Peter Benchley | Author

About the Author

Peter Benchley was born on May 8, 1940, in New York into one of America's most celebrated literary families. His grandfather was the humorist Robert Benchley and his father the novelist Nathaniel Benchley. A 1961 Harvard graduate, Peter Benchley started out as a reporter for the Washington Post show more before going on to work as an associate editor for Newsweek. From 1967 to 1969 he was a speechwriter for President Lyndon Johnson. Benchley's interest in the sea, stemming from childhood summers spent on the coast of Nantucket, led to his meticulously researching the subject of sharks and writing such bestselling and critically acclaimed novels as The Deep, Whiteshark, and Jaws. Jaws was later adapted into a blockbuster movie (1975). Two of his other books were turned into the made-for-TV movies, The Beast and The Creature. He has also written numerous reviews and articles for magazines and newspapers, and has appeared in more than a dozen television documentaries about marine life and oceans. Benchley died from pulmonary fibrosis on February 12, 2006 at the age of 65. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: P. Benchley, Peter Benchly, Peter Benchely, Peter Benchley, Peter Benchiley, Peter Benchley etc.

Works by Peter Benchley

Popular Recent

Jaws (1974) 3,907 copies

The Deep (1976) 771 copies

Beast (1991) 663 copies

White Shark (1994) 650 copies

The Island (1979) 541 copies

Shark Life: True Stories About Sharks & the Sea (2005) 240 copies

The Girl of the Sea of Cortez (1982) 234 copies

Q Clearance (1987) 180 copies

Shark Trouble: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea (2002) 146 copies

Rummies (1989) 91 copies

Jaws [adapted - Penguin Readers] (1998) 72 copies

Jaws 2 [1978 film] (1978) — Writer — 69 copies

Peter Benchley: Three Complete Novels (1994) 36 copies

Ocean Planet: Writings and Images of the Sea (1995) 29 copies

Peter Benchley Collection: Jaws, The Girl of the Sea of Cortez, Beast: Reader's Digest Condensed Books (2012) 17 copies

Lush (1989) 16 copies

Shark!: True Stories and Lessons from the Deep (1973) 14 copies

The Beast [1996 TV movie] (1996) — Novel by — 11 copies

The Island [1980 Film] (1980) — Author — 11 copies

Selected from Jaws (Writers' Voices) (1990) 10 copies

Jonathan visits the White House (1964) 8 copies

Jaws 2-Book Bundle: Jaws and Shark Trouble (2012) 4 copies

Time and a Ticket (1964) 3 copies

Tiburón blanco (1997) 2 copies

L'ISOLA 2 copies

New Zealand's Bountiful South Island 2 copies

Lo squalo Mondadori 2 copies

Three Novels By Peter Benchley - Jaws, The Deep, The Island 1 copy

Ghosts of War in the South Pacific 1 copy

Fair Skies for the Cayman Islands 1 copy

O munstro (77) 1 copy

Jaws [Screenplay-Final Draft] 1 copy

Il quarto protocollo - Il richiamo della civetta - Il monoplano fantasma - Paloma e la manta 1 copy

Sharks! And Other Behemoths 1 copy

Jaws: The iconic bestseller and Spielberg classic 1 copy

اعماق 1 copy

Jaws (1/1000) Signed by Artist + Print (1/50) 1 copy

Tubarão 1 copy

Girl of the Sea of Cortez, The � � � � 1 copy

O Fundo do Mar 1 copy

French Polynesia: Charting New Course (1997) 1 copy

Autograph, "Jaws," S. 2x5 (1) 1 copy

Der weisse Hai 1 (2013) 1 copy

DIPTEKILER 1 copy

Pigen og havet (1983) 1 copy

Die Rückkehr des weißen Hais 1 copy

Mélység jobb, mint a cápa 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Jaws [1975 film] (1975) — Screenwriter — 703 copies

The Deep [1977 film] (1977) — Original book — 47 copies

National Geographic Magazine 1985 v167 #6 June (1985) — Contributor — 34 copies

Jaws 3-D [1983 film] (1983) — Writer, some editions — 34 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1992 v01 (1992) 29 copies

National Geographic Magazine 1997 v191 #6 June (1997) — Contributor — 27 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1974 v02 (1974) 27 copies

National Geographic Magazine 1988 v173 #4 April (1988) — Contributor — 26 copies

Secrets of the Ocean Realm (1997) — Foreword — 23 copies

Reader's Digest Best Sellers: Jaws | The Dogs of War (1975) — Author — 18 copies

Livros condensados (1998) 10 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1983 vM (1983) 9 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Jaws • A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax • The Fearful Void • Pied Piper • End Play (1974) 6 copies

Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher, Bestseller-Sonderband - Der weisse Hai. Nehmen Sie Platz. Der Turm. Die Baskenmütze (1977) — Contributor — 4 copies

Der Mann aus St. Petersburg. - Egen, Jean: Die Linden von Lautenbach. - Braunburg, Rudolf: Der verratene Himmel. -… (1984) 4 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Young Locksley • The Brea File • No Moon Tonight • The Girl of the Sea of Cortez (1983) 4 copies

Dødens gab, Min kloge mor, Ørnen er landet, Høgebakken (1976) 3 copies

Hajen/Konungarnas förbannelse/Örnens väg/Mamma visste bäst (Det bästas bokval, sammandrag) 3 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books: Jaws 2 • A Dangerous Magic • The Forest Dwellers • Talk Down (1978) 2 copies

Het Beste Boek: Ada Harris gaat naar Moskou / In de schaduw der eeuwen / Opstand tegen Hitler / De zomer van de witte… 2 copies

Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Flight of Flamingo • Beast • Lightning in July • Night of Reunion — Author — 2 copies

RDCBLP Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station | The Last Gas Station | The Girl of the Sea of Cortez 2 copies

Livros condensados — Author — 1 copy

Reader's Digest 4 in 1 Jaws etc. — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1970s (37) action (40) adventure (145) animals (57) Benchley (18) classics (18) drama (25) DVD (79) ebook (27) fiction (751) film (27) first edition (34) general fiction (16) hardcover (27) horror (411) horror fiction (21) Jaws (25) Kindle (17) made into movie (18) monsters (17) movie (45) mystery (46) nature (18) New England (18) non-fiction (36) novel (88) ocean (63) own (28) paperback (33) Peter Benchley (50) read (79) science fiction (46) sea (28) sea monsters (17) sharks (221) suspense (141) thriller (337) to-read (263) unread (23) USA (22)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1940-05-08
Date of death: 2006-02-11
Gender: male
Nationality: United States of America
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Washington, D.C., USA
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Education: Harvard University
Occupations: reporter
television critic
speechwriter
author
Relationships: Benchley, Nathaniel (father)
Benchley, Robert (grandfather)
Benchley, Nat (brother)
Organizations: The Washington Post
Newsweek

Members

Reviews

Jaws (Jaws, #1) by Peter Benchley

Upon a second read I have to change my rating to three stars. It's not that it isn't a good book. It is and I will still recommend it to anyone that has seen the movie but it just doesn't hold up in my opinion to the first reading.

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everettroberts | 140 other reviews | Oct 20, 2023 |

Jaws by Peter Benchley

What if Jaws was more about Brody's wife's infidelity than shark attacks? What if Brody was a borderline insane person with a hair trigger? What if everyone were incredibly unlikable?
Quint: "What a pair of assholes."

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A.Godhelm | 140 other reviews | Oct 20, 2023 |

Jaws: A Novel by Peter Benchley

This wasn’t my favorite. There were a lot of things that made me feel icky and not in a good way.

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Danielle.Desrochers | 140 other reviews | Oct 10, 2023 |

Jaws (Jaws, #1) by Peter Benchley

Rarely do books and movies based on those books run neck in neck for being so good. But, this is an example. The movie ran pretty much parallel to the book, with a few things changed. The book was also a wonderful experience. It went more in-depth into relationships and plot lines (as the books often do). To get the full range of the movie, it is a good idea to indulge in the book. I listened to this on audio, read by Erik Steele. It was a wonderful read/listen and I recommend it to any and everyone that loves horror and/or loved the movie.… (more)

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LinBee83 | 140 other reviews | Aug 23, 2023 |

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