Guilty Pleasures: Jaws

Here's one "Guilty Pleasure" from NPR's series that I agree with - Lizzie Skurnick (her book blog is Old Hag) selected Peter Benchley's Jaws.

You're supposed to feel guilty when you secretly like the movie version of a book better than the book itself, but in the case of Jaws — a book I read and reread long before I was allowed to see the film — I'm far more embarrassed to admit I prefer the novel. Because while Jaws the movie is a bone-chilling update on Moby Dick, Jaws the novel is more like Peyton Place by the sea. Everyone swears like a sailor, and the hunt for the shark comes a very distant second to a bunch of hot summer trysts.

I remember reading the book the summer it came out. A good fast read - and it spawned a good movie. That doesn't happen a lot. The book doesn't read like a novelization either - if you saw the film, the book has more and it still works.