This was the January Cousins Book Club selection. Jaws was one of Becky's favorites, so the selection was fortuitous. I've seen the movie so many times I can recite several sections from memory.

The book carries many elements that were removed from the movie, which turned a social commentary into a monster hunt. That's harsh, I know, and I don't mean to disparage the movie - it is one of my favorites. But while the movie and book share a major plot point and many of the characters, the underlying tension between characters in the book is absent from the movie. Infidelity, small-town pressures, mob pressure - little of that appears in the movie.

I'm no prude, but the restaurant scene between the two characters planning a liaison was 'forced'. A male author writing a scene with heavy sexual innuendo (and explicit references) felt a bit off. I'm a guy, and Ellen's inner dialog reads like a guy wrote it. I cringe to think what women think of it. But perhaps I am wrong.

With those comments aside, it is, of course, a great read. Just don't think that because you've seen the movie, you know everything in the book. You don't.