FLORENCE-The Florence-Lauderdale Public Library is having a fun event later this month. Stephen Melvin, an English Instructor at UNA and really good speaker, is going to do a talk celebrating the 45th anniversary of the publication of Jaws. Hopefully we won’t need a bigger library!
“This Fish Doesn’t Run”: Jaws at 45 with Stephen G. Melvin
Monday, February 25, 6:00 pm
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
Shark Week. Sy-Fy’s Sharknado series. The Shallows. The Meg. “Baby Shark.” All have followed in the wake of an enormous great white with a taste for human flesh.
In February 1974, Doubleday published Peter Benchley’s debut novel, Jaws. Shortly thereafter, the book would lure up-and-coming director Steven Spielberg. The ensuing phenomenon would spawn three sequels and countless imitators, forever change the way Americans regarded the beach, ignite a cult movement of animals-attack novels and cinema, and inspire its author to dedicate his remaining years to repairing the reputation of sharks after drastically skewing the public perception.
Join Stephen Melvin as he discusses the zeitgeist that led to the story’s creation, the cultural moment that buoyed its breakaway success, and the continuing influence of Jaws on the popular imagination.
Stephen G. Melvin is an instructor of English at the University of North Alabama. In June, he will present “West of Eden: The American Adam and the Loss of Paradise in Animals-Attack Fiction from Jaws to Cujo” at the Conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment in Davis, California. For more information, call 256-764-6564, ext. 128.
