Rating: 
Summary: great book, snowblind even better
Review: i agree with all the above reviewers. this book had good detail about the drug trade and was a riveting story. however, i think snowblind by robert sabbag was even better. Sabbag is a more skilled writer than Porter. Too bad this movie did not turn out as good as the book, but isn't that usually the case?
Rating: 
Summary: It's okay, the movies better
Review: I enjoyed reading this book very much. The book starts out with a boy that decides he never wants to be poor. When the boy becomes a teenager he moves out and beigns to sell marijuana. Come to find out he could make a lot more money if he sells marijuana throughout the country. Later in the story he ends getting busted for selling narcotics. His mother disowns him, his wife divorces him, and his daughter hates him. The story is a very good story bit I personallly didn't enjoy the ending. I feel the part in the end when he is making his last deal, just to make some good money to retire with and go to California with his daughter, he should not get busted by the cops. I would have enjoyed the ending better if it would have had George Jung, the main character, in a big beautiful house in California with his daughter. Instead the ending is George in a prison.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable book, bad ending
Review: I enjoyed reading this book very much. The book starts out with a boy that decides he never wants to be poor. When the boy becomes a teenager he moves out and beigns to sell marijuana. Come to find out he could make a lot more money if he sells marijuana throughout the country. Later in the story he ends getting busted for selling narcotics. His mother disowns him, his wife divorces him, and his daughter hates him. The story is a very good story bit I personallly didn't enjoy the ending. I feel the part in the end when he is making his last deal, just to make some good money to retire with and go to California with his daughter, he should not get busted by the cops. I would have enjoyed the ending better if it would have had George Jung, the main character, in a big beautiful house in California with his daughter. Instead the ending is George in a prison.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable!!!!
Review: I picked up this book one rainy Saturday and was mesmerized! George's rise from small town kid to big time drug smuggler is one story you don't want to miss! Porter has amassed an amazing collection of information on George's "career" advancement. The characters are better than anything imaginable and the details of the operations- Wow! One can almost develop a true affinity for George, he seems so likeable, until you remember the ramifications of his smuggling. At one point, I found myself almost rooting him on... I hope the movie can do the book some justice.
Rating:
Summary: The Forrest Gump of the Drug Business
Review: I read this book after seeing the movie "Blow". The movie was average but the subject matter was something I wanted to explore after seeing George Jung's picture at the end. I was not disappointed. I couldn't put the book down and throughly enjoyed it.As all biographies do, the initial setup of his formative years is somewhat boring and can be skimmed. Bad student, played football. Nothing else is relevant. But when the book overlays living in Los Angeles in the 60's with the drug trade, this book really heats up. Jung reminds me of Forrest Gump. Always in a place where drug history was happening. Particularly where his old grass connection is the key to establishing him as a major player in the new cocaine business. The book and the movie have many similar points but many different ones. For example, in the movie, his first stewardess girlfriend dies. But in the book, there is no mention of when and how they split up. In the movie, he misses his daughter and wants contact. There is no mention of that in the book. The book really projects that Jung ...got in the right business at the right time. But he's not really a smart guy. The movie covers some of his busts correctly but the Cape Cod bust that starts his downfall is almost unbelievable how stupid he could be. Read the book to find this bizarre fact. As a earlier reviewer who identified himself as a former drug runner stated, using your own product clouds your judgement and clearly that applied to Jung. Irrespective, this book gives great insight into the drug traffic business and shows what a bizarre environment it was. Somewhat like the Wild West. Read this book for entertainment value as it reads quickly and is very informative.
Rating:
Summary: Blow
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a true story of the rise & fall of George Jung. George became involved with smuggling pot in from Mexico in the 1960's & went on to become one of the founding members of the Colombian Cocaine Cartel led by Pablo Escobar. Geogre intially was Pablo's MAJOR U.S. cocaine distributor, was the one link Pablo had to the U.S. cocaine distribution network. Another Colombian, Carlos Ledher, stole George's U.S. connections, & cut him out of the business. George then basically married into a Colombian family, and started moving smaller cocaine contract loads through a relative by marriage-Humberto. Humberto was connected to Pablo Escobar.
This book is well written, and also tells a bit about drugs, their cultivation, the human physiology of drug interactions, and how basic smuggling operations are established. It is also just a plain good story. I thought the ending was a bit sad though.
To clear up the question of: "Is George free, or in Prison". George was free, and delivering seafood to restaurants in Massachusetts. He subsequently got busted smuggling pot from Mexico, and received a 22 year jail sentence in 1993-1994, and is currtely in prison at Otisville, New York.
Rating:
Summary: Great Crime Story
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a true story of the rise & fall of George Jung. George became involved with smuggling pot in from Mexico in the 1960's & went on to become one of the founding members of the Colombian Cocaine Cartel led by Pablo Escobar. Geogre intially was Pablo's MAJOR U.S. cocaine distributor, was the one link Pablo had to the U.S. cocaine distribution network. Another Colombian, Carlos Ledher, stole George's U.S. connections, & cut him out of the business. George then basically married into a Colombian family, and started moving smaller cocaine contract loads through a relative by marriage-Humberto. Humberto was connected to Pablo Escobar.
This book is well written, and also tells a bit about drugs, their cultivation, the human physiology of drug interactions, and how basic smuggling operations are established. It is also just a plain good story. I thought the ending was a bit sad though.
To clear up the question of: "Is George free, or in Prison". George was free, and delivering seafood to restaurants in Massachusetts. He subsequently got busted smuggling pot from Mexico, and received a 22 year jail sentence in 1993-1994, and is currtely in prison at Otisville, New York.
Rating:
Summary: Great Crime Story
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a true story of the rise & fall of George Jung. George became involved with smuggling pot in from Mexico in the 1960's & went on to become one of the founding members of the Colombian Cocaine Cartel led by Pablo Escobar. Geogre intially was Pablo's MAJOR U.S. cocaine distributor, was the one link Pablo had to the U.S. cocaine distribution network. Another Colombian, Carlos Ledher, stole George's U.S. connections, & cut him out of the business. George then basically married into a Colombian family, and started moving smaller cocaine contract loads through a relative by marriage-Humberto. Humberto was connected to Pablo Escobar.
This book is well written, and also tells a bit about drugs, their cultivation, the human physiology of drug interactions, and how basic smuggling operations are established. It is also just a plain good story. I thought the ending was a bit sad though.
To clear up the question of: "Is George free, or in Prison". George was free, and delivering seafood to restaurants in Massachusetts. He subsequently got busted smuggling pot from Mexico, and received a 22 year jail sentence in 1993-1994, and is currtely in prison at Otisville, New York.
Rating:
Summary: I'm confused
Review: I'm sorry I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen the movie and at the end the audience is told Mr. Jung won't be released until the year 2015. However, the Kirkaus review says he is free, delivering seafood on the East coast! Could someone please clear this up for me.
Rating: 
Summary: check your spelling
Review: If you look at the book jacket, you will notice colombia the country ,is spelled columbia. You would think they would be more careful and spell a country correctly.
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