What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Slick of the Cricket: The True Story behind the,Epic
Winner of Pushcart's Sixteenth Annual Editor's Book Award, this first book reveals the captain behind the Jaws epic―a man even more fascinating than the movie and novel based on his life. Russell Drumm, a local Long Island newspaper reporter, takes a five-day fishing trip aboard the charter boat Cricket II with Captain Frank Mundus, the godfather of Jaws . The trip's single charter is a Hawaiian developer and big-game hunter who has traveled all the way to Montauk, New York, so that the cantankerous Captain Mundus can guide him to the only trophy he lacks―a great white shark of the monster-size that Mundus has made his reputation catching. What begins as a short escape for Russell Drumm quickly turns into a storm-tossed odyssey in which Mundus, on the eve of his retirement, relives his forty years at sea. He recollects his ingenious methods, his weird collection of charter "Idiots," and his lasting bitterness toward Peter Benchley for never acknowledging him as the source of the Jaws story. From a few haunting obits and Captain Mundus's unending slick of stories, our reporter weaves a bleak, yet humorously portrayed vision of the apocalypse.
313 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 22, 2016
I loved this book! It's quite a slender volume, but jam-packed with great stuff packed in a jelly of the purplest stream-of-consciousness writing I've seen since, well, since a few weeks ago when I read THE LAMPSHADE. This is the story of the man Peter Benchley used as the basis of Mr. Quint in JAWS. He's far more colorful in real life than his movie incarnation.
December 27, 2020
A stormy and thoughtful look into the bristly, briny world of big game fisherman Frank Mundus. Drumm has a unique writing style... Slightly dramatic, albeit captivating.
February 5, 2009
On June 6, 1964, Frank Mundus harpooned a 4,500-pound great white shark. It took five harpoons linked to large barrels to tire the fish out enough so they could get a line on the tail and tow it back to port. When they arrived, a bulldozer was needed to get the fish on shore and it was still alive. This was a monster fish. There is a photograph of the jaws opened wide that completely encompass seven men standing up and there is still three to four feet above their heads before reaching the top of the jaw.
Mundus is the man that Peter Benchley patterned the captain in Jaws after -- Mundus he thought the film was mostly fiction and he
doesn't like fiction. He became the expert great white fisherman almost by accident. He was working charter fishing cruises in his boat the Cricket off Montauk Point. During th e early fifties, the Long Island Railroad ran a special train in the morning out to the point to accommodate weekend lemmings who flocked (definitely a mixed metaphor) and stampeded to the fishing boats for a day of what was called sportfishing. Always looking for a gimmick, he realized once after a customer had a great time landing a mako shark by accident - shark fishing was looked on with great condescension - that it could be a lot
of fun. He then advertised "monster fishing." They went out, fished for sharks, the customers had a wild time, everyone discovered the meat was tasty, and a new sport was born with Mundus the guru.
The great white is an interesting beast. Oophagenic, they are among a small number of species whose offspring battle for survival while in the womb, the stronger eating the weaker. They enter the world with "malice aforethought" - the original Nazi. In addition to sight, they find their prey by sound, They can feel pressure waves along their flanks. They have a keen sense of smell and can also sense electrical impulses. Along the snout are jelly filled pores called "ampullae of Lorenzini" that act as minute electrical charge detectors. These may also help the shark navigate.
This is the worst designed book I have ever seen. But it's interesting.
Mundus is the man that Peter Benchley patterned the captain in Jaws after -- Mundus he thought the film was mostly fiction and he
doesn't like fiction. He became the expert great white fisherman almost by accident. He was working charter fishing cruises in his boat the Cricket off Montauk Point. During th e early fifties, the Long Island Railroad ran a special train in the morning out to the point to accommodate weekend lemmings who flocked (definitely a mixed metaphor) and stampeded to the fishing boats for a day of what was called sportfishing. Always looking for a gimmick, he realized once after a customer had a great time landing a mako shark by accident - shark fishing was looked on with great condescension - that it could be a lot
of fun. He then advertised "monster fishing." They went out, fished for sharks, the customers had a wild time, everyone discovered the meat was tasty, and a new sport was born with Mundus the guru.
The great white is an interesting beast. Oophagenic, they are among a small number of species whose offspring battle for survival while in the womb, the stronger eating the weaker. They enter the world with "malice aforethought" - the original Nazi. In addition to sight, they find their prey by sound, They can feel pressure waves along their flanks. They have a keen sense of smell and can also sense electrical impulses. Along the snout are jelly filled pores called "ampullae of Lorenzini" that act as minute electrical charge detectors. These may also help the shark navigate.
This is the worst designed book I have ever seen. But it's interesting.
March 31, 2009
An informative and interesting read. Lots of fishing stories.
November 17, 2012
Short read nonfiction biography of the real world Quint from the movie, 'Jaws'- Capt. Frank Mundas.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews