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Summary: The Head Parrot's life from his own point of view...
Review: Long overdue, but well worth the wait, this auto-biographical journey can't help but grab the reader and bring him or her along. As a fan of Jimmy Buffett, it was a welcome change to have some of his experiences and adventures written and commented on by him, and not an outside, opinionated individual. The chapters are short, which makes fitting one in during little breaks in your daily schedule easy to do. Even without singing his signature "escapism" music, Jimmy has found a way to take you "away form it all". He has a friendly, infectuous writing style that makes you feel as if you are aboard his plane, listening to him tell you a bit of history of how he got to where he is now. I am not big fishing fan, in fact, I do not enjoy fishing at all. Jimmy, however discusses his fishing trips throughout the book. On several occasions, I felt as if I was there on the boat, watching it all unfold...and I was enjoying myself! Though he gives only the information and insight he wants the reader to have, it was enough for the fans to understand where he was and what his mind was on during certain points of his recording career. Now, some songs I have loved for years take on additional depth because I know a bit of what was behind some lyrical and musical changes. Jimmy's sense of humor plays a big part in this book. He has fun, and takes his fun seriously. An enjoyable read, even for those who are not Buffet fans. Now...if Jimmy could just write a follow up to "Where Is Joe Merchant?", so I could find out what the heck happens...
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoying life and still confused- at 50
Review: Much wheat, little chaff. To be read in little bites. Much like a Jamaican meat pie, tasty but just barely filling. More to be read between the lines here than a list of facts- more of an analysis than a real clear statement. The feeling I get is that it is ok to have fun, ok to still be confused and maybe we all need a few more toys and time with kids to appreciate life. It is good to know that when I'm 50 I will still be as confused as I am today, and was 25 years ago. Just like Jimmy.
Rating:
Summary: Humorous and observant
Review: "A Pirate Looks At Fifty" is a humorous and observant chronicling of Buffet's three-week family trek around the Caribbean.The occasion? The author's 50th birthday. The book is nicely interspersed with tales of Buffet's Alabama boyhood, his love of flying, his visiting old haunts and friends, and his enormously-successful music career. The most touching moments are when Buffet is reveling in ordinary things: making pancakes for his kids on Christmas morning; marveling at the ocean from the "safe haven" of South Florida beachfront condo; and thinking of his wife (who "has the body of Catherine Deneuve and the mind of Mr. Spock"). As this book clearly shows, the energetic and down-to-earth Buffet is doing anything but wasting away in Margaritaville.
Rating: 
Summary: Sure can tell who the Buffett fans are.
Review: Wow. What a diverse response from the crowd. Fact is this was a perfectly fine read...or as I rate a good book..A Quick Read...No, Buffett is not a Hemmingway or a Twain..at least not on paper. Put a guitar in the mans hand however and his stories are the ones I want to hear. I enjoyed this one more than the other two (thought they were little more than song lyrics strung together) and it went a long way to put the chronology of JB's live in order in my mind. Yes he seemed to run out of history toward the end and revert to diary but hell.....It's Buffett....
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Summary: JIMMY IS A U.S. CERTIFIED REAL GENUINE HUMAN BEING!!!!!
Review: I couldn't put down this book; the version I read had 458 pages and every morsel was delicious. It took me back to when I lived in Key West in the mid-80's (wish I would have known you then Jimmy) and I have to believe that Jimmy writes the way he speaks. His book blows any corny, executive, corporatate image out of the water and makes room for a real man who went through hard times and deserves his riches. I simply could not understand how some misguided reviewers can only see his material world; boy are they ever lost. This is the BEST book that I have read in a long, long time. Thank you Jimmy, for making me laugh, cry and want to hold you in my arms after the last page, which I didn't want to end. Carole Hemingway
Rating:
Summary: an enjoyable read, you won't look forward to the last page
Review: this is the tale of jimmies celebration of his 50 th birthday, and the present he gave himself, a circular trip arround the carabeian, with a detour, and tales of ealier visits. this is an autobiography of sorts, growing up, movin away, learning to play guitar, fishin, flyin, and advetures that where had along the way. an excellent read, well written. if you enjoyed joe merchant, and margarettaville, you'll enjoy this too.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to relate to if you are a "40-something" male.
Review: A great story of Jimmy's life and philosophy that have brought him to where he is today intertwined with the travel diary of a very adventurous journey. I found the philosophical renderings very interesting ["good chases evil, evil chases good"] and was dissapointed only in that these interjections seemed to be missing from the later chapters of the book. Could this have been the result of a rush to publish? Overall a tale to which many "40-something" males (and even females) should be able to relate. Of growing up in the '70s and had to facing many of the same choices and delimmas as Jimmy.
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Summary: A Parrothead Must!
Review: Wasn't expecting a travel guide, but great just the same. Jimmy's prose is like great dialogue from a classic movie. Feel like I know Jimmy better than I did. Mix a margarita and kick back!
Rating:
Summary: Leaves me wanting.
Review: Jimmy Buffet's prior works were interesting reads, however, his current book seems to be mostly a self-serving endeavor, a last memoir for the kids and grandkids, a published daily diary, complete with the most dreary of details, important to only close friends and family and lacking all the important and titallating details and circumstances a reader would expect. Jimmy writes like he's a common man, just one of the boy's, and then, wham! he's talking about the "girls" taking his jet on vacation and the "boy's" riding his float plane, because the girls don't like the slow, bumpy ride. So immediately, the reader is thinking, I'm about to see how the other side really lives, how I'd like to live if I only had the money and the guts to take off and about halfway through the book you realize, he lives just like us, same day to day bull, and you're thinking that your own personal 500 word essay of what you did last summer would have been just as interesting (to you anyway). (At least then we wouldn't have to suffer through the agonizing details of his flights which turned out to be nothing more than disappointments to the author as well as the reader). As a matter of fact, the reader of more than average means will feel somewhat sorry for this man and his family because his means and toy's merely complicate his life instead of improving it. Alas, if you bought the book because of the title, and not just because you were familiar with the author, you will be even more deeply disappointed (there are no deep revelations, only questions). Finally, Buffet's quotes from other literature is overworked, it was a stretch to believe he has read or even knows of the authors he so liberally regurgitated. (Although, there is a poem included that made the entire book worthwhile) Unfortunately, this work reeks of a large advance and looming deadline. (Whether true or not) So, although there were some bright spots, unless you're into Buffet, planes and piloting, the book will most likely "Leave You Wanting".
Rating: 
Summary: Written In Response to the Unauthorized Biography?
Review: Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks At Fifty" is a disappointing book because he couldn't decide whether to write an autobiography or a travel diary. His stories of his travels didn't excite me that much. To me, it was just a way to brag to the reader about his toys and his wealth. I don't fault him for these things; he's earned them, but it just got old after a while. I would have loved more of a retrospective of his life (to date) from his standpoint, since the unauthorized biography written about him a few years ago was very poorly written. I think Jimmy needs to ditch writing books (his novels/short stories aren't that great either) and lousy musicals and get back to what got him where he is today, and that is making entertaining music which tell great stories in (usually) less than four minutes.
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