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Summary: Changes in Attitude
Review: Being a mystery author whose detective protagonist is a hard-core Jimmy Buffett fan, I am enthusiastic about just about any work Mr. Buffett produces. I approached A PIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY with that enthusiasm, and I was not disappointed. This book is part travelogue, part autobiography, and part philosophical musing. The parrothead-in-chief tells the reader about his life, his hopes, his dreams, and his disappointments. I found his sad story about his seriously ill father engrossing. His tales about his marriage, his family, and his work ethic were fascinating. In A PRIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY, Jimmy Buffett reveals much about his inner essence and his personal evolution--his changes in attitude. It is a fascinating book.
Rating: 
Summary: Semi-Disappointing
Review: After reading Buffett's other two books, I thought this one would be the best-covers and editorial reviews can be deceiving. In Buffett style, the book is a hodge podge of all kinds of Buffett experiences, but they are not as exciting or interesting as his previous works. His documented trip to Costa Rica sounds like a blast, until I actually checked into going to that death trap of a country. I agree with others, it seems like this book was written in a race against time.
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Summary: Take it on your next beach vacation
Review: This book is great! It shows the reader a personal view of the master and it shines a new light on his music. This book changed me from a Jimmy Buffett fan to a Parrothead.
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Summary: A Pilot looks at a Pirate
Review: The airline business was going to hell and I was about burned out when along came a sinus infection. After surgeries I was left with a major hearing problem and a jet engine in my right ear. After a life long passionate affair with aviation it was surprising that I actually felt relief when I no longer met the physical standards and was put on disability retirement. I never looked back...until now. Reading JB's book has brought it all back to life. I think I was convinced of Jimmy's status as a "Real Aviator" and not just a toy collector, when he mentioned his old friends: Orion and "the sisters." I've always been attracted to the Albatross as a "real airplane" and reading Jimmy's account did nothing but boost that affection. Hm...maybe I could get a 3rd class physical? Thanks Jimmy. Larry Partridge Author: Flying Tigers over Cambodia
Rating: 
Summary: Loved IT
Review: I thought this was an entertaining book. I wish it were more reflective on his career and stories that he has encountered over the years thru his climb into his island cult following. This seems more of a travelogue and inner reflections on his 50 years of life. It is still a good book and one that is hard to put down, so definately recommended.
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Summary: A Wanderer's Fantasy
Review: Reading this travelogue was the most fun I've had in a long time. I've always fantasized about touring the back ways of South America just like some 1940's adventurer. Jimmy does just that. His is a fine culture study of Latin American locales interspersed with autobiographical bits about Buffet himself that every good Parrot Head should know.I still want to do a tour like this myself one day, but unless I become independently wealthy, I may have to settle for rereading this book. Fortunately, it's a vivid and fun narrative, so it might be just as good as a trip down the Amazon.
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Summary: ...a Boomer's Concise Guide to Solace
Review: "A Pirate Turns Fifty" may be one of those idioms of that time and place where a generation of North Americans found some sense of becoming, and then, of being, the first generation of people born beyond the confines of an adversarial view of the human condition. If you enjoy the humor intrinsic in the human experience, Jimmy Buffet serves up a feast of anedotes, yarns, and healthy fictional illusions that repeatedly hit on the folly of taking things too seriously. This little volume exposes Buffet as a truly gifted humorist in a time when humor was verging on the obscene and purely pessimistic side of life. Interleafed with autobiographical sketches, Buffet does a wonderful job at entertaining in the style that Mark Twain so lavishly conjured into American Literature. If you're a Boomer, this is Jimmy's BOOMER ON THE HALF-SHELL, --you'll love it; --and you'll be looking for the sequel. =======> '"Bop til you drop", ...he whispered.'
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Summary: Parrothead parents wanted more time with Jimmy's family
Review: Both my wife and I, confirmed Parrotheads and veterans of dozens of Jimmy Buffett shows, were looking forward to reading A Pirate Looks at Fifty, the closest Jimmy has come to writing a full autobiography. The book, chronicling Buffett's circling of the Caribbean with his family and friends on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday is a fun read, and does pass the time well. We both were slightly bothered with how the trip is handled, however, especially with the lack of time and adventures Buffett shares with his own family. Although Buffett travels with his wife, kids, and two adult friends, the time he seems to spend with his immediate family seems minimal. He does fly his son in his seaplane (with another pilot on board, and while his wife takes their other child separately on a commercial flight), and he does detail a morning hiking and swimming with his kids under a waterfall (with his friend in tow, and after which he leaves the kids in someone else's care while he takes off on another adventure on his own). The time Jimmy spends on his own or with friends is often spent fishing and/or reflecting on his very colorful and entertaining life. I know that each family travels differently, but it seems that Jimmy and his wife and kids might have gotten so much more out of the trip if they had spent more time together, especially since Buffett's hectic schedule admittedly keeps him away from home for so much of the time anyway. We can appreciate the fact that Jimmy needs his own space and time to reflect and to learn, but he might have learned even more from the trip if he had shared more of it with his kids. Nothing promotes your own learning more than your teaching others, especially your own children. These criticisms are small, however, and may have struck an odd chord in us because we are parents who do enjoy traveling with our daughter and sharing new experiences with her. If readers don't look too hard, they will find the book entertaining. This book is definately worth reading for any Buffett fan, or fans of coconut trees and warm tropical breezes.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Disappointing
Review: A Pirate Looks at 50 is a lackluster effort by my musical hero, Jimmy Buffett. This is not the definitive autobiography parrotheads were hoping for. It seems like something he cranked out to fulfill a contractual obligation with a publisher. Where are the colorful stories that come through in Buffett's music? The details of Buffett's life that we read in this book are mundane, such as the lengthy account of what kind of duffel bag he likes to carry (really!). It also seems that this is a sterilized version of his life, like he has cut out all the unseemly parts that would make for interesting reading. Stick to Buffett's fiction or his music and avoid this disappointing book that is very difficult to read and will burst your impression of this musical legend.
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Summary: Buffett Looks at Life
Review: A big part of Jimmy Buffett's success is his to spin magical tales of real-life experiences. One of his most popular songs is "A Pirate Looks At 40" , in which he tells of a friend reaching that point in his life. A Pirate Looks At 50 finds Mr. Buffett dealing with reaching the big 5-0 in his own life. The book is part remiscinces from his past and a travelogue from the trip he takes to various tropical locales in his seaplane during the week or so after his 50th birthday. Mr. Buffett vividly describes the exotic locales and his wry sense of humor and unique outlook on life makes the book a lively read. The book takes us into Jimmy Buffett's world and what a world it is.
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