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Peter Benchley

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Peter Benchley


Born
in New York, New York, The United States
May 08, 1940

Died
February 11, 2006

Website

Genre
Mystery & Thrillers


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 ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.91 · 212,225 ratings · 10,358 reviews · 66 distinct works • Similar authors
Jaws (Jaws, #1)
3.94 avg rating — 182,334 ratings — published 1974 — 62 editions
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The Deep
3.71 avg rating — 12,220 ratings — published 1976 — 48 editions
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Beast
3.65 avg rating — 5,493 ratings — published 1991 — 40 editions
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White Shark
3.56 avg rating — 4,524 ratings — published 1994 — 42 editions
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The Island
3.35 avg rating — 2,394 ratings — published 1979 — 30 editions
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The Girl of the Sea of Cortez
4.09 avg rating — 1,470 ratings — published 1982 — 30 editions
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Shark Life: True Stories Ab...
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 851 ratings — published 2002 — 9 editions
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Shark Trouble
4.01 avg rating — 681 ratings — published 2002 — 20 editions
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Rummies
3.44 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 1989 — 9 editions
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Q Clearance
3.65 avg rating — 254 ratings — published 1986 — 21 editions
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More books by Peter Benchley…
Quotes by Peter Benchley  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“You're gonna need a bigger boat.”
― Peter Benchley
tags: jaws, movie
113 likes
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“The past always seems better when you look back on it than it did at the time. And the present never looks as good as it will in the future.”
― Peter Benchley, Jaws
tags: ellen-brody, future, jaws, past, present
59 likes
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“There's nothing in the sea this fish would fear. Other fish run from bigger things. That's their instinct. But this fish doesn't run from anything. He doesn't fear.”
― Peter Benchley, Jaws
tags: fear, great-white-shark, hooper, jaws, sea, shark
47 likes
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Polls

August 2026 New School Classics Poll

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi 1975, 233 pgs
 
  27 votes, 23.3%

Jaws by Peter Benchley 1974, 368 pgs
 
  23 votes, 19.8%

 
  20 votes, 17.2%

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh 1928, 300 pgs
 
  17 votes, 14.7%

 
  12 votes, 10.3%

 
  9 votes, 7.8%

 
  8 votes, 6.9%

116 total votes
More...

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