Lunch With Books: Wheeling Film Society: JAWS

May 27, 2014
12:00pm - 12:00pm

May 24 – Towngate at 7 (Special Saturday Night Screening): Screening: Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) - 124 mins.

May 27 - Library at Noon: Conversation: Jaws

Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster would be important if for no other reason because of changing forever the way Hollywood does business: it did for beaches what Hitchcock had once done for showers, and it did for cash registers even more than The Godfather had done. Yet to think about Jaws merely as a Hollywood thrill ride calculated to drum up dollars is to miss Spielberg’s artful adoption of many of the cinematic storytelling conventions learned studying Hollywood auteurs like Hitchcock and Ford. Spielberg’s film divides neatly, almost to the second, into two genres: the noir conspiracy thriller (á la Hitchcock) and the threatened-community Western (á la Ford). In hindsight, of course, we understand Jaws for what it truly is: Spielberg’s first masterpiece.

All programs – screenings and conversations – are free of admission charge. Attend as many or as few programs as your schedule allows. All are welcome, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Parental Guidance is recommended for all screenings and conversations.

"Lunch With Books” is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. Bring a bag lunch and enjoy presentations by authors, poets, historians, musicians and a variety of other people. Complimentary beverages are provided. These free programs usually start at noon on Tuesdays in the auditorium on the lower level of the library.

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Feedback from our guests:

“Lunch With Books is an outstanding program — one of the best in the country.” -NPR Journalist Matthew Algeo, The President is a Sick Man

“With a new book in hand, I’ve visited a lot of libraries lately, and I think the Ohio County Public Library is my all-time favorite.” -Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule (National Book Award winner)

“We set a personal attendance record and personal best for the number of books sold!” -Peter Zeranski, Polish Classic Recipes

“I am completely smitten with the Lunch with Books patrons...It’s not always easy to read one’s fiction in public, but this library family provided a sea of welcoming faces filled with warmth, attentiveness, and good will. Their generous laughter and emotional investment helped me to bring my prose fully to life.” -Marie Manilla, Still Life with Plums and Shrapnel

“If I want the best and most attentive and responsive audience I know I will have it at Lunch With Books.” -Jim O'Brien, The Chief and Steeler Stuff 

“This is the best series of its kind that I've seen in all my travels in OH-WV-PA.” -Jim Joyce, The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom, & Wanderings 

“Lunch With Books is the best adult library program that I have seen in the state.” -Bob Barnett, Growing Up in the Last Small Town