The Perfect Storm

Rating:
Summary: A great story, but could have been written better.
Review: The author needs to loosen up a little. The text didn't flow. The story was great, but the wording was stiff. I still highly recommend this book, but mainly because of the story. Anyone even remotely interested in the open ocean and/or human willpower should read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Very engrosing; Tough to put down...
Review: I thought this was an excellent book. It kept my interest throughout and is very well researched, written, and informative. The sections on the rescue teams (i.e. PJ's) were amazing and the descriptions of the climate put me right on the boat or the H-60's. Many great little facts and tidbits can be found throughout the text. This storm really was "Perfect" and I hope we never see it's type of wrath again. I was in Massachusetts during the storm and it was as destructive a storm as I had seen.

Rating:
Summary: A delicious book,good drama that holds your attention.
Review: A must read book. I am a reader of all kinds of literature especially non fiction. Author is an excellent writer and makes the characters come 'alive'. You can see and smell the sea with its salty fish. You can hear the waves as the break against the beach and shores. You can see and hear the creaks of the boats as they dance to the tunes of the waves. You can picture the small pubs in the towns and the people that frequent them. A GOOD book!

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly insightful and educational!
Review: This book was much better than I was expecting. It had a lot of technical jargon, but it was necessary in order to understand what actually happens when these men are at work. It was suspensful, while at the same time sad because it was based on actual events. The author really got into the guts of the fishing industry and how tremendously difficult it is. He shows the level of dedication that these men have to do what they do. If you can stick with the technical jargon, the end result is worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Go figure. A book about a storm that you can't put down!
Review: This book simply refused to be put down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning on the day I started to read it. Even the rescue missions were utterly captivating. Junger's articles in OUTSIDE magazine are always must-reads, but this book, written with style and verve, yet with extraordinary compassion and sensitivity for the victims and their families, is a work of a truly unique writer. This is what "investigative journalism" really should be.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating book -- if a bit unstructured
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it on vacation near the sea and could not stop reading it. Junger is a great storyteller, equally able to captivate the reader with characters and narrative as well as with factual detail. I liked the descriptions of fishing, weather, and the Coast Guard's rescue people very much. My main criticism of the book is that a bit of graphic material (more detailed maps, weather photos, drawings of sword fishing boats, perhaps something to help the reader visualize an 80-foot wave) would have really helped. As it was, I kept having to flip to the limited map to help me understand who was where, when.

Rating:
Summary: Fishing- bad career choice
Review: Mostly a primer on why not to become a commercial fisherman (fisherperson?) Good, exciting story about rescuers, interesting storm stories. Loss of central characters remains a hazy mystery, sad tale indeed but not as good as the reviews. Not one page too short.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: There's a recent surge in Man vs. Nature books. This one is no exception. I enjoyed it a great deal yet I didn't get emotially attached to the characters like I did in, say, Into Thin Air.

Rating:
Summary: A tragic event that reads like a textbook
Review: I haven't been this sorely disappointed with a book in a long time. This book was recommended under the banner "If you liked 'Into Thin Air' you'll love...." A crucial difference, however, is that Krakauer has an unerring eye for the TELLING detail. In "Into" he describes the inevitability of the Everest tragedy with a haunting relentlessness and emotional impact. Junger, meanwhile, layers numerous dry, technical descriptions over "characterizations" that, while meant to evoke an emotional bond, just had me screaming for him to get on with it already. This book is nothing more than a collection of gramatically pristine sentences.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great...
Review: The story isn't really about The Andrea Gail...the story is about various happenings during the storm. This book is okay...