"Hollywood Blockbusters": Table of Contents and Sample Chapter (on "Jaws")

SUMMARY FROM THE BACK COVER
Why do Jaws, Field of Dreams, The Big Lebowski, and The Godfather remain strikingly popular in this age of fragmented audiences and ever-faster spin cycles? Hollywood Blockbusters argues that these films continue to captivate audiences because they play upon underlying tensions and problems in American culture, much like the myths that anthropologists study in non-Western contexts. In making this argument, the authors employ and extend anthropological theories about ritual, kinship, gift giving, power, egalitarianism, literacy, metalinguistics, stereotypes, and the mysteries of the Other.

ENDORSEMENT FROM BACK COVER
"Hollywood Blockbusters is anthropological theorizing at its filmic best. Sutton and Wogan have translated complex anthropological concepts and debates into a rich analysis of popular motion pictures, giving us both a window into the value of anthropological sensibilities and a new interpretation of well-known Hollywood offerings. This wonderful book helps to counter claims about anthropology’s marginal status in contemporary discussions about mainstream American culture, and will be an essential read for both students and scholars." --John Jackson, Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Godfather: The Gun, the Pen, and the Cannoli
Chapter 3: Field of Dreams: Foul Balls and Blurry Lines
Chapter 4: The Big Lebowski: Bowling, Gender, Temporality, and Other “What Have You’s”
Chapter 5: The Village: Egalitarianism and the Political Anthropology of the Possible
Chapter 6: Jaws: Knowing the Shark
Chapter 7: Conclusion

FREE EXCERPTS AND CHAPTER ON JAWS
At Amazon.com, you can search the full book and read sample pages.

Click here for a pdf copy of our entire chapter on Jaws, in which we analyze the shark as a symbol of Asian wartime enemies of the U.S. and Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) as an anthropologist.


WHERE TO GET THE BOOK
You can order Hollywood Blockbusters through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Berg, and other booksellers.