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Summary: If only there were a picture
Review: Sometimes this book is so technical in its description of the boat and the hazards that can happen to them in open sea, that I really missed having some sort of visual reference. Nevertheless it would be a small improvement to this exciting book that picks up speed every page. Great fun !!
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous
Review: As a mariner with some experience, I was surprised that this book made the hair on my arms stick straight up, even though I knew from the first how it was going to end. This book confirms the old sailor's statement,"If you're not terrified of the sea, you've got no business being on it." Not bad background on Swordfishing, codfishing and all that, as well.
Rating: 
Summary: so-so book on good topic
Review: First 2/3 of book are worth 5/10; last 1/3 is an 8. Odd jumping between (interesting) digressions and (interesting) storyline mars book. Writing itself only so-so as well. I read POB, but couldn't get into this "story" until the end where he pretty much settles on one thread.
Rating:
Summary: Par excellence!
Review: A rare blend of human intrigue, suspense (even though you KNOW the outcome), technical grasp of physics, meteorology, oceanography and the fishing industry. Not a book you can put down very easily. I will recommend it to all I know for a long, long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Send a rescue Editor!
Review: The story related is interesting enough to carry the reader's interest, but the writing is atrocious and I can't understand how such a book gets the media wave to become a best-seller. The writing lacks dramatic pace, the story line is choppy, and there is a dismaying lack of compassion. The publisher is equally at fault for not demanding more careful editing and re-writing. If you want to hear a harrowing tale told right, read Krakauer's Into Thin Air. It sets a standard for humanistic adventure writing that A Perfect Storm cannot touch.
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Summary: The stuff of nightmares
Review: I finished this book almost a month ago and I still have vivid dreams about it. The image of monstrous waves taller than the length of a boat, the description of desperately trying to escape from within an overturned vessel and of the chilling sense of total isolation on a vast churning sea... all have obviously taken up residence deep in my subconscious. There can be no more powerful testimonial to a book's effectiveness than its power to wake you from a sound sleep gasping for air. I must be a little masochistic because, despite its effect, I loved every aspect of the book.
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Summary: A Thriller - suspenseful - wonderful research/insight!!
Review: From one who loves the sea, I can feel what's happening through his words. His research is incredible. Suspense, emotion, physics, meteorology, psychology, information, on & on. This book has it all and is tough to put down. I remember the storm well. I had a flight from Boston that night and was the first time I never really wanted to get on a plane.
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Summary: A perfect book about men against the sea
Review: Having been raised in a coastal seatown south of Boston, I was able to identify with the men aboard the Andrea Gail but on a much, much smaller scale. As a son of a sailor, the sheer drama and factual writing of this book pulled me in from page one. Junger put me in the shoes of a swordfisherman, a weatherman, and a man strapped against the unforgiving elements of the open sea. A terrific account not to be missed regardless of one's background or interest. It encourages me to visit "The Man At The Wheel" in Gloucester harbor once more. It's Hemmingway atop a 100' crest...
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Storm: the perfect book.
Review: The true story of a small commercial fishing boat which encounters a meteorological nightmare. I literally read it until dawn. You will not want to get into another boat for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond you're wildest seafaring nightmares!
Review: One day not long ago while visiting my folks in Burlington, VT over the Holidays, my father lent me this book and said, I think you'll enjoy reading this book. My father taught us how to sail as we grew up and we shared some thrilling sails on various sized lakes and some great ocean bays. Along the way we weathered a few storms and felt the serenity and wildness of nature's enchantment. The Perfect Storm was like falling asleep one night aboard ship and dreaming this crazy dream that at its most intense moments had suddenly become you're worst nightmare. You feel suddenly and completely drawn into it and cannot escape its grasp. The descriptions are so vivid, the accounts so real, and with a bit of imagination you find yourself living the lives of each character. You're hoping for different outcomes, but no amount of will can seem to change your fate. You are on the edge of reality, clinging to hope, experiencing something that you cannot comprehend. You see it, hear it, and feel it intensely but it does not seem real. You are scared beyond belief as you witness Nature at its greatest fury. If you live to tell about it, you're not quite sure where to begin and where to end. It becomes part of your subconscious as you struggle to understand its meaning. You try to avoid it as it tares at you. You try to escape it, but you cannot. Yet you are fortunate you survived. Many have not.
That's what makes this book one of those great ones! You find yourself rereading passages over and over trying to understand just exactly what was happening and why. No one really knows for sure. That's what makes this story great. A true story yet we will never know exactly what happened, we can only imagine.
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