Rating: 
Summary: Cluttered at first but good technical reading
Review: The detailed description of what it's like to drown was the most probable I've read. The mechanics of big weather at sea - dynamics
of waves - was informative but not a copy of reference text either. Junger does right by the "PJs" by giving them credit for what it takes
to do their job and the tough life of a fisherman. One of the most controversial parts is how junger reckons that less oil in the water is why the waves are getting larger due to lower surface
tension....
Rating: 
Summary: The sea is not a friendly place and you can't BS the ocean.
Review: My wife and I lived aboard a blue water saliboat for 5 years and put over 25,000 ocean miles on the boat. She was unable to finish this book because the pictures painted of the men and the description of the seas were all too real. I have read 100's of books about sailing, the oceans, heavy weather at sea, and simular theams. This is one of the best ever written. This book is a keeper.
Anyone planning or dreaming of offshore sailing in a small boat should read it. Not to become discourged, and not take that trip. But to understand the reality of the ocean, and how sometimes you will lose out there, no matter what you do
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Summary: They that go down to sea in ships
Review: These words are engraved on the fishermans memorial in my home town of Gloucester,Ma.I was a friend to two of the men lost on the Andrea Gail,I`ve been drunk in the bars Mr. Junger describes in this book and I must say that his portrayal of the people and places in Gloucester are right on target .A terrifying story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time
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Summary: absolutley enthralling
Review: By the time I finished The Perfect Storm I could feel the cold wash of the sea around my feet on the pitching deck of the Andrea Gail as I stood beside capt. Billy Tyne as he fought against catastropic and unyield forces that would claim his vessel and all hands. I understood what was coming and the fierce interaction of wind and sea that would doom his vessel and yet I had to stand by and watch, helplessly, as the string of events slowly played out their roles in the sinking of the Andrai Gail. By the end of the book I was drained and felt that I knew the men involved and suffered their loss
Rating: 
Summary: good book despite errors
Review: It is more than a little disturbing to read of the many errors made by the auhtor in writing this book, errors he apparently has admitted to. It makes one wonder about the overall veracity, but I still found the book extremely gripping and think it stands up for what it tries to do, tell a compelling story of a very difficult livelihood and the perils of commercial fishing. The bottom line of the book cannot be questioned: it tells a harrowing story of being lost in a killer storm. I agree with some reader comments that comparing it to "Into Thin Air" is a disservice to both works. "Thin Air" is extraordinary for the personal anguish of the author and the message it conveys loud and clear about the insanity of treating the mountain as if it were some personal playground for the macho and adventurous. Both books are marvelously written and were among the best I read this summer but I would have to say Thin Air, like the mountain, towers over everything else I've read in the genre
Rating:
Summary: Gripping Adventure, but not on par with "Into Thin Air"
Review: Having finished this book on the heels of "Into Thin Air", I am struck by the striking similarities. Both tell of the individual's struggle against the forces of nature. However, I am also struck by how much more empathy I have for the individuals in "The Perfect Storm". Largely blue collar individuals with little other way to make a decent wage, they routinely risk their lives in the pursuit of better ones. The climbers in "Into Thin Air", almost without exception, are thrill-seeking upper middle class people with ostensibly nothing better to do than climb one of the world's tallest mountains in their spare time. Both books left me breathless by the end, and I would have to rate Krakauer's the better as he was witness to the events he describes, while Junger is handicapped by his inability to truly know the last minutes of the Andrea Gail. I do give him immense credit for having done as well as he did with as little as he had to go on. Like many of the other reviewers, I would have appreciated not only a map, but more detail as to the fate of the other boats
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the movie!
Review: An incredible thriller, this non-fiction account of a disastrous storm will undoubtedly make it to the big screen, something that doesn't often happen with non-fiction. But then non-fiction is rarely as gripping as "The Perfect Storm." In reading through the other buyer reviews I saw no mention of the portrait of bravery the author draws concerning the "rescue swimmers." These are the real heros of the story for me. Having spent some time sailing on an angry Lake Erie in mild storms, I now understand that I only saw a fraction of the terror that can befall the sailor
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story about men & the sea
Review: Excellent story about how cruel the ocean can be and the men who work the sea for a living.
Also shows the jeoparday people cause themselves when taking stupid chances on the ocean. Plus the hardships they cause upon the people who are trying to rescue them.
Makes you think twice before going out into the open waters of the Atlantic
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Summary: Batten Down the Hatches and Read Nonfiction At Its Best!
Review: If you've ever been spellbound as you watched an approaching storm and reveled in its power and glory, so mesmerized that you were only faintly aware of its danger, then Junger's "The Perfect Storm" will captivate you as it sweeps you back to the fall of 1991. As the winds which will converge to form October 1991's Hurricane Grace begin to build, Junger skillfully and fluidly begins to build the story surrounding the lives of the crew of the "Andrea Gail" and others who will look Grace in the eye. You'll be carried along the crests and troughs of the ever-mounting waves, alternating between worsening weather conditions and the actions of the crews and rescue workers; and you'll come through "this" Storm with a better understanding of the power of nature, the rigors and loves of those involved with the ocean, and survival and death at sea.
After reading "The Perfect Storm" you'll never see a hurricane in the same way again, and you'll never forget its sound.
A good story should entertain and educate. This does both. As an avid fiction reader, I never knew nonfiction could be so good!
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Summary: A rivetting read of men, tragedy and the power of the sea.
Review: With almost clinical precision, Sebastian Junger takes you from the background to this tale to the point where you can feel the wind and the waves battering at you as you read.
For those of us who venture onto the sea, or who dream of doing so, this book is a reading "must."
Feel the power of the sea and the near helplessness of man and his machines when confronted with the enormity and devastating force of the ocean.
Junger has captured the inter-connected threads of these events so well that, after reading the book, you are left feeling convinced that it was you who lived through the storm
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