Next year, when Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie Jaws celebrates its 50th anniversary, it will no doubt be hailed as the film that invented the summer blockbuster, the first classic to be directed by a Baby Boomer, the first movie to be largely shot on the ocean, and the first in which the musical score was practically a major character. It significantly altered the way that Hollywood would henceforth promote films (heavy TV advertising), and it caused studios to seek out numerous similar projects—high-concept action films that often included non-human monsters. But before Jaws became forever associated with Spielberg, it was a hugely successful novel written by Peter Benchley. Nowadays, the film is still highly regarded while the novel, if not forgotten, is no longer much appreciated.
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