Rating: 
Summary: Hot Book From a Hot Writer
Review: "Fire" is not a singular text as the cover would suggest. It is more a collection of essays, beginning with the featured story of storm jumpers. As the author explains, he began this book many years ago with the idea of stringing together a collection of stories about dangerous jobs around the world. He got sidetracked while researching one of those stories and turned it into the book "The Perfect Storm." So, if you are searching for a sequel to "The Perfect Storm" about a band of firefighters, this isn't that book. But it is an intriguing group of essays about "hot" situations all over the world. Junger introduces fascinating characters like an old aboriginal islander who still spears giant sperm whales because he can't find a replacement for the job that provides for his fellow islanders. He also travels to war-torn Serbia and gives a haunting recount of a doomed group of hostages taken in Kashmir. Junger is thrifty in his writing; he understands the drama in his story and gets to it. These stories read quickly and are the perfect size for a short session with a book. I also find his research to be extraordinary. Not only does he recount the important details of events, he also gives wonderful summaries of the settings, occupations or phenomena covered. For instance, I now have a fairly good understanding of how a wildfire spreads and also know what forensic details are most important to those investing deaths of firefighters. In recent years, the genre of non-fiction writing has exploded. Along with John Krakaeur, Sebastian Junger is producing books that are both well-written and enjoyable, and what more could you want as a reader?
Rating:
Summary: Hot book from a hot writer
Review: "Fire" is not a singular text as the cover would suggest. It is more a collection of essays, beginning with the featured story of storm jumpers. As the author explains, he began this book many years ago with the idea of stringing together a series of stories about dangerous jobs around the world. He got sidetracked while researching one of those stories and turned it into the book "The Perfect Storm".
So, if you are searching for a sequel to "The Perfect Storm" about a band of firefighters, this isn't that book. But it is an intriguing group of essays about "hot" situations all over the world. Junger introduces fascinating characters like an old aboriginal islander who still spears giant sperm whales because he can't find a replacement for the job that provides for his fellow islanders. He also travels to war-torn Serbia and gives a haunting recount of a doomed group of hostages taken in Kashmir.
Junger is thrifty in his writing; he understands the drama in his story and gets to it. These stories read quickly and are the perfect size for a short session with a book. I also find his research to be extraordinary. Not only does he recount the important details of events, he also gives wonderful summaries of the settings, occupations or phenomena covered. For instance, I now have a fairly good understanding of how a wildfire spreads and also know what forensic details are most important to those investing deaths of firefighters.
In recent years, the genre of non-fiction writing has exploded. Along with John Krakaeur, Sebastian Junger is producing books that are both well-written and enjoyable, and what more could you want as a reader?
Rating: 
Summary: Expecting Sugar in my Coffee and It was Salt!
Review: Having been raised in the Pacific Northwest and being around forest fires and fighters for many years, I very much looked forward to reading this book. And initially Junger delivers. But then about half way into the book we find that the author's research and writing about the fighters was done before "Perfect Storm" and there wasn't enough to fill a full book. So what we find is a transition to writing about being a reporter/correspondent in war. In his publisher's mind both are stories about working in dangerous surroundings. But that's not what the reader expects when he picks up the book. And even then Junger comes up a little short so he uses short stories from a friend and fellow writer from some of their trips to war torn parts of the world to patch together enough to make a book. My disappointment comes from expecting to have an entire book about the dangers and events of firefighting. I have hundreds of photos taken by a good friend during huge fires in Southern Oregon and Northern California a couple of years ago and know that what Junger did cover was accurately presented. There are few books about the men and women who work hard and face danger daily during the fire season. Unfortunately, this book only partially documents their challenges.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I like the subjects of Sebastian Junger's articles. Moreso, his writing style, which is informative yet not dry; truthful yet it reads like a novel. I think the title Fire sums up all his articles. From forest fires to conflagrations from the different flashpoints of the world to the passions burning inside people doing their dangerous jobs. Looking forward to his next collection of articles (His Vanity Fair article about the Kosovo Sex Trade is a must-read).
Rating:
Summary: Read it backwards
Review: It's tough to criticize Sebastian Junger given the fact that - as the cover blurb points out - he "risks his life to research compelling tales of danger." But the cover of this book and the campaign behind its release really softsells the reality that - with the exception of a brief 'Afterword' discussing the implications of 9/11 - 'Fire' is simply a series of cobbled together, re-released magazine articles. If you're a frequent reader of Vanity Fair or Men's Journal, a lot of this will look familar to you. Furthermore, the book is arranged in chronological order. From an editing perspective, that makes sense. But it sells the author short. Clearly, his style has evolved and matured throughout the years. Without a doubt, the strongest pieces are at the very end - specifically, his two excellent essays about Afghanistan's "Lion of the Panjshir" Ahmad Shah Massoud. Putting "Perfect Storm" aside, these pieces are Junger's defining work and the most compelling reasons to buy and read 'Fire.' So my advice is to read the book backwards. Go straight to "Lion in Winter" (2001) and "Massoud's Last Conquest" (2002). Then, cherry-pick working backwards, remmebering that the better writing comes later. In fact, Junger has been done a great disservice by his editors here by naming the book 'Fire' and leading with two extensive essays about forest fires in the American West. This masks the fact the the best essays in the book involve Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Kosovo.
Rating:
Summary: Read it backwards
Review: It's tough to criticize Sebastian Junger given the fact that - as the cover blurb points out - he "risks his life to research compelling tales of danger." But the cover of this book and the campaign behind its release really softsells the reality that - with the exception of a brief 'Afterword' discussing the implications of 9/11 - 'Fire' is simply a series of cobbled together, re-released magazine articles. If you're a frequent reader of Vanity Fair or Men's Journal, a lot of this will look familar to you. Furthermore, the book is arranged in chronological order. From an editing perspective, that makes sense. But it sells the author short. Clearly, his style has evolved and matured throughout the years. Without a doubt, the strongest pieces are at the very end - specifically, his two excellent essays about Afghanistan's "Lion of the Panjshir" Ahmad Shah Massoud. Putting "Perfect Storm" aside, these pieces are Junger's defining work and the most compelling reasons to buy and read 'Fire.' So my advice is to read the book backwards. Go straight to "Lion in Winter" (2001) and "Massoud's Last Conquest" (2002). Then, cherry-pick working backwards, remmebering that the better writing comes later. In fact, Junger has been done a great disservice by his editors here by naming the book 'Fire' and leading with two extensive essays about forest fires in the American West. This masks the fact the the best essays in the book involve Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Kosovo.
Rating: 
Summary: No Perfect Storm - Not Compelling or Well Written
Review: Just finished Fire by Sebastian Junger. Thumbsdown. I was hoping it would be as compelling as a Perfect Storm, but the book is deceptively titled. It should be: Fire and Other Short Essays by Sebastian Junger as there's only 2 stories in the whole book about fire, the rest are about badly war torn countries. So there's no real cohesive story in the book like a Perfect Storm, and very few of the stories are a good read. The worst part of the book is how Junger puts the former head of the Afghan Northern Alliance on a pedistool, in several spots he makes reference to the fact that he was widely accused of atrocities, but then dismisses it casually. It's a clear case of a reporter liking his subject too much to be objective. All in all a major disappointment!
Rating:
Summary: More fascination with danger from Sebastian Junger
Review: Let's face facts, there was no way Sebastian Junger could follow up "The Perfect Storm" with a book length tale as compelling as "Storm" was. Nontheless, "Fire" is often compelling, sometims educational, and rarely boring. The book is essentially a collection of magazine articles written by Junger, but they demonstrate several things: Junger is truly fascinated by dangerous occupations and dangerous lives, he has a wonderful way with words, and he has a knack for finding interesting stories to tell. My favorite section in the book was on Cypress. I felt like an uneducated idiot because I have been completely oblivious to what is happening there and never realized that Cypress was such a potential flashpoint for war between Turkey and Greece. I also enjoyed his story on Afghanistan's "Lion of the Panjshir": Ahmad Shah Massoud. Probably the least interesting story was the one on whale hunting, not because I was offended that anyone would still hunt whales (Greenpeace probably hates Junger for this story), but because I really felt no sympathy for the way of life that was dying out. I almost get the feeling Junger had mixed emotions about how to portray thw whale hunter and his protege. Close behind the whale hunter story as being the least interesting are, oddly, the two stories on fire fighting. This may seem strange given the title of the book, but these also were written earlier in his career and you can really observe his growth as a writer by reading the book from beginning to end. Still even what one might consider to be his worst work is leagues ahead of so many other writiers. Its kind of a disservice to point out that any parts fo the book are weaker than the others simply because it all is so well written. While not nearly as detailed and enthralling as "The Perfect Storm," this book demonstrates the wealth of writing talent possessed by Junger. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: More fascination with danger from Sebastian Junger
Review: Let's face facts, there was no way Sebastian Junger could follow up "The Perfect Storm" with a book length tale as compelling as "Storm" was. Nontheless, "Fire" is often compelling, sometims educational, and rarely boring. The book is essentially a collection of magazine articles written by Junger, but they demonstrate several things: Junger is truly fascinated by dangerous occupations and dangerous lives, he has a wonderful way with words, and he has a knack for finding interesting stories to tell. My favorite section in the book was on Cypress. I felt like an uneducated idiot because I have been completely oblivious to what is happening there and never realized that Cypress was such a potential flashpoint for war between Turkey and Greece. I also enjoyed his story on Afghanistan's "Lion of the Panjshir": Ahmad Shah Massoud. Probably the least interesting story was the one on whale hunting, not because I was offended that anyone would still hunt whales (Greenpeace probably hates Junger for this story), but because I really felt no sympathy for the way of life that was dying out. I almost get the feeling Junger had mixed emotions about how to portray thw whale hunter and his protege. Close behind the whale hunter story as being the least interesting are, oddly, the two stories on fire fighting. This may seem strange given the title of the book, but these also were written earlier in his career and you can really observe his growth as a writer by reading the book from beginning to end. Still even what one might consider to be his worst work is leagues ahead of so many other writiers. Its kind of a disservice to point out that any parts fo the book are weaker than the others simply because it all is so well written. While not nearly as detailed and enthralling as "The Perfect Storm," this book demonstrates the wealth of writing talent possessed by Junger. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: Ok so maybe the title was a bit misleading, but hey there were some really cool chapters in this book. Sebastian Junger is an excellent author and provides beautiful insight into places that some people may never see. I am not what you would call an avid reader. If it doesnt have pictures I probably won't pick it up. But Sebastian Junger's informative yet wildly fascinating anecdotes capture my imagination. When reading this book, I barely noticed the fact that I was learning and reading at the same time. I roared through this book at a speed-addict pace, and that is saying alot considering it takes me months to get through most books. All in all, it was an enjoyable read, and even though you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, the flames are quite eye catching.
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