BOOK REVIEW IN SHOCK REVIEW: BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: An Assistant Director Behind the Scenes of Feature Films by David McGiffert (BearManor Media; bearmanormedia.com, $42.00). Being an assistant director (or"A.D.") is a complex job with a wide range of responsibilities. As well as coordinating much of a film's on-set activities, they also handle any relatively-insignificant problems so that the director isn't distracted. They're essential - which brings us to this 322-page anecdotal memoir by David McGiffert, one of the most successful names within that profession, who worked on some of the most notable films from the 1980s and '90s: BACK TO THE FUTURE, RAIN MAN, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, THE FISHER KING, WITNESS, TOOTSIE, and many more. McGiffert recalls his 1969 introduction to this occupation (on an uncompleted indie feature, SATURATION 70) and early gigs like Dino De Laurentiis' KING KONG, to a career turning-point when hired by Sydney Pollack for ABSENCE OF MALICE. In addition to his encounters with Dustin Hoffman, Chris Walken, Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Newman, Rip Torn, and Wilford Brimley, we get loads of fun anecdotes- KING KONG's crew pranking Charles Grodin about his hair loss; Willie Nelson getting a journalist high during a SONGWRITER lunch break; Jim Carrey's intense commitment to character on MAN ON THE MOON; closing down Times Square for VANILLA SKY; Tim Burton siding with McGiffert over clueless studio executives on BATMAN RETURNS; plus desperately searching for a crew member's bandsaw-severed finger. Including an introduction by Cameron Crowe and foreward by producer Bob Gale, it's packed with enlightening and amusing behind-the-scenes insights.