Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but brief
Review: The author's chapter on fighting wildfires was fascinating, as are the rest of his chapters. It's an interesting book that keeps moving fast enough not to get bogged down in any one area. My only complaint was; it isn't long enough! I look forward to reading more of this author's books.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but nothing special
Review: The book is a collection of magazine article the author wrote. They range from fire fighters in Idaho to guerilla fighters in Afghanistan. My personal favorite was one about a group of westerners who were kidnapped by muslim fundamentalists in the mountains of Kashmir and held as hostages. Many of the articles in the book are on subjects that have been well publicized and covered: Kosovo, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone, but there also a couple less covered subjects, most notably whale hunting in the Carribean sea, which i particulary enjoyed. While the book does not provide much new insight into the well-covered events, it does provide an interesting glimpse into life in Cyprus (another article) and the world of whale hunting. I did not realize what a dangerous job whale hunting was until reading the book. Overall, it is worth reading ...
Rating:
Summary: Adrenaline Junkie
Review: The fate of the journalists in Afganistan this week should cause Junger to pause and reconsider his habit of playing with danger. In one of the articles compiled here he acknowledges the lure of danger for a certain type of person. He must certainly recognize, that he is a member of that fraternity. Always interesting, but in this case outpaced by current events, we learn new and interesting facts. How about a fire on the same day as the great Chicago fire that killed five times as many people.
Rating:
Summary: Great compilation of adventure tales
Review: The latest book by Junger is a compilation of his 'adventure' writing. He details life at the extremes from smoke jumping to Kosovo to the 'last whaler'. A wonderful book he tells not only of his own personal accounts in Kosovo, Cyprus and fighting Fire in Idaho. He also tells the tale of the Storm King Mountain fire where many firefighters perished. One chapter details the life of a 'mountain man' and another details the life of a French colonial native who is the 'last whaler' to hunt in a small boat with a harpoon. By far the most memorable and life changing chapter is the one that details the story of foreign hikers kidnapped in Kashmir by Islamic militants. This chapter tells the story of a Mr. Childs who, although the weakest of the hikers, manages a daring escape. This story is a moral for humanity and the book would be complete if it only included this wonderful tale of the choice of survival showing that man should never resign himself to fate but should always strive to resist. This is a wonderful book, very accessible and each chapter is almost totally self contained which makes it easy to skip back and forth searching for what suits your fancy.
Rating:
Summary: Great compilation of adventure tales
Review: The latest book by Junger is a compilation of his `adventure' writing. He details life at the extremes from smoke jumping to Kosovo to the `last whaler'. A wonderful book he tells not only of his own personal accounts in Kosovo, Cyprus and fighting Fire in Idaho. He also tells the tale of the Storm King Mountain fire where many firefighters perished. One chapter details the life of a `mountain man' and another details the life of a French colonial native who is the `last whaler' to hunt in a small boat with a harpoon. By far the most memorable and life changing chapter is the one that details the story of foreign hikers kidnapped in Kashmir by Islamic militants. This chapter tells the story of a Mr. Childs who, although the weakest of the hikers, manages a daring escape. This story is a moral for humanity and the book would be complete if it only included this wonderful tale of the choice of survival showing that man should never resign himself to fate but should always strive to resist. This is a wonderful book, very accessible and each chapter is almost totally self contained which makes it easy to skip back and forth searching for what suits your fancy.
Rating:
Summary: Great stories, but no common thread
Review: This book is a collection of Junger's essays written as a journalist. While the cover art and the title might suggest that this book is about firefighting, only the first two stories are about forest fires. Junger writes clearly, and his stories are informative and easy to read. Each of these stories provides a wealth of relevant background and history that adds a great deal of depth to the issue. With the exception of the forest fire stories and one other, the remaining stories describe the conditions and background of a number of remote conflicts from around the war. These stories try to explain some of the causes and effects of these brutal wars, and generally succeed in shedding some small light on these situations.
However, while the individual stories are each well written and and stand well on their own, the book itself isn't as well put-together. I kept looking for the common thread or theme that tied all these stories together, and in the end, I don't feel that these stories add up to any kind of coherent whole. The only commonality seems to be that they were written by Junger and that they reflect his travels and experiences as a journalist. Perhaps some additional introductory or bridging material elaborating on the impact these experiences had on the author would tie this material together better. Or perhaps not. In any case, while the individual stories each had something meaningful to offer, the book, as a whole, really doesn't offer anything above and beyond them.
Rating:
Summary: A Word of Warning Regarding Negative Reviews Here
Review: This book is NOT the Perfect Firestorm, nor was it ever meant to be. This is in fact where the Perfect Storm grew from. The original plan was to do a book on dangerous jobs, which was taken from his journalism, and the Perfect Storm grew from that when the article was turned in. This book was never really meant to be a follow-up to that, since it in reality precedes it. And it never pretends to be anything but reporting from the front lines of dangerous jobs, so if you're expecting intricately woven internarratives, read Dickens or John Irving. If you want journalism of tension where the overblown personality of the writer takes over the tone, read Hemingway. If you want some stories of dangerous occupations dedicated to the people they are written about (and essentialy for), you could do a hell of a lot worse. Extreme sports addicts ought to read this before they seek their next thrill.
Rating:
Summary: not enough of what i want
Review: this is an average book. mr. junger takes the most dangerous jobs/vocations and gives the reader a taste of what the people and positions are like. i found that i wanted certain portions to be longer than others and that there were certain sections that i had no interest in whatsoever. my advice, wait for the paperback edition or hang out in your local barnes and noble and read the sections you find interesting and leave the rest for the discount aisle.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous jobs in the world.
Review: This is not a bad book, but it is not a great book either. Junger wrote well in The Perfect Storm, and followed this with a collection of articles written for magazines. These articles were well written, but they didn't have the pull that The Perfect Storm has.
Junger did most of the investigation into these dangerous jobs after he was hurt in a tree accident. Forest fire fighters were his introduction piece and I was amazed how dangerous this job is. Junger follows with investigations into the conflicts in Afghanistan, the former Jugoslavia, and Cyprus. Then he makes a stab at whale hunting in St. Vincent.
For such a short book, this collection of essays does not hold the imagination of the reader. Yes the articles are interesting and educational, but one can well read another book and get more interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much for my stomach...
Review: What a dissapointment!! I'm not judging FIRE comparing it to THE PERFECT STORM. I think it's not always that a writer can repeat the success of his previous winning book. The trouble is that I never have imagined tha Junger would gor for some easy money, misleading his fans, releasing a book with OLD magazine articles, without EVEN REVISING THEM! THat was what shocked me the most!!
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