Jaws
October 9th, 2003Today on the Virtual Book Tour:
Jaws was the first PG-rated film that I ever saw. In retrospect, I can see that at age five I was not ready for it.
My mom kept a series of shark attack drawings that I produced over the months following the viewing. Endless crayon renditions of the single fin floating on the water, the remains of mauled swimmers piled up on the beach, and boats splintering apart in the teeth of great whites all read like I was trying to process a horror that could never be integrated by my little second-grade mind.
So, because Dennis Hensley’s Screening Party opens with a screening of this man-verses-nature flick, I am a tad predisposed to connect with the book.
The Screening Party is a sort of diary that Hensley keeps over the course of a year of hosting film-viewing parties with his friends. The book is pleasantly chatty, surprisingly character-driven, and very LA; a perfect light read for people who love movies.
Earlier this week, the VBT’s Dave interviewed Hensley and his friends.