Rating: 
Summary: Not so perfect
Review: An entertaining read, describing an incredible event. However, I found the prosaic writing style a little off-putting. The book seemed to be aimed at grade school kids.
Rating: 
Summary: GRIPPING
Review: Junger keeps you interested from page one. A detailed and riveting story that takes you along the ins and out of the sleepy town and the commercial fishing personalities that eventually put this town on the map.The education of the weather service, seamanship and Coast Guard was enlightning.
Rating: 
Summary: SEE THE MOVIE INSTEAD
Review: I know, I know. Most people, myself included, would often opine "the book was better than the movie". Not this time, I'm sorry to say.The movie kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The book might better be used to prop UP a seat. George Clooney and Marky Mark? "Give me a break you say"? Yeah, but it works. Who would have thunk it It's not that Junger isn't a competent author. He's done his homework and it shows. It's just that I felt that I was too often reading the latest weather report in more detail then I cared to know about. I'm sure that many will disagree on the basis of the "man against the sea" cliche. If so, they might want to read (or re-read) "The Old Man and the Sea" or even "Kon-Tiki". Sorry...5 stars for the movie, but only 2 for the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A bad book about open sea
Review: Dear fellow readers: There seems to be quite a bit of hype around this book. First the book was on the New York's best seller list, then a movie was released. I personally do not see the attraction toward this book. The plot was over developed, perhaps to give a reader emotional unity with the characters. There were many pages dedicated to explaining the science behind the rage of the open sea. I myself enjoy technical literature, but it seemed that the author did not know or simply could not explain this science. I found that after reading those pages many times over, I was left exhausted and had to put the book aside. This technicality aside, the book seemed to jump from a point to other at a drop of a hat. It left me very confused toward the point of each story. Perhaps, to some readers such dynamic story telling has some appeal but it left me confused and overwhelmed. I am not a person who reads many novels, but this book did not leave me with a warm feeling about reading any future novels.
Rating:
Summary: Far superior to the infantile movie of the same name
Review: What is more interesting, dear reader, some macho airhead yahoo yelling into the face of a giant wave about to crush him, or a well written analysis of the birth, life and death of that wave and its effect on the environment? Well, yes, you may prefer the yahoo, then go see the movie and watch George Clooney as fishing boat skipper Billy Tyne scream from the pilothouse of the 72foot ANDREA GAIL at the biggest wave in 100 years to "bring it on". Oh yeah. As if. The infantile film of THE PERFECT STORM should not turn you off what is a very interesting and beautifully crafted book. It covers a number of important issues. Among them: longline fishing and its consequences for fish stocks; global warming; weather forecasting and reporting; search and rescue strategies and training. In addition it is a highly informative text on a part of the commercial fishing industry, the physics of waves, the physiology of drowning, the British "Manual of Seamanship", the history of incidences and accidents that have occurred on the Grand Banks on the Atlantic Seaboard. But the climax of the book for me, was the incredible heroism and professional dedication of the Air National Guard pilots and crew and their pararescue jumpers, and the Coast Guard. The efforts of chopper pilot Dave Ruvoli of the Air National Guard and Commander Brudnicki captain of the 1600 ton Coast Guard Cutter TAMAROA with their skill, teamwork and concentration in the face of extraordinary danger are wondrous and rivetting to read about. Australians witnessed similar heroism in rescues during a Sydney-Hobart ocean yacht race in the late 1990's. Questions hover after this excellent book: was Ray Leonard, skipper of SATORI, right or wrong to want to stay aboard his yacht which survived the storm? Then there's the general question (moral? financial?) of rescue personnel risking their lives over those sailors who proved to be irresponsible in some way - inadequate skills, unserviceable equipment, affected by drugs or alcohol -or just plain macho foolish. In the face of this what value the likes of pararescue jumper Rick Smith? Anyone even vaguely interested in the sea should read this book. For others, it's thoroughly exciting just as an adventure story.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Storm
Review: Overall, I liked the story a lot because it often kept you in suspense. The plot was excellent, and the fact that it was a true story made it even better. The Perfect Storm is about six men who are caught in one of the worst storms that have ever formed, and they have to fight for their lives and join together. Sebastian Junger wrote the book in a thoughtout way, but sometimes I think it may have been too thought out. It was kind of hard to get into the first 50 pages or so because it seemed like the story just kept going on and on. They would never quite get to the whole point of the story, and it wasn't enjoyable to read. I felt like Junger kind of dragged on a little bit too much about what happens in a fisherman's life. He seemed kind of repetetive in the sense that he kept emphasizing the fact that fishermen would be gone for a month, party for a week, be rich, and they'd go fish again. I find that to be an extremely hard life, but I know that I'll never understand it like a real fisherman would. Towards the end of the story, it got more exciting, and I had a hard time putting the book down. Junger made it easy for me to visualize what was going on in the scenes, and I could feel the same hardship and pain that they could feel. Again, I'm sure I didn't feel as much as they did, but Junger did a good job of portraying how dangerous a life as a fisherman can be. I'm impressed by what these men go through day in and day out, and I'm glad that I read this book to find out a new sort of lifestyle also.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Storm- A courageous and heartfelt story
Review: The story The Perfect Storm is a unique story about fisherman that try to make the catch out on the sea to provide their families and the towns people with fish.The Andrea Gail's Captain told the crew that he promised that they would see a lot of fish... and they did.As fate would have it three hurricanes collided in their tracks behind them and when they turned around to come home the STORM had struck.I was'nt too pleased with the book, because the writer chose to write more on the storm instead of the crew that was courageous enough to go back through it to get back to their families.I think that the writer could have also described a little more on the fishermen and the courageous efforts of the Coast Guards that tried to save them.This book does let you imagine what terrified thoughts the fishermen must have had, and the sight of those waves.If you get a chance watch the movie too!
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Storm - Not a Beach Book
Review: I had to push on through the lenghthy description about winds and currents. I had no idea where the people were sailing and frankly didn't much care. The Andrea Gail is not the main point of the story, the STORM is. Way to much detail about boats which I found VERY dull. Too much details about water currents and wind currents. This book is not really a "story" as you might think. The book focuses on the STORM but I wanted to read about the people that were on the Andrea Gail since that is the boat where everyone perished but I wasn't even sure what the Captain's name was because the book jumped around so much. I would only recommend this if you're really into sailing and the sea.
Rating:
Summary: Hurray for the Coast Guard
Review: I saw the movie immediately after finishing the book. Unlike most other reviewers here, I did NOT know the conclusion of the Andrea Gail saga, until the end of the book. While I enjoyed the book, frankly the Coast Guard rescues were far more exciting than the telling of the story of the Andrea Gail. This may be because most of the Coast Guard PJs lived to tell the tale. What brave men! This is not to disparage the fisherman of Gloucester; I simply felt that Junger had more empathy for the PJs than he did for the fishermen. My feelings come from the fact that the Andrea Gail story was so often interrupted with historical anecdotes and scientific info, while the Coast Guard story was fairly continuous. The book suffered from a lack of a technical glossery and photographs. Not being in the fishing industry, I didn't have a handle on much of the terminology. Also, as has been said, the book needed tightening of the editing. For example, the discussion of how storms are formed had a number of repetitive passages.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Gripping....
Review: Not only does Sebastian Junger use wonderful writing but interesting information weaved in with the story not only of five swordfisherman and their past experiances, but of so many other people during the 1991 storm so that the reader gets a full and un-biased story from all points of view. Though, if you enjoy a story without much facts, I wouldn't suggest this book. (They were extremely interesting though)
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