The last time I was watching "Jaws" with my husband in the backyard of our rented house in Southhampton, I had just purchased the namesake book the afternoon before in a small thrift store in Amagansett. Not really realizing then that it had been a bestseller back in 1974 for a very good reason.

The movie based on this "Novel Of Relentless Terror" became young director Steven Spielberg´s first blockbuster. It had knocked me out the first time I saw it.

Because, just like Alfred Hitchcock managed to kill the innocence of relaxed showering with "Psycho", Spielberg spoiled the fun of late night swimming in the ocean forever.

You know what? The book is even better! Get it before you enter any sea this summer, vintage copies are available at ebay.com, new versions are still availble at your local bookstore - a classic never gets out of style.