Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Simply beautiful book. Keep up Linda. We wangt another one.
Rating: 
Summary: i was hungry for more
Review: I went on vacation looking for some solid, entertaining reading pleasure. I was left unfulfilled with The Hungry Ocean. The story never took off and was bogged down with details only a fisherman would relate to. If you are interested in commercial fishing, I'm sure this book could be quite satisfying. However, if you were turned onto this book due to the film version of The Perfect Storm, keep rowing along because it doesn't even compare. I bought this book for my father who enjoyed it immensely (or so he said) but i was sinking into boredom when i undertook the task of reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: The movie that should have been made!
Review: Linda Greenlaw is so capable of writing a good "fishermans" tale that you soon forget that you are reading a true account. Indeed, I feel that Linda Greenlaws writing is so much more accessible than that displayed by Sebastian Junger in "The Perfect Storm".To make a 30 day fishing voyage an exciting read is no mean feat, and Linda Greenlaw pulls it off perfectly. The technical detail is present but not overwhelming by any means. The real attraction comes in reading about something that few of us really know anything about: being stuck on a 100 boat for 30 days looking for some very elusive fish to make a measerly couple of thousand bucks. Next time, I'm ordering the swordfish steak.
Rating:
Summary: A great surprize
Review: Sometimes the books by people who ARE NOT writers by trade are the best, this book fits that standard. As with Bill Bryson's accounts in the great outdoors, Greenlaw has the knack for simple explanations for complicated things, making swordfishing something that the "average Joe" can enjoy. The book is informative but hysterical at times, a real pleasure to read. I have not read "The Perfect Storm" yet, but after seeing the movie I am in better understanding of the workings of the trade. Greenlaw's experiences explained even the simple questions like "what in the world do you need glo-sticks for?" Since we know that the "Andria Gail" in "The Perfect Storm" never makes it back to the dock, the inferences for the book and film had to come from SOMEWHERE. It is quickly obvious that many came from the "Hannah Boden" herself, lending portraits of a swordboat crew right down to the 20 pound lasagna mentioned in the film. I caught myself laughing out loud on many occasions and thoroughly enjoyed this book. One of my favorite segments is about sealore superstitions (ie. pork/pigs, women on boat, the number thirteen, whistling to oneself, and blue or yellow hulls),in which she ends the segment commenting on how she should get a blue boat and name it "Thirteen Whistling Pigs". A great book for those who love the sea and those who would just like to learn more about it. They say that seamen tell the best tales, and I would have to agree in this case.....I highly recommend this easy reading book.
Rating:
Summary: Drunks and Swordfish and Sharks; Oh My!
Review: This is by far one of the all-time best fishing books on the market today. Linda Greenlaw has what it takes. The story is enthusiastic, interesting, and technically well written, but you don't have to be a longshoreman to understand it. This is man against nature at his or her best. After being somewhat disappointed with THE PERFECT STORM I was leary to buy this book. Glad I did, it was worth every minute. This is a text that any water enthusiast should read. It is by sheer providence that fisherman and fisherwomen should own this book as a guide in difficult times. I know when things get hairy for me I ask myself; "What would Linda do?"
Rating:
Summary: More powerful, in its own way, than The Perfect Storm
Review: I was very surprised that I liked this book even better than The Perfect Storm. Where The Perfect Storm describes the harrowing stories of people battling the single greatest storm of the century, The Hungry Ocean describes the harrowing events which swordfish boats and their crews must face on each and every trip they take to the Grand Banks, year in and year out. I found this book to be absolutely fascinating in its gritty behind the scenes look at the fishing industry as well as in its look inside the minds of the men and women who spend their lives risking everything on the all-or-nothing propositions that professional swordfishing trips often are. Highly recommended. Special note: my wife, who very rarely reads "adventure"-type books, absolutely ate this one up. In fact, she recommended it to me!
Rating: 
Summary: The Hungary Ocean
Review: I would have to say that the book "The Hungry Ocean" by Linda Greenlaw is the book I would like to read. I would like to read this book because it tells of the dangers, the equipment used in fishing and I would like to hear it from a woman captains perspective. I think it is cool that a woman is a captain of one of the best fishing boats on the east coast and not to mention is the sister boat to the Andrea Gail the boat that went down in the Mother of all Storms in 1991.
Rating:
Summary: A "Perfect Storm" 'wanna be' without any literary merit
Review: The only redeeming, indeed, interesting part of Linda Greenlaw's book is its title. After that it is pure misery. It is not book quality and does not have enough material of interest to be anything more than an unshared personal journal. It merely drones on and on. Although it does spark emotion in anyone who is concerned about our oceans, or believes that it is not okay to brag about animal cruelty. It is with fond memory that she recounts the episode of hanging a live 7-foot shark wrapped in lighter fluid soaked rags: "...the shark was slashed at with knives and poked with gaffs like a giant pinata until a single match set it ablaze. Slowly, the thrashing reduced to a writhing..." Gee, now THAT'S something to be proud of! If someone, much less an "adult" were to do this to a pet, it would be considered animal cruelty and abuse. Yet one can picture Greenlaw smiling and cooing with pleasure and pride as she tells this story. Beyond that, the book is just flat. It has no beginning, middle, or end. It tells no story of any interest - it doesn't really tell ANY story at all. I kept hoping that there would be some sort of redeeming quality to the book - there wasn't. Well, unless you count the fact that the book does actually end and that you will never again be "forced" to suffer through a this book like again. I am somewhat embarrassed, however, that I read as much of the book as I did until I finally proclaimed, "okay!Okay! I'll take the bamboo slivers under my fingernails! Just don't make me read any more of this beast!" In fact the only saving grace is that the book finally does end - mercifully. Miracles DO exist - I will never have to read this book again!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Account of Longline Swordfishing
Review: The Hungry Ocean was one of the best books I have read! Thank you, Linda Greenlaw for sharing this brief glimpse of your life out in the North Atlantic catching swordfish. After reading The Perfect Storm, I hungered for additional knowledge on the life of swordfishermen, their boats, tackle and how they go about their dangerous job of providing the American public with this wonderful meat. I was not disappointed! (And, thanks to some photos of the Hannah Boden on The Perfect Storm website, my education is even more complete.) Greenlaw is a superb writer, and her humor is noteworthy; more than once I found myself laughing out loud at one of her passages. She was truly gifted by God to be able to undertake such a job of captaining a swordfishing boat and expertly handling the all-male crew; she truly belongs "on the pointy end". I am sure there are many male captains that fall short of her abilities, both in finding fish and in captaining the crew. There were a few detractors. First, I was disappointed in her continued taking of the Lord's name in vein. Having spent many years in the Navy, I know how sailors talk, and was not disturbed by the use of any other language; however, some sensitivity to those future readers of her book who have a different relationship with Jesus Christ would have been appropriate and appreciated. Second, the graphic description of the torturing of a live shark in an attempt to placate the gods of fishing was in poor taste, even though it happened, and undoubtedly continues to happen. Finally, her statement that fishermen know the state of fish and fishing grounds better than scientists is way out of touch with reality; she is in denial about the rapidly depleting state of our fisheries (e.g., see the article in the February 2001 Consumers Reports). That all being said, I still highly recommend her book. Negative reviews about her writing ability obviously are written by individuals who can't write well themselves; ignore them because she is a talented writer. And, although Junger's book, The Perfect Storm, certainly provided the impetus for The Hungry Ocean, Greenlaw certainly wasn't trying to duplicate his efforts -- her book stands tall by itself!
Rating:
Summary: More Interesting Than "The Perfect Storm"
Review: I never met anyone who didn't like this book--ranging from my brother-in-law who generally reads only technical manuals to my 90 year-old aunt. It was interesting from cover to cover. This is the female swordfish boat captain who appears in the book and movie "The Perfect Storm." She is a first rate author writing about an interesting industry. Her characters are well drawn, and the book reads like an impossible-to-put-down novel. I hope her next book will be about the lobster industry as she is now a lobsterman on Maine.
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