. The author of the standout Sweet Fire , Pat MacEnulty lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Florida Arts Council.

Genres: Short Stories

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Pat MacEnulty is the author of five books as well as numerous short stories, essays, poems and plays. She is also a teacher, workshop leader, writing coach and freelance editor.

Pat has a Ph.D. from the Creative Writing Program at Florida State University. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and also attended the University of Miami. She is the recipient of several awards for screenplays and fiction writing.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the three-star rating, I mean exactly what the little Goodreads alt-text thing says: "liked it". Pat MacEnulty is without a doubt a good writer, and I remember enjoying her novel Sweet Fire a lot, though I read it too long ago to be able to review it coherently. Short story writers keep trying to convince the world that they're not just wannabe novelists with ADD, that novels and stories are two distinct art forms - and I think that this book proves them right. I get the feeling that MacEnulty is a novelist, not a short story person. She has this insanely intense story to tell (her own, more or less), about addiction, abuse, self destruction and all that good stuff, and in this collection she takes repeated stabs (and believe me, that's what it feels like) at telling that story. But she doesn't seem all that interested in exploring things like language, voice and, well, having fun, which (for me) are what really make short stories cool. So basically, it seems like the stories in this book were a way of building up steam to write the novel - which is really good, so I guess it worked.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short Stories that beats you up, grip your soul and spit you back out and leaves you with a spark of hope.

Make sure you are in the right head space to read this collection. Take your time with it. I've been reading this since April and just finished it cause even I could read so much.

TW: Drug use, Addiction, rape, rape of a minor, drug addiction, abuse, abuse of a minor

That's best of my ability but if you have read this collection please feel free to add if I missed any.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is really awesome about this book is the conversational tone of the language. and in certain stories, the space around the events. as in, she's showing you the space around the event as it takes place, and not the event itself. it's really nice. and a good example of making a big emotional impact by not trying to make it big in the first place.

[FSU Alumni]

Pat MacEnulty (M.A. '86, Ph.D. '95)