Title: Good Book, Great Movie
Review: Peter Benchley's best-selling novel has a voraciously hungry shark strike without warning, leaving readers frightful with anticipation. By feeding on bathers off the coast of Long Island, the shark has the town and its tourist industry quite upset. The author is at his best describing the shark as it swims silently and effortlessly beneath the waves. There's also a steamy affair between Oceanographer Matt Hooper and Chief Brody's wife, thus feeding our taste for sex along with violence. Other differences in the book as compared to the film are a more aloof Quint, and a shark that doesn't succumb from a rife-induced explosion. This easy-reading novel falls short of the 1975 movie by Steven Spielberg, in one of the few times a movie outdoes the book it's based on. Still, the novel was a best-seller for 44 weeks and it remains clearly worth reading.Trivia Note: Benchley appears briefly in the film as a TV newsman broadcasting from the beach.
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