A Sharp Tooth in the Fur

Linda M. Bayley is a freelance writer based in Sudbury, Ontario. She is
the author of Estrangement: Poems.

Thirteen stories, 13 complete universes: that’s what Darryl Whetter
gives the reader in his debut collection. He holds such intimate
knowledge of his characters, and conveys his ideas in such detail, that
I imagined him reinventing the world each time he set out to tell a
story, placing each star in the sky and each particle of soil on the
ground before setting his people into motion.

This work is a great demonstration of the value of walking a mile in
another man’s shoes. Each of the stories brought me someplace I’d
never been before, whether geographically or spiritually, and allowed me
to walk in countless pairs of other people’s shoes. For example,
although I’ve been to Quebec City, I was not there during the World
Trade Organization protests. Before reading “Non-Violent, Not OK,” I
could not have imagined what it would be like to be tear-gassed, or to
have to make a conscious decision about whether I was prepared to do
violence in the name of something I believed in. Before the title story,
I wouldn’t have thought that shopping for lingerie with an
ex-girlfriend might be a viable method for a man to meet someone new.
I’ve never ridden a bike down a flight of stairs, or run a race across
the Confederation Bridge. But thanks to Whetter, I now feel like I know
and understand a little bit about each of these things.

Think of A Sharp Tooth in the Fur as a literary shoe store. Go on, try
on a few pairs, walk around a little. You may find that some of the
shoes chafe at the heels or pinch the toes. That’s not important.
Whetter’s not offering you sensible shoes. He’s offering high heels,
running shoes, workboots. And the chance to understand the people who
wear them.