Using his notes, interviews, and (don’t we all?) Internet Movie Database, Gottleib tells the behind the scenes version of how Peter Benchley wrote a bestseller, how the rights were acquired by Universal, and then how “Jaws” the Movie came to be. Anyway the book was both informative and enjoyable then and when I saw it on sale, I bought a digital copy as who knows where my paperback is now. I guess the promos did too good a job of scaring me. I first read this book by Carl Gottlieb years ago after I finally watched the film – yes, I was initially too chicken to go with my father and older sister to see the first run release. This expanded edition includes a photo section, an introduction by Benchley, and an afterword by Gottlieb that gives updates about the people and events involved in the film, ultimately providing a singular portrait of a famous movie and inspired moviemaking. After filming was over, with Spielberg’s cooperation, Gottlieb chronicled the extraordinary yearlong adventure in The Jaws Log, which was first published in 1975 and has sold more than two million copies.

Hired by Spielberg as a screenwriter to work with him on the set while the movie was being made, Carl Gottlieb, an actor and writer, was there throughout the production that starred Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. Winner of three Oscars and the highest-grossing film of its time, Jaws was a phenomenon, and this is the only book on how twenty-six-year-old Steven Spielberg transformed Peter Benchley’s number-one bestselling novel into the classic film it became.

Jayne B Reviews / Book Reviews film industry / filmmaking / Movie / non-fiction 2 Comments OctoREVIEW: The Jaws Log: 30th Anniversary Edition by Carl Gottlieb

The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb