Read This!: Jaws

By Peter Benchley

Book challenge: Book with animal on the cover

If you remember I got this book at the book fair.  It is my last book fair read and I have a great story about this coming later in the post.  (Suspense is building...)

Jaws is the story about a great white shark terrorizing the summer vacation town, Amity.  I think we all know this story so I won't go into details.

What I will say is that Jaws is one of my all time favorite movies as Mr. listed in his blog post a few months ago so I think I am biased when it comes to a book vs. movie face-off.  Overall, I think the movie is better than the book.  This is rare for me and puts Jaws in the company of White Oleander and It's a Wonderful Life.   The book went into more details about the Brodys and their backstory.  Hooper was not Richard Dreyfuss-like and the story ended for him quite differently than the movie.  Quint, while similar in character, had no great scene talking about being on the Indianapolis.  Furthermore, the shark, while meeting the same end, had an anti-climatical exit vs. "Smile you son of a bitch!" explosion!  in the movie.   I snoozed through some of the more descriptive passages as well.

Here is my great story though.  "Great".  LOL.  But for me, it was exciting.  So, I pulled Jaws off my bookshelf as my last and final book fair spoil.  Jaws was written in the 1970s and I knew the book I bought was old.  But didn't think much about it other than this...  until I opened it and looked at the copyright.  And I was like "Hmmm.... 1974".  And then I thought, "I wonder when this was originally published."  I will make a long story short here.  But, after some googling, I *think* think I may have a FIRST EDITION!!!!!!  These range online from $50 to hundreds of dollars.  Mine has a bookplate in it so I am sure that takes value away (stupid old owner) but what the heck?!  I feel like I should be on Antiques Roadshow.  I almost feel bad because I got this at a church book fair and the church probably could use the money.  Almost.  But, I will throw them a monetary bone to make up for it in the collection plate.  This is going on our prized book bookshelf with my few signed books and my old books that my grandma gave me.