Shark Heart: A Love Story
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This book is a kaleidoscope (positive connotation). It moves between time, characters, storylines, and structure (ex: some chapters are randomly written as play scripts). These threads rotate around a central intriguing conflict: Wren and Lewis are newly married when Lewis is diagnosed with a condition that will transform him into a great white shark. He’ll keep his mind, but his body will transform until he’s a Finding Nemo character.
Right out of the gate, I’m incredibly impressed with how Habeck, the author, jampacks so many metaphors while keeping the narrative entertaining in its own right. I was fully bought into the ‘reality’ that Lewis became a great white shark, and that dynamic was intriguing on its own. I would personally be a little peeved if my husband went shark-mode. Of course, there are so many deeper layers at play– analogies for the toll that illness takes on a partner, how it feels for relationships to come to an end, how disease ravages until you’re no longer the same person, acknowledging the fine line between selfish urges and following your dreams, etc. Truly, the list goes on.
So, it’s a lot. It’s a hard book to read quickly, which is both a testament to the three-dimensional nature of Habeck’s writing and a downside to the experience, as I kept being pulled out of the narrative. Because it’s so emotionally heavy and experimental in style, I had to be in a very specific mood to pick it up, and it took me an unusually long time to complete (subtle flex). Not necessarily a bad thing, just be wary!
Overall, I’m a fan of this book for so many reasons. Habeck has a master’s degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and that’s clearly infused in her writing. She plays around with fate and existentialism in a way that reminds me of my boy Kurt Vonnegut. She doesn’t take things too seriously, and she’s willing to take creative risks, but it’s all in service to a larger, authentic urge to understand more about our place in the world. She’s just so clearly a deeply intelligent person.
Then, we have the John Mulaney of it all. I’m a big Mulaney fan because I have taste. He started posting a monthly Mulaney Reads pick, and Shark Heart was his favorite book of 2023. That’s how I was exposed to it in the first place, and I hope that he’s getting some sort of kickback. I’m not going to look too much into the irony of him promoting a book about the heartbreaking dissolution of a marriage, but let’s just say that Olivia Munn is a stronger woman than ya girl!
I’ll leave you with an excerpt that has haunted me ever since I read it. I think it speaks to Habeck’s ability to, as Mulaney said, lure you in with a wild premise that’s also deeply personal. Shortly after Lewis’ diagnosis, they attended a party with their friends. “Beyond pity, grief, and secret fascination, almost everyone at the party discovered the same private truth: Lewis and Wren’s situation made them feel better about themselves. Afterward, as those in attendance sifted through their own junk drawer of troubles, they would thank the tilted universe it wasn’t their change to bear.” There are layers to this shit!
Zooming out, this book was very deep. Much deeper than most. Deeper than the waters that accommodate great white sharks. Yet… I need to give it 4 out of 5 flames. I’m reluctant here; I feel biased given the fact that I started reading this when I had a newborn, but I do think that the book’s structure was a little too unfocused. The haphazard scope, while intentionally connoting feelings of chaos given the subject matter, just straight up makes it harder to read.
