Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable listening, but...
Review: Peter Benchly, author of "Jaws", atones for his contributions to shark hysteria with the book "Shark Trouble". Benchly is an active scuba diver and was frequently sought after to participate in shark dives as a publicity event during the whole run of the "Jaws" phenomenon. So he has had many opportunities to see the infamous predators up close and personal. Benchly provides some light background on what is "known" about the shark (which is still quite little) and also shares his experiences with the dread fish of the deep from the various shark dives he has made over the years between "Jaws" and today. His themes are consistent throughout: respect for the shark, respect for its environment, and the need for awareness of the human contribution to any episode of "Shark Trouble". Despite the strength of the themes Benchly never preaches to the reader and I found the book to be an excellent read. This scuba diver and shark encounter veteran gives it a very strong four stars.
Rating: 
Summary: FIND ANOTHER TOPIC AND ANOTHER JOB
Review: You know, when I was a kid I had a fear of the ocean, which in some ways came about because of the movie Jaws. I hadn't even seen the movie in its initial release. I had heard of the plot from an older brother and it didn't take much for an overimaginative 1st grader to be scared of what was lurking unseen in the water's depths as i swam. I think with Shark Trouble, Peter Benchley is trying to repair the public relations disaster of the great white shark. Who knows how many sharks he caused to be destroyed senselessly with his novel.I finally did see the movie and enjoyed it so much that I sought out the novel many years later. ... I don't know why I expected Peter Benchley to be able to write non-fiction any better than fiction, but I did. I guess I picked up this book in the belief that he would have some special insight into sharks or be able to write in an entertaining way. He failed. There is trouble with Shark Trouble on many fronts. Peter has turned what could have been an educational experience into an apology for sharks. He acts like its our fault that sharks attack us. If people get bitten in half, its just a simple mistake by the poor innocent defenseless baby carriage pushing shark. He goes on and on about how great the odds are against being attacked by a shark. I guess those odds are great as long as you aren't the one person getting swallowed in blood. Another thing that brings the book down is Peter's constant assertions of anthropomorphizing, or giving human characteristics, to sharks. He over and over tries to take this godlike stance that he knows what sharks are thinking. The fact is that noone can truly predict what a shark is going to do. That's what wild animal means. He really tries hard to sentimentalize the sharks, saying that those who attack humans are merely misunderstood. I'm sure if he could set up psycho-analysis sessions with sharks he would. It's really cheesy. His stand on the environment is particularly artless and banal. He even makes up one whole chapter of an 8th grade level story about why sharks are important to our ecosystem. I mean I get the message but not the messenger. Another thing wrong with the book is that a lot of it, doesn't even have to do with sharks. It tells you how to swim and about other dangerous creatures of the sea. It would have been much better to have gone in depth with all the different kinds of sharks. Benchley writes in this book that it he wrote it in reponse to the shark hysteria that was going on a couple years back when the news media had stories plastered in every outlet. "SHARK ATTACK EPIDEMIC!!!" and other such things. I agree with him that the media exploited a few incidents and tried their best to panic people but I propose that Benchley is no better. This book is so badly put together and short that I feel it was hastily done to capitalize on the very same media coverage it was written against. This book is truly bad. It is not researched very well and offers no new information on sharks or anything for that matter.
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