A review by wafer
Death at Seaworld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity by David Kirby
2.0
Man, was this one disappointing.
Kirby's style of writing often comes across as needlessly sensational for a lot of this book. For a book trying to make the case against orca captivity, the constant overloaded language comes off as unprofessional journalism. It's one thing to get readers pumped and interested in the information, but you have to be careful to make sure that that information doesn't get over-dramatized in the process.
It's a shame that this is one of the only a few books written to expose SeaWorld's horrid practices. In the end, I'd say that this book is a lot like the popular documentary "Blackfish" in that it's good beginner material for people interested in researching the complications of orca captivity, but I would also recommend much stronger works such as Erich Hoyt's "Orca: The Whale called Killer".
Kirby's style of writing often comes across as needlessly sensational for a lot of this book. For a book trying to make the case against orca captivity, the constant overloaded language comes off as unprofessional journalism. It's one thing to get readers pumped and interested in the information, but you have to be careful to make sure that that information doesn't get over-dramatized in the process.
It's a shame that this is one of the only a few books written to expose SeaWorld's horrid practices. In the end, I'd say that this book is a lot like the popular documentary "Blackfish" in that it's good beginner material for people interested in researching the complications of orca captivity, but I would also recommend much stronger works such as Erich Hoyt's "Orca: The Whale called Killer".