Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author best known for writing the novel Jaws and co-writing the screenplay for its highly successful film adaptation. The success of the book led to many publishers commissioning books about mutant rats, rabid dogs and the like threatening communities. The subsequent film directed by Steven Spielberg and co-written by Benchley is generally acknowledged as the first summer blockbuster. Benchley also wrote The Deep and The Island, which were also adapted into films.
Benchley was from a literary family. He was the son of author Nathaniel Benchley and grandson of Algonquin Round Table founder Robert Benchley. His younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor. Peter Benchley was an alumnus of Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University.
Books in order of publication:
Fiction
Jaws (1974)
The Deep (1976)
The Island (1979)
The Girl of the Sea of Cortez (1982)
Q Clearance (1986)
Rummies (1989)
Beast (1991)
White Shark (1994; republished as Creature in 1997)
Non-fiction
Time and a Ticket (1964)
Life’s Tempo on Nantucket (1970)
Ocean Planet: Writings and Images of the Sea (1994)
Shark Trouble: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea (2001)
Shark!: True Stories and Lessons from the Deep (2002)
Shark Life: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea (with Karen Wojtyla) (2005)
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