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Shark!: True Stories and Lessons from the Deep
In this title, which combines real-life stories and practical advice, Peter Benchley draws on more than 30 years of experience on and under the water, to help the reader approach the ocean and its inhabitants with the understanding and respect they deserve. He describes the many types of sharks, and the few that pose a genuine threat to man, what is and what is not known about shark behaviour, the odds against an attack and how to reduce these odds even further, all reinforced by personal the mistakes he has made and the personal perils he has encountered while producing countless articles and television documentaries as well as his novels. Benchley tells us how to swim safely, how to read tides and currents and how to survive when danger suddenly strikes. He discusses what to tell children about sharks and how to develop a healthy respect for the sea.
194 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2002
3 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Peter Benchley
65 books1,429 followersPeter 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.
After graduating from college, he worked for The Washington Post, then as an editor at Newsweek and a speechwriter in the White House. He developed the idea of a man-eating shark terrorising a community after reading of a fisherman Frank Mundus catching a 4,550 pound great white shark off the coast of Long Island in 1964. He also drew some material from the tragic Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.
His reasonably successful second novel, The Deep, is about a honeymooning couple discovering two sunken treasures on the Bermuda reefs—17th century Spanish gold and a fortune in World War Two-era morphine—who are subsequently targeted by a drug syndicate. This 1976 novel is based on Benchley's chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker while writing a story for National Geographic. Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, The Deep was the second-highest grossing release of 1977 after Star Wars, although its box office tally fell well short of Jaws.
The Island, published in 1979, was a story of descendants of 17th century pirates who terrorize pleasure craft in the Caribbean, leading to the Bermuda Triangle mystery. Benchley again wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. But the movie version of The Island, starring Michael Caine and David Warner, failed at the box office when released in 1980.
During the 1980s, Benchley wrote three novels that did not sell as well as his previous works. However, Girl of the Sea of Cortez, a beguiling John Steinbeck-type fable about man's complicated relationship with the sea, was far and away his best reviewed book and has attracted a considerable cult following since its publication. Sea of Cortez signposted Benchley's growing interest in ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an impassioned and intelligent defender of the importance of redressing the current imbalance between human activities and the marine environment. Q Clearance published in 1986 was written from his experience as a staffer in the Johnson White House. Rummies (aka Lush), which appeared in 1989, is a semi-autobiographical work, loosely inspired by the Benchley family's history of alcohol abuse. While the first half of the novel is a relatively straightforward (and harrowing) account of a suburbanite's descent into alcoholic hell, the second part—which takes place at a New Mexico substance abuse clinic—veers off into wildly improbable thriller-type territory.
He returned to nautical themes in 1991's Beast written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda. Beast was brought to the small screen as a made-for-TV movie in 1996, under the slightly altered title The Beast. His next novel, White Shark, was published in 1994. The story of a Nazi-created genetically engineered shark/human hybrid failed to achieve popular or critical success.
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.
After graduating from college, he worked for The Washington Post, then as an editor at Newsweek and a speechwriter in the White House. He developed the idea of a man-eating shark terrorising a community after reading of a fisherman Frank Mundus catching a 4,550 pound great white shark off the coast of Long Island in 1964. He also drew some material from the tragic Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.
His reasonably successful second novel, The Deep, is about a honeymooning couple discovering two sunken treasures on the Bermuda reefs—17th century Spanish gold and a fortune in World War Two-era morphine—who are subsequently targeted by a drug syndicate. This 1976 novel is based on Benchley's chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker while writing a story for National Geographic. Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, The Deep was the second-highest grossing release of 1977 after Star Wars, although its box office tally fell well short of Jaws.
The Island, published in 1979, was a story of descendants of 17th century pirates who terrorize pleasure craft in the Caribbean, leading to the Bermuda Triangle mystery. Benchley again wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. But the movie version of The Island, starring Michael Caine and David Warner, failed at the box office when released in 1980.
During the 1980s, Benchley wrote three novels that did not sell as well as his previous works. However, Girl of the Sea of Cortez, a beguiling John Steinbeck-type fable about man's complicated relationship with the sea, was far and away his best reviewed book and has attracted a considerable cult following since its publication. Sea of Cortez signposted Benchley's growing interest in ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an impassioned and intelligent defender of the importance of redressing the current imbalance between human activities and the marine environment. Q Clearance published in 1986 was written from his experience as a staffer in the Johnson White House. Rummies (aka Lush), which appeared in 1989, is a semi-autobiographical work, loosely inspired by the Benchley family's history of alcohol abuse. While the first half of the novel is a relatively straightforward (and harrowing) account of a suburbanite's descent into alcoholic hell, the second part—which takes place at a New Mexico substance abuse clinic—veers off into wildly improbable thriller-type territory.
He returned to nautical themes in 1991's Beast written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda. Beast was brought to the small screen as a made-for-TV movie in 1996, under the slightly altered title The Beast. His next novel, White Shark, was published in 1994. The story of a Nazi-created genetically engineered shark/human hybrid failed to achieve popular or critical success.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2016
A collection of Peter Benchley's diving adventures, especially those concerned with Sharks. He also explains things like what to do in an undertow and why you should never swim when there's chum in the water. He's right about the eyes of Mako sharks, by the way.
January 9, 2022
This was a waste of time to me. Here we have the man who played a big role in the incarnation of the huge fear of sharks because of his novel JAWS, who starts this book off by saying that sharks need to be protected and not to be feared of in the way they currently are in our society. HOWEVER then continues to describe various terrifying shark encounters that makes it almost impossible to read this book without growing a fear of sharks.
That completely misses the whole point of the message and makes me pretty angry actually. As a diver myself I’ve had several calm encounters with sharks (because I exposed myself to them purposely). It’s actually pretty hard to see a shark because of their decline in numbers and not being interested.
I just personally think the oversaturated fear of sharks needs to stop and the focus needs to shift towards protecting this diying species. I do think the author feels the same way, however he AGAIN wrote a book that pushes the fear of sharks!
That completely misses the whole point of the message and makes me pretty angry actually. As a diver myself I’ve had several calm encounters with sharks (because I exposed myself to them purposely). It’s actually pretty hard to see a shark because of their decline in numbers and not being interested.
I just personally think the oversaturated fear of sharks needs to stop and the focus needs to shift towards protecting this diying species. I do think the author feels the same way, however he AGAIN wrote a book that pushes the fear of sharks!
March 17, 2023
It was entertaining and educational and I don’t regret reading it. But nonfiction is always a little dragging. It went off topic a couple of times too. Definitely a good read though.
January 24, 2015
This book is everything and more for those who either have a fascination for sharks, or just sea life in general. Benchley addresses all manner of things shark and ocean related - mostly things that are dangerous, but not always - in a book that is engaging, highly readable, notably humorous ... and, most importantly, it is written with a passion for the deep that never fails to inspire profound awe for this mysterious and majestic part of our world. Benchley may have been the man behind the famous story in which a mindless great white wreaks havoc on a community island, and is thus hunted down by three heroic humans, but he also has what can only be called a blessed first-hand knowledge of the sea, and its beautiful, bizarre, and incredible inhabiters. I enjoyed every page of this book, and will probably read it again before too long. (Even though it has made me twice as paranoid about going into the water).
January 12, 2024
Loved this book, it scared the wits off you while giving you a deep lasting respect for sharks. This book describes each species and provides interesting first hand accounts of the author's experiences with these awe and fear inspiring animals.
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May 1, 2009Fiction
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews