Jaws: Memories from Martha's Vineyard: A Definitive Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Greatest Suspense Thriller of All Time

I’m very familiar, not only with the first edition of this book, but now with this edition. I’m also very familiar with the actual making of the movie jaws. A number of times I’m quoted in this book and sometimes at length. This book is a comprehensive rendition of the actual history of the making of Jaws in a narrative form. It captures the story as told by many people who actually made the movie as well as people who were observing, reporting or contributing in one fashion or another of the making of this film. This book is really beautifully made and put together. There are literally hundreds of great photos and an accurate narrative of the making of the movie as it was going on. The skill of the author in both writing the text and compiling the stories in pictures was a landmark effort. All other books about any other movie will be gauged by the effort that was put in on this book. It obviously is a labor of love, the way the pictures are presented is just incredibly beautiful and it’s well worth examining in great detail. This movie has stood the test of time and literally almost everyone on the planet has seen the movie over the past 50 years. There are a lot of hard-core fans of Jaws and this book.if they don’t have it already , would make a fantastic gift. There’s new information and new pictures in the book and the way the story is presented reads more like a history book than a coffee table book. I highly recommend this version to everyone. It’s an unbeatable gift!

My dad is a huge Jaws fan and is also 100% sick of me gifting books for every holiday.. he loved this one. Couldn’t stop looking through it. I loved it too! So many photos and so much story behind the movie and the making of it. Definitely worth it!

The book is very detailed. I a fan of the movie and the book. Saw movie when I was five. In 1989. My dad, uncle, and rented it. I wanted to watch it again right after it we finished it. I eventually went on to read the book. What I like about this book is all the information in it. So much more than other book I have about the making of the movie. This is the only one I need. But I will not part with any of many Jaws collections. When I think of a coffee table book, I always picture books that look nice and are strictly decor. Nothing else. Nothing interesting to read. So I will call this a coffee table book. It’s an incredible book filled with information and never seen quotes, pictures, and other details about the movie that was doomed to fail, but became a box office hit.

Okay, I've read (and no doubt you also have read) the negative comments regarding this being a pricey "paperback." The term "paperback" is not accurate for this book. If you're like me, and you enjoy reading about the makings of movies, then you probably have also purchased one of J.W. Rinzler's "Definitive Making Of" Star Wars books. Just to give you an idea of the real size and overall presentation of this book, I will say that it's identical to a softcover version of one of the Rinzler books. Even down to the thickness of the pages, the overall feel of the book. In other words, it's worth it; you won't feel jipped after buying it. Now, on to content. Again, much like the Rinzler Star Wars books. The font is small, and there's lots of text jammed into the corners when the pages are filled with images. Yes, this book has a LOT of great images, but it is NOT a picture book. This thing isn't one of those D&K books that you receive and are totally bummed out that it's just a hyped-up book full of pics you've seen before. This book a.)features images NEVER seen before, and b.) it's got plenty of text/captions to prevent it from becoming just a picture book. I've read both the old "Jaws Log" as well as Edith Blake's book more than once. At the beginning of this book, the author indicates that he,too, had read these books over and over. He intentionally set out to make a book that brought more to us than those two had done. This book is THOROUGH, giving you stories of how some of the extras got hired. There are images of the shark(s) being built that you've never seen before. This book feels like it's taking its time to tell this story, which is refreshing, instead of lazily rushing through it all, jamming hundreds of pics in there to hide a lack of content. I recommend this to any Jaws fan, to any Spielberg fan, to any fan of behind-the-scenes Hollywood. Awesome.

This is not a traditional making-of book nor does it try to be. It's what its title indicates--memories from Martha's Vineyard--and it's great. I saw Jaws when it came out in LA (with the quickly cut estuary shots of kids getting eaten, which traumatized my twelve year old self) and was forever changed. Reading this book brought back all the innocence of those times. Not only does it present hundreds of facts and trivia about the film, along with hundreds of photos, but it also re-creates the feeling of 1974-75; the general culture, the attitudes, etc. I was not a Jaws expert before reading the book (and am still not), though I'd devoured Gottlieb's book after the film came out (and other rip off "tie-in" books), so was really happy to learn so much about the locals who played parts in front of and behind the camera; the deleted scenes; and the enormous drama around the various mechanical sharks. Without Bob Mattey and Lynn Murphy, at least as the book tells it, there would certainly be no Jaws. But no one should buy the book expecting interviews with the stars, director, or producers. Except for Joe Alves and a few other key production people, the book faithfully concentrates on telling the story of the Martha Vineyard residents--and reproduces quite a few articles from the local newspaper to nice effect by Edith Blake. But that doesn't mean Spielberg, Robert Shaw, Dreyfuss, Scheider, et al aren't there--stories are told about them and they are in quite a few behind the scenes photos, which tell their own mute but expressive stories. And there are a lot of photos--frankly, I know a few book designers who would have never let some of these photos into their books, as the photos are sometimes so bad as to be comical--but it doesn't matter. The book is like a family album and those photos play their role; and they are balanced by lots of much better photos. (My only real complaint--and something that could be fixed in reprints--is that the backgrounds behind some of the text should be ghosted for improved legibility.) But all in all, I didn't want the book to end I was having so much fun reading it. A unique book--I highly recommend it to Jaws fans but also to anyone interested in 1970s cinema and what it was like to film on real locations with real, massive, analog effects. There's nothing like them.

Calling all fans of Jaws! The book is an outstanding account of the making of Jaws. If you enjoy great pics, great writing, and behind the scenes trivia, you will love this book.

I've had this book in my cart for years, the main reason I finally bought it was from reading the reviews, they were all very positive, and this one is also. This isn't a book about how Hollywood made the movie (that's 'The Jaws Log'), it's about how a very tight coastal community (can't get much tighter than an island) dealt with the influx of Hollywood into their quiet lives, which might sound pretty boring, but since Speilberg has a penchant for using locals for smaller parts there a lot of very cool, sweet, and funny anecdotes, not to mention photos galore. I'm not anywhere near done with this book because it's really densely packed, but I don't know if I'll ever really be done with it because I'm sure I'll look through it over and over again (and probably find new things each time). It's big, it's heavy, and if you're a Jaws fan you'll love it, if you're a making-of fan you'll love it, and if you're a fan of both you may as well click 'buy now', you won't regret it. My small nitpick is that because it is big and heavy the spine will probably crack if you attempt to lay it out too flat, the price to pay for having too much Jaws crammed into one book I guess.

I have read many books on making of movies for many years so I know a lot about movies and making them. This book has got to be one of the best ever written about the subject. It takes you through the whole film from start to end and shares everything that went into making the film become a reality. You will learn a wealth of information of how and what goes on in making a film come to screen. You will see how what looks like one simple location scene in a film can be various locations very far apart from each other. You will learn about all the permits and restrictions needed and having to follow on location from working on beaches and water and islands to construction of buildings, props, billboards, protection of beaches, sand dunes, and so much more red tape. About daily cost and feeding rules for cast and crew. Learn what it takes when things are done for real without CGI how weather and water and tides and boats on the horizon effect everything before the digital age could make everything different but at a cost of what looks real and fake like today where most is done in CGI compared to really building it or doing it. No other movie book except Jaws 2 The Making of a Hollywood Sequel that I have red went into so much detail about unions, permits, restrictions, pay, feeding, cast, crew, props, etc...A true full account of every detail it takes and took to make a movie from start to finish. One of the best excellent books ever to learn the entire movie making process from start to finish.

Great book for fans of Jaws

JAWS en alle inside info, mooi document!

I've got all three releases of this superb book. Finally a beautiful hardcover version with extra unseen photos. Treasure.

豪華本でイラスト、写真と満載で紙質も良く、英語を読まなくてもまあまあ楽しめます。私は多少読めますが、読めない人も満足できると思います。ブルーレイのメイキングまで見た人には内容がすぐに理解出来るでしょう。いつも思いますが海外のこのようアート本は紙、ページの割には安い。逆に日本は同じくらいのクオリティーならなんであんなに高い？と思いました。

Bel ouvrage (texte très documenté et photos de grande qualité) pour un prix modéré